The basics. It’s where everyone starts. And for the most part, it’s the lane we stay in no matter how many adjustments we make along the way. 

We are so used to watching the most high-level guys that we miss the fact that the basics are right there in front of us no matter if we are watching the human glitch in the matrix that J’Den Cox is or mat six at Tulsa Nationals. 

But what exactly are the basics in wrestling? Our very own Mike Mal has done the work with five books of techniques where he breaks it all down for us. But for this we are going to start with three things for the youth wrestler on his first day of practice.

Stance

As wrestlers progress, this is something that probably changes the most. The first is the squared stance.

Second, we’ve got the staggered stance where you’ll either be a right or left leg lead.

Offense: Penetrations Step

Once you find the right (or most comfortable) stance, you’ve got to work on offense and a penetration step is one of the many ways to get this going. While there is a debate of whether this should be the first thing a youth wrestler should learn, there’s certainly no question about making sure it’s part of their arsenal. 

Defense: Sprawl

Until you become as good as Seth Gross, keeping your opponent off your legs with a hard sprawl is needed.

Now, this is just a few of the most basic elements. Like I said, Mike Mal has five books of techniques and I highly suggest you check them out.

Book 1 |  Book 2  |  Book 3  |  Book 4  |  Book 5