I've heard it said that football is a game of inches. That’s nothing. At the highest level, wrestling is not only a game of millimeters but of fractions of a second as well. 

You can have the best offense in the world, but if you execute while your opponent is ready your chances for success are severely hindered. That’s why transition wrestling becomes so important. Transitioning from a takedown to a turn has been at the top of every good coach’s to-do list in the spring for as long as I can remember... and it is finally starting to stick. 

At this year’s edition of the Bill Farrell Memorial, which wrapped up over the weekend in New York, we saw some great transitional turns on top. What’s more is that a good amount of this turns came against foreigners (U.S. wrestlers have historically struggled against foreign-born athletes on top).

Tommy Turner 

Thomas Gantt became "Tommy Turner" this weekend as he captured the tournament title at 74kg. What I liked most about the ways in which Gantt turned people is that they weren’t by the most traditional methods. Check out the way that Gantt finishes this double and spills Franklin Gomez for another two points as they go out of bounds in the semifinals. 

This turn is super easy to learn. It's easy to drill (no one likes drilling gut wrenches) and costs nearly no energy in a live situation. Check out the Behind The Dirt that we did on it below. 

Trap Life 

Learning a trap arm guts is extremely valuable. If you can learn how to transition to a trap arm, you can end matches—quickly. One of the easiest ways to learn a trap arm is to hit it when you're finishing a double. As your opponent puts his hands down, just hop sides and attack elbow-to-elbow. 

If you’re more of a fireman’s carry kind of guy/gal, then maybe this transition is for you. 

If you’re a trap-arm-transitioning black belt (and 7-foot tall at 163lb) you can hit this sequence from a swing single like Tommy Gantt.

Vallimont's Sneaky Toe

Gantt's opponent in the 74kg finals, Danny Vallimont, hit some pretty sweet transitions as well, but if you blinked then you missed it. Take a look at this transition from a high crotch to a leg lace. 

He makes it look easy, right?

Take a closer look. Watch Vallimont's right leg. 

What you may have missed the first time is when Vallimont decides to go to a lace he uses his right leg to isolate and immobilize the right leg of his opponent. 

Notice that Vallimont's knee is on the outside of the leg and that his right foot cuts across the calf. The knee on the outside keeps the bottom wrestler from raising his knee up toward his hip and the foot on the inside pushes the ankle down so that he can scoop it up. Perfect technique.