Individual coaching
by
Brad Gillespie
(NCAA stuff below all this...)
Contact
>Are you failing to connect (with your opponents legs) when you setup and shoot a takedown? (or, if you do manage to connect, you're so out of position, all you really did was set him up to take you down!)
>And how about the bottom position -- do you struggle to execute a first move? Or after that first move fails, you can't get good position -- you lose you arms, collapse, whatever?
>Is your main move on top letting your opponent go? (or just clinging to him while he tires you out and sucks all the life out of you?)
I've been involved in wrestling for a super long time -- (sorry, not betraying when I started!) and had two pretty successful sons, Gregor and Torsten, who I coached up thru pee wee and (part way) through highschool....(partway because at a certain point they weren't interested in what I had to say anymore!). Since their days in Highschool, they've both competed successfully at the D-l level in college, and I have been learning from them, as well as many other very good D-l wrestlers. One of the areas I always emphasized was mat wrestling. Most of HS wrestling in this area is learning escapes and takedowns, which a lot of situations in HS will get you wins, for sure; there have been many state champs who had one quick move off bottom and great takedowns. In college, learning how to wrestle on the mat is essential, in both positions. In HS, being stranded on bottom after the first move fails, is horrible. And not being able to dominate and score on top is a waste of good potential. There just isn't any reason to be weak in these positions, and strong only on your feet.
Most wrestlers, when they miss their first move, plop to the mat spread out and struggle to regain any good position. (this obviously doens't include higher level wrestlers so much, although I've seen it at the D-l level, with very good wrestlers!) Being able to miss that first move and still have a strong bottom position is crucial -- or to just start out from a good offensive position on bottom! That's what I love doing -- getting a wrestler into that situation, so it become automatic in competitive situations.
And if you are so so at takedowns and left wondering why all those setups that work so well in drills don't work live, its usually because you wait. The secret to making takedowns work is attacking immediately after some other disctracting impact has been made.
For a lot of wrestlers, the top position if just useless, when it should be used as an opportunity to grind your opponent down and score on him. Learning how to put your opponent on the defensive is essential to good top position. You don't want to be struggling to contain him so that eventually its just easier to let him go.
The beauty of individual coaching is that positions are continually reinforced. I work and rework them. So its not just a camp, where you nod your head yes, after completing a new move properly, then don't use it for 3 months, and forget it totally.
We have a nice wrestling and workout room here that's had plenty of use!
$25 per hour/individual sessions --
also available for group/team sessions -- ....just give me a hollar on that one...
What ages and levels? 8th grade and up, some experience is sure nice. Feel free to call or email with questions.
..............you can call me at 585 872 1723, Or you can email me with
questions
Brad
Gillespie Training
Put Text hereNCAA D-l tourney in Philly 2011....
Since I've been going to the nationals, I don't really think I've witnessed such an interesting NCAA finals.
At 125, there was Robles, the AZ kid with just one leg. Here is a kid who is an obvious crowd favorite (other than for Iowans, who could arguably be considered a crowd amongst the crowd!). Anyone who regards him as being disadvantaged because he is missing a leg is sadly mistaken. I would hate to be a coach sending my last year's national champion out there against this year's Robles. He is just unbeatable. How do you wrestle him? You have to be on all fours on the mat -- otherwise he fires off a shot, and will get a leg, very low - and no matter how he gets it, or where he is, he will haul the leg in and finish. Rolling around trying to defend that single is nearly impossible; any instinctive moves at leg grabbing mostly come up missing, for you, not for him! So that situation has to be avoided, but rarely is. Get on the mat with him on all fours, he locks up your wrist and then you are locked into his game. Disadvantage, your's. Invariably, he will score, which puts you in a worse position, because once he captures your arm, and he will, he does a roll thru tilt. It can't be avoided (although Kjar, from Upper Utah, did manage!! -- Kjar is a man, 28 years old. He doesn't have the upper body strenth Robles does, but he has more than other 125 lbers. Still, the incredible strength difference between Robles and his opponents is insurmountable, and spells undeniable trouble for them on bottom). McDonough, last year's champ at 125, was down 7-0 in the first period. Robles has all the advantages, because he has wrestled his entire career without one leg. Noone else ever gets to practice against someone without a leg, or with someone who has the upper body strength of at least a strong 149 lber. In that singular sense, this is unfair. But that doesn't stop you from cheering for him -- he's doing what he has to, wrestling where he has to, demonstrating something that is clearly unique -- I mean really, how many guys would select to wrestle if they had just one leg? And to put up with all the difficulties of the sport? He's amazing -- and its probably going to make a good book someday.
