Week 2

I want to start off by apologizing for not being at practice most of last week. There was a death in the family which always takes precedence over sports. Thanks goes out to all who have expressed your concern.
With that being said, I was glad to get back into practice this week. It was another great Monday practice with lots of bodies in the room. Everyone gave me their attention and we covered a lot of ground. I feel very good about this young group of wrestlers. They are well behaved and seem very interested in learning the techniques. It is common for this age group to just want to "throw down" without any knowledge of how and why.
We reviewed the shuffle steps from last week and added forward and back steps. Emphasis is on not bringing your feet together or crossing them, short shuffle steps only while maintaining your stance.
We reviewed the drive step and added a fourth step which is called a "double-leg-cut-across" finish. This is the first complete move that we have learned this year. It will also be the first move that we drill with a partner next week. Ask your boys to show you this technique several times this week and stay positive about his work.
We moved to the bottom position next and learned a "Stand-up" which is exactly what it sounds like. There is a specific technique to do everything in wrestling. This is the most effective way to escape from bottom position so I will emphasize this move for the next few weeks.
We finished up with a quick game (sharks and minnows also called hole in the ice) and my favorite part, Live Wrestling! We split up into 3 groups (small medium and large guys) and wrestled for about 10 minutes. Everyone got at least one match and I was impressed with the way everyone went after each other.
Please ask your son how the live wrestling went and say something encouraging about the experience no matter how he describes it. It is pretty nerve wracking to get out in front of a group and get beat in a few seconds. Make sure that they know that it isn't the last match they will get and not to let losses get them down.

And so "IT" begins,,,

Today's practice went extremely well considering that we had so many new faces in the room. I never took an official count but I would estimate that we had 40 to 50 youth in the room, 80% totally new to the sport. The Monday practice is designed for first and second year wrestlers who are relatively young (1st through 3rd grade) but we do have preschool through 6th graders.
Due to short attention spans we keep the practice short and sweet. We went over neutral position and proper stance (which included shuffle steps left and right), Drive steps (very important! Most takedowns require this step.), and we learned top and bottom starting position.
I encourage all parents to get involved in your childs wrestling. Take a few minutes at home to ask him what he learned at practice. Ask him to show you. Whether or not he does it right is not important, they need to know that you care. We will review all of these things throughout the year so one practice doesn't make or break a wrestler. Keep your comments positive when he shows you and encourage him to work hard.
Allow me to be the "bad guy" who stays on them saying what they need to hear (work harder, focus more,etc.) so that you can be his "good guy" parent who says what he wants to hear. (good job, I believe in you, etc.)
I am considering making short videos before each practice outlining what we work on that day to upload to this site that night. Parents would be able to watch with their sons and learn with him. I just wonder if it would be worth the effort? Please leave a comment if you have an opinion either way.

Day Before the Season

I have decided to start a simple blog for our youth wrestling team. Here I will post my thoughts about each days practice, plans for future practices, tournament results, pictures, and random thoughts on coaching.
I hope to make this a resource for parents to know where my mind is when it appears that I have lost it. This is not meant to replace the official team site which is here.