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Wrestling Situation and Speed Drills
By: Antigone Oreopolous

Wrestling Situation and Speed Drills

I’d have to say there is real benefit from situation drills. These are drills that are extremely valuable for developing skills, conditioning and toughness. They all incorporate having wrestlers working in pairs and wrestling full speed from a predetermined position. They last only for a short interval of time (10-30 seconds).

Here are some I did with the Panda’s wrestling team.

Situation Drills

One wrestler gets into position of a taking a double leg while the other person is ready to defend (i.e. the wrestler taking the double leg is on one knee and has a grip around their partners legs, while the other person has his or her hand by the attacker’s head ready to push away and defend). The action doesn’t start till the coach says go. Then the one wrestler tries to finish the double leg while the other tries to prevent it from being finished and either gets out of the situation and back into wrestling stance and/or takes a re-shot..

These are repeated twice (one situation for each partner) for

high crotch

single leg

front head and arm

fireman’s throw

Shot-Re-shot and Shot- Counter-shot Drills

These were my favorite. The shot re-shot drills begin with both in a good wrestling stance. The one wrestler goes in for a shot, but the other wrestler is supposed to block it. The first wrestler is to take a re-shot with a smooth transition i.e. not backing up into a wrestling stance but shot from the angle he’s already at. These drills don’t really work unless the wrestler is actually shooting with the intention of finishing the initial shot – if the first shot can’t be blocked, then that one should be finished. The wrestler on defense, after defending the first shot, stays in that blocking position for the other wrestler to switch moves and shoot again.

For example, a common re-shot is first shoot a high crotch and then when the other wrestler moves his leg back, they are now at the right angle and in the right position to take a single leg. Or first shot being a single leg, then when the wrestler moves his leg back, the opportunity for double leg on the opposite side is there. Or a head snap down for the first shot – when the wrestler brings his head up, a double leg is there to take.

Shot re-shot counter-shot is where instead of the first wrestler taking the re-shot, the blocking wrestler takes the re-shot.

These are great drills because they force you to think fast on your feet – to be aware of leg shot opportunities and aware of your partners’ position.

Speed Drills

These are my least favorite. Probably because they are just so damn tiring.

Basically the title says it all – one partner repeats the same shot as many times as possible in 30 seconds. Then you switch and the other partner goes. If you are being shot at, you have to get up as fast as you can for your partner to be able to go again.

We did this for double legs, high crotch, single legs, front head and arm, shoulder throw, duck under, arm drag, and fireman’s throw.

Here are some others I found on the Internet.. I think some of these would be good for high school wrestling teams.

1. Base: The defensive wrestler begins flat on his stomach with the offensive wrestler on top. On the coach’s command the defensive wrestler must take the initiative and work to get back to his “base” or on his hands and knees while the offensive wrestler tries to keep him flat. The time interval should be short (5 to 15 seconds).

2. Spinner: The defensive wrestler remains stationary on his hands and knees while the offensive wrestler assumes a starting position with his chest in contact with the defensive man’s back. On the coach’s command the offensive wrestler initiates a spinning movement around the defensive wrestler contacting the mat with only his toes and contacting his opponent with only his chest. Each time the offensive wrestler reaches his opponents head, he should change directions. The spinning should continue for intervals of 15 seconds to 1 minute.

3. Blanket Ride: The wrestlers assume defensive and offensive positions with the offensive wrestler draped over his partner like a blanket with arms hanging loosely around his partner’s trunk. On the coach’s command the bottom wrestler initiates movement by crawling, turning, or sitting out, trying to shake his opponent off. The offensive wrestler must try to maintain the blanket ride position for the entire interval (15 seconds to 1 minute).

4. Kneeling Struggle: The wrestlers assume a kneeling position facing each other in some type of tie-up position. On the coach’s command, both wrestlers try to pull or push or twist each other to the mat while remaining on their knees. Intervals should be 30 seconds to 1 minute.

5. Get Behind: One wrestler assumes a defensive position on his hands and knees. The other wrestler assumes a standing position facing his partner and leaning on him so that his chest rests on his partners shoulder blades. On the coach’s command, the offensive wrestler tries to get behind his partner. The defensive wrestler tries to prevent him form doing so while remaining on his knees. The interval should be 15 seconds to 1 minute.

6. Get Away: This drill is designed to improve the defensive wrestler’s ability to get out from the bottom position. The wrestlers assume a referee’s position on the mat. The defensive wrestler on the bottom must strive as hard as possible to either escape or reverse his way out from that position while the top wrestler tries to prevent him form getting away. This drill should be brief, but intense, with the coach starting the wrestlers for a 10 second to one minute interval.

7. Get Out: The wrestlers assume a pinning position with the defensive wrestler on his back and the offensive wrestler in a pinning position on top. On the coach’s command, the wrestler being pinned tries to work out of the pinning situation while the other wrestler tries to hold him there. The interval should be short 15 secs to 30 seconds, but quite intense.

8. Beat The Clock: This drill features wrestlers trying to overcome situations in which the length of match time remaining is of the utmost importance. The coach or teacher specifies a certain match situation, and the time to overcome that situation and then he starts the wrestlers on his command (i.e. one wrestler is two points behind with 30 seconds remaining, the wrestler with the lead must protect it while the wrestler who is behind must get ahead). The time intervals should be kept to one minute or shorter.

9. Go’s: These are situation drills that the coach can create according to what he feels, he needs or wants to emphasize. The wrestlers work in pairs and perform the situations as the coach calls them out. The coach should describe a situation, set a time limit, and start the situation on a command or whistle (i.e. half nelson to pin, 30 seconds, go). After giving each wrestler an opportunity at that situation, the coach should then describe another situation, then another, and another, etc. It is not uncommon for a coach or teacher to spend half an hour doing 30 second “go’s” covering as many as 15 different situations. The coach or teacher should emphasize intensity during this drill trying to put the wrestlers through as many different situations as possible or as many repetitions of a few situations as possible in a set length of time. The situations can involve either full effort by both wrestlers or resistance by the non-initiating wrestler.

10. Dance: This is a basic movement drill done from a neutral or standing position. The two wrestlers tie-up with each other with the leader grasping both his partner’s shoulder tops with his thumbs in the armpits. The follower then grasps under both the leaders elbows. From this position the leader starts on the coach’s command and begins moving in various directions keeping good body position and taking good sliding steps. The follower tries to follow the leader and not lose his balance. After an interval if 30 seconds the partners switch roles and begin again.

Drilling on your non-dominant side

One thing I forgot to mention in the last warm-up article was regarding drilling on your non-dominant side. Most wrestlers have a preferred side of shooting to, and a preferred forward leg in their stance. If you are right-handed, this is usually your right leg forward and taking shots like a double leg or high crotch on the right side. To only be able to finish takedowns from one side is the mark of a mediocre wrestler. Although very difficult, a wrestler should practice taking and finishing shots from the side that they are not very comfortable on. There will inevitably be times were you will either encounter an opponent who wrestles with their left foot forward, or end up in situations where you have an opportunity to take a shot but from the side you’re not used to shooting on. So my advice is when you are drilling, or working with a partner less experienced, make sure to practice shots to both sides. It will definitely improve your game.

Author: Antigone Oreopolous

Date Posted: October 9th, 2007 

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