133 came off pretty much as I expected, and probably everyone else who wasn't a Boise fan, of which there were many! Jordan Oliver wasn't going to be denied. Plus he's just the best kid at the weight.
At 141 Kellen Russell hasn't been beat all year. His matches are -- oh god! -- seemingly endless and snorefests sometimes.....2 x ot....3 seconds riding time...he won two matches in this tourney by 3-9 seconds of riding time. He rides well and escapes well. Its a magic combo, everything else being seemingly equal. And honestly, I was just sick of watching it. I was almost hoping he'd get beat! But watching him deal with obvious ankle issues and execute an electric go behind to win the match against an almost equal opponent -- I changed my tune. He was waiting for a scramble (you know, action!), got it, and took advantage of it. I got the distinct impression that he couldn't really shoot because of his ankle, heading into the final period. You gotta hand it to him, he sucked it up and did what he does so well.
149 -- featuring the little hulkish dynamo, Molinaro and last year's 141 champ Dake. I was torn on this one, but gave the slight edge to Dake -- who had beat Molinaro by a very slim l pt. at the Southern scuffle in Dec. -- and honestly, that match should have been Molinaro's, just based on Dake stalling so much of the time. Molinaro had the revenge factor going for him. Dake has lost a few times this year (once to Bing.U's Vinson -- and I'm sure this was an incredible moment for Vinson, but once nationals arrives,it counts for very little; Vinson, seeded 9th, went 0-2) and his ability to defend his title was suspect. He hasn't looked all that impressive all year long frankly, and he had his doubters. Who woulda thunk what was about to happen even could happen? Anyone who has seen Molinaro wrestle has to think this was an impossibility! He literally got crushed. A new Dake had appeared, one seemingly redesigned for this single mission. He was larger (he's large, believe me, and anyone watching might understand why he was a bit less exciting during most of the season...) But the 3rd day, and the finalists just sorta wait the entire day, eating, resting, gaining weight...And Molinaro looked small! -- especially with Dake covering most of him for at least 2/3 of the match! After a quick takedown, Dake didn't let him breath! -- and then, in the second period, against his coache's guidance (Sanderson I mean!) Mlinaro he chose down!! What???? Why would he do that when he just got rode mercilessly for nearly 3 minutes??? I honestly believe that Molinaro just hated having been held down and getting out was a matter of pride for him -- what other reason for doing so? ....no answer to that, since more of the same ensued, only worse! Back points added to Molinaro's misery as he suffocated under the relentless Dake pressure. Oh, what an incomprehensible pounding! I was frankly incredulous as I watched Molinaro squirm helplessly on bottom! This had to be the most incredible 7 minutes of the nite...well, not quite: At 157 Taylor had yet to fullfull his mandate: continue his journey to become the next Cael Sanderson, his mentor, coach...blah blah...
