The Next Step

[Dragon Fly]

You see the thread. Any ideas as to what it takes and how to train.

[texas23]

You see the thread. Any ideas as to what it takes and how to train.

 

 

 

I think you have to define "successful" first.

[Dragon Fly]

I think you have to define "successful" first.

 

Texas, how do you define success.

[lefty87]

You see the thread. Any ideas as to what it takes and how to train.

 

If a kid wants to take the next step to becoming a top notch wrestler, I would suggest sending him to the J. Robinson 28 day Intensive wrestling camp in Minnesota. Its 28 days of hard wrestling and training. Starting at 6:30 AM and ending at 9 PM everyday. The last morning of camp is a 15 mile run that has to be completed by 9 AM. I promise that if a kid makes it through this camp, he will come back a different person and a much much better wrestler. He??™ll know what being in wrestling shape is and what it takes to get there. I sent my son this past summer and he is a different wrestler this year. His last match was against a wrestler that pinned him easily last year in the second period. My son beat him this year 13 ??“ 4. The physical and mental change in my son was well worth the cost of the camp.

 

Check it out.

 

http://www.jrobinsonwrestlingcamps.com/wrestling/

[texas23]

Texas, how do you define success.

 

 

 

this is not my thread, but if you are going off of winning the NCAA tournament, then that would mean very few wrestlers were successful in their careers.

 

If you define success as being over .500 in all your matches, then that is a different measure.

 

If you define that the wrestler participated on the team and never had a chance in the line up, that may be success.

 

So it really does not matter what I think is success, it matters what you think it is so that people can give you opinion that address the question.

 

So, how do you define success for the purpose of this thread?

[2blLeg]

My opinion, success (depending on how you define it) is created in the practice room. With good practice partners, and good coaching. One of the reasons you see certain teams constantly on top of the list

[maj]

You see the thread. Any ideas as to what it takes and how to train.

 

 

 

Forget training for the moment, and for the sake of arguing with those who want to parse syllables or split hairs , lets define success as a kid still enjoying the sport after high school, wrestling to their ability and getting a least a little financial aid to wrestle. The number one thing to focus on in the begining is BE ELIGIBLE !!! I don't care what your talent level is if you can't wrestle because of grades, conduct, or whatever, other than practice partner you are of little value to the team. If you are not even eligible to be in the practice room , you are of no value to the team.

 

Some skills needed are time management, personal discipline and good study habits. I am convinced one of the main reasons D-2 athletes from Tennessee are doing better at the college level than their D-1 peers has much more to do with study habits and generally being better prepared for the accademic rigors of college than anything to do with coaching or physical skills.

[texas23]

Forget training for the moment, and for the sake of arguing with those who want to parse syllables or split hairs , lets define success as a kid still enjoying the sport after high school, wrestling to their ability and getting a least a little financial aid to wrestle. The number one thing to focus on in the begining is BE ELIGIBLE !!! I don't care what your talent level is if you can't wrestle because of grades, conduct, or whatever, other than practice partner you are of little value to the team. If you are not even eligible to be in the practice room , you are of no value to the team.

 

Some skills needed are time management, personal discipline and good study habits. I am convinced one of the main reasons D-2 athletes from Tennessee are doing better at the college level than their D-1 peers has much more to do with study habits and generally being better prepared for the accademic rigors of college than anything to do with coaching or physical skills.

 

 

 

maj,

 

you may be right and can define success based on a kid enjoying the sport after high school.

 

But I doubt that is what dragonfly is asking.

 

I think that your comment about parsing words or splitting hairs is not really relevant right now.

 

You have to take out some of the variables and make them constants in this equation. It has to be a given that the wrestlers are already eligible to wrestle and then look at what makes them succeed to higher level based on being from Div2 or Div 1 from Tn. Just being eligible does not make the wrestler better, it makes them in the pool to be considered for the success rate (how ever it is defined).

 

I would agree that the study habits and potential of the div2 wrestlers could be a factor in making the team, getting the scholarship and being eligible to wrestle.

[Vonvesthell]

There isn't some profound answer to this question. It is simple. You work your azz off; in the classroom and on the mat. A lot of kids will struggle when first entering college with having to juggle classes, wrestling, the enormous amount of responsibility of "living" on your own, and the freedom to do what most couldn't do at home. Being successful at the next level requires that a person can balance all of that.

