Currently, many coaches and wrestlers employ around seven basic wrestling skills including stance, motion, level change, penetration step, back-step, back-arch, & lift. There are other skills that expand this list like: go behinds, par terre defense, balance drills, set-ups, gymnastics, tripod position, reverse lifts, sprints, sprawls, jogging, neck exercises.

In most cases, the expanded skills can be done as daily drills with a partner and as apart of stance and motion drills. Also, all of the aforementioned basic skills are also incorporated into the expanded basic skills. The idea is to get wrestlers & coaches to expand the core group of skills into daily workouts to increase and encourage applicable skill sets for matches and competitions.

Many of the expanded basic skills increase coordination, flexibility and strength in skeletal muscles. For instance, gymnastics (hand springs, head springs, forward rolls); set-ups (head snaps, arm snaps, fakes, re-shots, 2-on-1’s, over hooks, underhooks); & neck exercises increase muscle strength used in wrestling while stretching tendons and developing better coordination. Body control and or increased body coordination is critical for increased performance in wrestling and many other sports. These expanded basic skills also help your wrestling technique, tactics, & strategy if done daily.

Some of the expanded basic skills reinforce the aforementioned basic skills. Go behinds (from knees & tripod); balance drills (single leg position on feet, high crotch position of feet, chest-to-chest with hands behind back); reverse lifts (from tripod, knees, & feet) all teach stance, motion, & lifts. More importantly, these expanded basic skills help wrestlers develop technique and skill used routinely in matches. These skills are also done with a partner to realize match like situations & scenarios.

The final set of skills includes jogging, sprinting, sprawling, and par terre defense. Jogging and sprinting can be used to warm the muscles up prior to workouts while increasing explosive strength and or power. These skills may also increase your endurance if done daily. Sprawling can be drilled via stance and motion drills. Sprawling is imperative for counter offense similar to go behinds. Par terre defense is essential because if no one can turn you, you have an advantage. Par terre defense can be drilled daily with a partner or as a shadow drill with commands from your coach.

The expanded basic skills can be done daily prior to your technique and live wrestling portions in workouts. This will: warm up your mind & body, reinforce fundamental applicable s kills, & enhance match & competition skill sets thus improving wrestlers in many more areas than before.

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