Taylor is unbelievable. He's one of the slickest, smoothest kids I've seen, ever. I pretty much knew he would win. Only the real ardent Bubba (Jenkins, his opponent) fans could possibly think otherwise. (and there were very few of them). But did you know, that Taylor was Bubba's replacement at Penn State? Did you know that they wrestled for at least a year on the same team, while Taylor redshirted? Did you know that Cael got rid of Bubba, and that there was some real resentment on the latter's part? I don't know why, or even the intricacies of all this. But Bubba ended up at AZ Univ., and this climactic ending was the result. I've watched Taylor in several matches this year, and he's very savvy, rarely gets into any bad situations, and executes transitions from one move to the next like he was born to do so. I also figured that since Bubba had trained with him at PS, he would have a good feel for Taylor's takedown style, which he did. No takedown...Taylor got an escape....and then, in a sequence that started off with Taylor shooting, and Bubba defending, Bubba ended up locking up a cradle. I fugured ok, how good is he with cradles and how dangerous could this be? Its Taylor! -- then Bubba rolled back thru with the thing! -- and pinned him! -- it seemed impossible, but there it was, a year's worth of dreams crushed for the next Cael, but 2 year's worth of pent up anger vindicated by Bubba -- not against Taylor, I would guess, but more likely against Sanderson -- I mean ouch! Now this weight class also featured another big moment, in the semis, which I wrongly figured to be the finals...I mean I was way wrong. I thought it would be Fittery and Taylor who would provide us with the tournament's most momentous match...but arghh! -- Fittery, who was undefeated and dominating all year, fizzled -- just like last year in the semis against O'Conner. Now Fittery came back and beat Adam Hall in the wrestlebacks...5-0. So he can wrestle. But maybe not in the real biggies -- the ones that really, really matter....
Perhaps the most predictable match was 165. Burroughs is the everyman, unstoppable. If he shoots, he most likely will get a leg -- and if you defend, he'll make it work. SIngle to double, double, double to single, back to double...he has such strong, long arms -- and travels like he's heading out the door! -- he's super dominant, and handled Caldwell easily. This is at the weight where everyone, last year, would have predicted Andrew Howe (Wisc) would dominate forever. But Burroughs dominated him earlier this year. Howe then had a pulled hamstring, and hasn't really been the same, since he can't seem to get his shots off well; he ended up 3rd. Injuries often have this ugly effect. But had he been whole, ready to roll, I don't see him having beat Burroughs.
Reader was the dominant force at l74. He's been at l65 for 3 years and been very good, but never really one of the tops guys. 174 changed all that. The kid's a beast! Also, he's the 3rd national champ from Davidson, Mi, in the past 4 years! How's that? Donahoe, Metcalf, Reader! Its not a private, wrestling boutique school like St. Edwards or Blair. Its just a public school in Michigan! -- with a great coach!
184 -- this class was all over the map. Honeycutt was the #1 dude. Wright was the #9....Wright was the #8 dude in the big tens, but won. So something was happening with that kid. I know Honecutt well, and he's gifted with a feeling for where he's at that few guys have. I've seen him walk into the worse situations and come out smelling like a rose. He's a bit sloppy, and almost lazy looking sometimes, but he has raw talent. And is built like a gorilla. That helps. Wright peaked at the right moment....and took advantage of Honecutt's lazy moments, and somewhat sloppy positioning. Wright is long and very good technically. He moved thru the tournament pretty easily and honestly was just too long for Hamlin -- who is a very skillful wrestler with great setups. Just not long enuf for Wright!
Now I usually get a bit bored and tired during the final two weights. But not this time! The match between kilgore and Foster was great. I really figured that Foster was going to take it. Kilgore didn't seem to have the leverage to take him down -- even with his great doubles. Foster had the edge there, which seemed to be what would win the match. But a mad scramble at the end showed what a great competitor Kilgore is and he came out with a pin. Kilgore is a fun big guy to watch -- he's extremely powerful and moves like a 57 lber! Kent's first champ too, I believe!
Ok, I was awake now, but figured I could snooze during the hwts...nope! Wow, did you see Ray? He's huge!! And really not a lot of that seems to be fat....which means its strength!, and with Steve Macco as his new workout partner, he's got all he needed to be ready for Flores. Partway thru the match, there was a scramble that would have been the end of any other big dude, but Ray funked his way out of it and ended up winning the match. Flores gave him all he could hangle, but Ray clinched the win. It was a very impressive heavyweight display of the ability to move in positions heavyweights don't norally move in; and it was also a display of incredible altheticism on the part of both wrestlers. Great match!
Astounding final thoughts on this tournament: I think Dake would have beat Taylor in the finals, had they wrestled, weighing exactly what he weighed against Molinaro.