FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5TH
I have been in Russia now for two weeks. It is still hard to sleep through the night, and during the day, I get really tired after eating lunch. But this is expected when you are more than halfway around the world. Right now I’m sitting in the gym making sure the guys cutting weight are doing alright. It is a little distracting with guys running around and some playing basketball while I’m trying to write this, but it’s an exciting time because the tournament starts tomorrow.
We have a very young American team here, but I expect great things from them; and they expect the same from themselves. Ever since Zeke has taken over as the head coach, the national team has been doing more and more international training camps. This is not an easy thing to pull off. These trips require a lot of money, and they take guys who are really sold on the benefits of participating in them. When I first came on the international scene in 2002, I don’t think anyone would have been willing to come to Yakutsk for two weeks. The difference between then and now is that the guys on the team are bought into the benefits of training in Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine, etc. We have gotten past our attitude that as Americans, we have to do it our way to become successful. I’m not saying we necessarily have to do it their way, but it always helps to know what your main competition is doing so you can judge your training accordingly. When I was young and just starting out in freestyle, the Russians where a mystery to me; they were just the best in the world. Now I have spent well over a year training in Russia and its former republics and I know firsthand it is not a secret or mystery as to why they dominant the international level. The young guys on the team who have never been here knew what to expect, but this wasn’t the case 10 years ago. The veterans on the national team talk to the younger guys, these younger guys talk to college kids, and the information we get here makes it way down to the youth level at some point. This is a great thing for American wrestling, and I am a big proponent that the direction we are going in has to start at the top and work its way down to the kids. We are slowly building our identity again, and it is not just hard work wins. We have to train hard because everyone in the world is working hard. Now we are starting to train smarter and we are focusing our efforts on great technique and breaking down the positions that win world and Olympic titles.
After the world championships in 2010, I went to Russia to train with hopes of coming home and becoming a world champion. I was not young when I went over there. When I came back to the U.S. I was hurt and not at my best, but now I am healing up and playing around a lot more with Tyrel Todd and Josh Churella in practice. I have noticed that even though I don’t get on the mat that often my technique and positioning is way better than it was when I was competing. My time in Russia taught me a lot, but one of the most important things I learned was to slow everything down. This past week of training in Yakutia has been light since we have a tournament Saturday. During this week, the local coaches would put the guys through a good 15-minute warm up and then the practices opened up for the guys to do what they want. This is where the important part of this blog begins:
When you are young and just learning how to wrestle, drilling is a great tool to learn the moves, but as you mature and grow as an athlete doing the same move over and over with zero resistance from your partner is wasting time. You already know how to hit the move and doing it on a guy who gives no resistance will not make you a better wrestler, it will only make you a better driller. What I have noticed this week is when given the opportunity to do what they want, the Americans want to drill while the Russians want to spar. Sparring for me has changed my wrestling and my approach to wrestling. For Americans this is a hard concept to figure out because it is not drilling and it is not live wrestling. Americans seem have two gears — all or nothing or nothing. This is not a bad thing, but we have to learn that there is a gear in between — that’s sparring.
Not only is sparring hard to figure out as an athlete, it’s hard to write about. So bear with me as I try.
Sparring is live wrestling but without the intensity. Sparring gives both the offensive and defensive guys a chance to work on their skills. It has to be done with little intensity but perfect positioning and skill. For instance, if a guy takes a bad shot and tries to finish in poor position, the defensive guy will have the chance to defend and win the position. A lot of times in America, guys who are sparring just trade off taking offensive shots and finish every time. This is more like drilling but with more resistance. Sparring should be both guys on their feet doing light hand fighting. This light hand fighting will improve timing when you actually go live. It will show you the openings you need to get to the leg and teach you how to trick our opponent. You can set traps. When you do see an opening and take a shot you don’t want to finish by blasting through the guy. You want to get to the leg and make sure you are in good position before finishing. This will give the defensive guy a chance to get you out of position, stuff your head, take your head to the outside or inside depending on the shot, or block your arm so you can’t cut across. It’s in this kind of playing around where wrestling is learned. When you wrestle a match and get to the leg, a guy will defend it, but if you have been in that position thousands of times while sparring, anything they throw at you will be second nature.
Wrestling starts when you get to the leg, so sparring will help with these small positions that are critical to winning matches. This approach can be applied to all levels of wrestling. If you are not well versed enough to finish most of the time then you need to put yourself in the position and spar. Sparring does not have to always be from the outside; it very helpful if you pick a position and play around. When you start in on the leg you should focus on how to finish with proper positioning and skill. The same goes defensively. In this form of sparring the smallest change in position can make or break the move. This is why it is so important to feel this with little intensity so when you do go live you know where your body is supposed to be and your overall awareness of the position is greater.
If we as a country focus on the right ways of training, it will not take long for us to compete year in and year out with the Russia for the best team in the world. For some of the readers out there being the best in the world might seem like a long ways away, but this way of training will also help make you the best high school wrestler you can be or the best college wrestler, and more importantly, it will help produce the best future coaches who will train people to become the best.
I am so appreciative for the opportunity to be a part of this trip. It is always great to collaborate with USA Wrestling as I work to become the best coach I can be. I also want to thank Candice Kasischke, who works for USA Wrestling. She spends a lot of time making sure all of the athletes and I make it through the trip with no problems. A special thanks needs to go out to Paul Kieblesz of the NYAC. He is our team leader and has put in more time than I can imagine — and has been doing it for 30 years. I want to thank the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club for letting me come here with Ty so we can continue to build the best RTC in the country. I also want to thank Cliff Keen Athletic for letting me take the time off from my job to come here and show all of you this great experience. I hope the photos and blogs will help inspire young wrestlers to have goals of making the USA national team and becoming world and Olympic champions. I also hope my insight has been a helpful resource for coaches who are trying to train the best athletes.
Now the fun begins, stay tuned in for results of the tournament and cheer on Team USA. We can’t win without support!!
Andy