As for on that mat, that was also an easy fix. Work your azz off. It's that simple. It may not be the answer most want, but that is all it is.

[ghouse]

Guys,

 

I just read this article about some of the freshmen at Iowa this year.

 

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20081...S0110/812180302

 

It is interesting to keep in mind the most of the freshmen talking in this article were some of the best in the nation as high school seniors (most of them were the #1 recruit at their weight and one was the #1 recruit overall arguably). Seems like part of what helps get them to become "successful" in college is simply getting into the college room and committing themselves to it. Odd to hear that for many of them success in that first year can be considered scoring a takedown or simply getting off bottom against the veterans in the room.

 

That might help keep things in perspective.

[AsicTiger]

The grades go without saying....not sure why that was brought up.

 

There are many little things a wrestler must have to be successful or jump to the next level. FLOWRESTLING.COM has some great stories on this topic. I have in mind a few that I think are very important.

 

-DEDICATION- As in anything, if you want to be good, put in the time. Watch film, run extra, drill more, be open to other "styles" of wrestling. IT MUST BE A TOP PRIORITY.

 

-KNOW YOUR SPORT- Every high school and college football player knows who won the super bowl and the bcs championship......Keep an interest in your sport, have something like that you dream to achieve one day.

 

-MENTAL APPROACH- When you are in the practice room, knowing you are working harder than everyone will take you a long way. Knowing no guy in the state or maybe the nation is working harder than you will have you ready for battle.

You can tell a lot about your mental approach when you shake hands with the guy in front of you. If you are where you need to be mentally you should be thinking you CAN NOT BE DEFETED, I AM UNSTOPABLE. You don't tell anyone that so you don't come across as cocky, but you always think it. If you think any other way, you are opening a door for yourself to accept something less. Expect to be the best and accept nothing less.

 

-SOMETIMES IS GOOD TO HAVE PRIDE, SOMETIMES ITS NOT- When you get put on your back, or if your toe to toe in overtime, your pride needs to be in full use. BUT when it comes to the practice room or wrestling camps dont have so much pride you don't want to challenge the best. If you see that other guy across the room that kicked your butt last year....GO GRAB HIM...don't worry about who is watching or what people will say if he gets one more take down than you.

 

-ITs OK TO BE A LITTLE CRAZY- Of all the NCAA champions or all-americans or just solid college wrestlers I have met, they all in their own way seemed to be a little different in their training methods, but all consisted in pushing themselves past how far you should be able to...LOVE THE BURN in your legs when you can't stay in your stance anymore...want it to hurt more..... When you hear the voice in your head that says stop, SCREAM SHUT UP and kick it in to the next gear. When your coach says run 10 laps, run 11 or 12 or 20! Have no fear of anyone or anything, if it doesn't kill you, it just makes you stronger. You see that on T-shirts all the time, but write it on a piece of paper and think about it. What is that quote really saying?

 

Just a few things I believe are really vital in becoming "successful" I'm pumped up now, lets keep this thread going.

[mtnrasslin]

In talking to several who have continued on into the college ranks, it is important for our Tennessee kids to get as much national exposure as possible, through both tournaments and camps, and as early as possible. To do this requires a significant time and financial commitment but for those who are committed to college wrestling, it is a crucial component for our kids to find success.

 

The first reason this is important is for our kids to get ranked and thereby get recruited. Whether we like it or not, Tennessee wrestling is not the first place most college coaches look to fill their teams so getting recognized on a national level is a helpful first step in getting a shot at a strong college program.

 

The second reason, which is more important for success in college, is that the more exposure our kids get to kids from the mid-west, PA and NJ, the better prepared our Tennessee boys will be for the college room. I am familiar with one Tennessee boy who had pretty good regional success but realized once he got into a college room that he had to re-learn how to wrestle on the mat. Though he did well on both top and bottom in his high school days, when he got into a top tier college room, he found that he had never really been consistently challenged at either top or bottom to the degree that kids from other parts of the country had. In college riding time wins and loses a lot of matches so mat wrestling matters. Where our better boys have a handful of challenging matches in a typical high school season, kids from these other parts of the country are challenged most every time they go out on the mat. The better the competition the better we become. To find this competition our boys need to broaden their horizons to the national level through both tournaments and camps.