7 Tips You Can Implement Now To Help You Compete Against The Best
October 30, 2010 Leave a Comment
Pennsylvania high school wrestling is arguably the best in the country. So , how can a club team from North Carolina (not even top 10 in high school wrestling) prepare to compete and win against those kind of powehouse programs? Below are 7 tips that Arrichion wrestling implements–you can, too–in their preparation to do just that…compete against the best.
Arrichion Fall 2010 Pennsylvania events : Waterway Duals, PA (eastern) 1st Place
Ragin’ Raisin Duals, PA (western) 1st Place
Tip # 1. Develop a System: Arrichion has developed a system built on solid fundamental wrestling principles and the philosophy that expertise is developed not innate. (based on the expert performance theoretical framework of K. Anders Ericsson that has been popularized in Malcolm Gladwell’s , The Outliers and Geoff Colvin’s, Talent is Overrated). We train our coaches in the system and all of our club members know what to expect from our system. It is not haphazard. Becoming a good wrestler is a process.
Tip # 2: Structured, Deliberate Practice-Our practices are structured and consistent across the club regardless of who is coaching/teaching. Our practices reflect our system–heavy emphasis on the feet, lots of drilling, progressively challenging, fundamentally sound. We also conduct intensive training camps only for our club members –far better than camps and clinics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz1PXA4X43c]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4hMCrWEONA]
Tip # 3: Commitment-Our team members and our coaches work year-round in our process.We believe in the principle of deliberate practice. Developing expertise in anything takes time—years, in fact. There are no quick fixes. Therefore our club members have to make long-term commitments which includes multiple weekly practices a week year-long., Arrichion weekend long training camps and selected competition out-of-state. And last, but not least, parents who are committed to supporting their kids goals.
Tip # 4: Talent/athleticism is developed. We don’t just look for ‘natural’ athletes—most of our members came to us with little experience and oftentimes with losing records. However, we firmly believe that wrestlers are developed (this is no different from musicians, dancers, writers, mathematicians, etc). We look for hard workers willing to develop. All Arrichion wrestlers are respected and worked with regardless of whether they are 1st or 5th on the Arrichion ladder. We spend time developing athleticism for wrestling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TltP13YYctU
Tip # 5: Competition-We know how to prepare individuals for competition. We know how to focus individuals and the team for selected events. We make strategic decisions about when and where to compete to maximize team and individual efforts—this includes choosing events outside of NC where we are exposed to a higher level of competition.
Tip # 6: Focus at the competition: This begins when we weigh-in and continues throughout the event. The warm-up is crucial for breaking a sweat, drilling our moves, and focusing our minds. We are a team and the team is stronger than the individual. And very importantly, we know how to corner coach—a skill developed both from how to motivate and coach individuals, to recognizing the opponents strengths and weaknesses, seeing the match unfold before it does, jockeying line-ups in the moment, etc.
Tip # 7: A bit of luck.
