The Guru Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 What aspects of the sport should we be focusing on in Indiana to help us get over the hump? We have the numbers. We have one of the top youth wrestling organizations in the world. We have dedicated parents and an army of volunteers. We have year-round training and competition opportunities.... so what's missing? Is it a technical gap? Is it cultural? Are we weak fundamentally? What's your take on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Here are some areas the newer coaching staff in our program have pinpointed to try and focus on improving. Though some are hard to find a fix too, we have noticed program that have integrated many of these items have steadily improved over the last several years. I believe some of the other states have done a better job hitting many of these point too allowing their average level of wrestling remain above ours. Coaching wise: More coaches per team that are at practice on a regular basis and give a multi-year commitment. More coaches, especially at the youth level, with a clear understanding of the fundamentals and how to teach them. Youth wise: Developing a solid youth program, alongside the freestyle/greco season, so more kids have knowledge and experience before middle school. Ensuring the wrestlers at the middle school level are learning the logic behind the moves are drilling and practice them correctly. Getting more matches for MS wrestlers, especially JV. High School wise: Getting more matches for wrestlers, especially JV. Getting wrestlers to have a more well-rounded appreciation for the sport and its history. Other Getting more school and community awareness and acceptance of the program. Getting more numbers to participate in some type of off season practice or wrestling program. We need to do a better job of looking into what other improvements have occurred in state that have shown a large surge in wrestler development within the last 10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2CJ41 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 1. Our kids are not testing themselves out of the state. We have some very good wrestlers, but it seems most are afraid to venture outside the Indiana border. Tournaments like FILA Cadets or FloNationals are a short drive to Cleveland away, yet our participation at those events is dismal. Add to that a great event like Central Regionals held in our state that had more Illinois and Ohio wrestlers than Indiana wrestlers. 2. Coaches are very slow to adapt or change the ways they do things. Too many of our coaches are doing things the same way they did them 20 years ago. Too many coaches are set in their ways and do not adapt to new techniques and strategies. Indiana is about 5-10 years behind states like Ohio and Illinois. Also our coaches do not take advantage of the opportunities to learn and get better that are out there. The IHSWCA puts on a great clinic each year and it is attended by the same coaches every year. 3. Kids/Coaches are afraid of the international styles. For whatever reason it seems coaches do not push learning these styles. Personally I see kids improve more dramatically after doing these styles because they have to learn new techniques and strategies that can translate into folkstyle very easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachGans Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 One thing that could help is having coaches encourage Freestyle and Greco. I know my coach practically made it mandatory if you weren't in another sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norm Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 As coaching improves the quality of wrestling improves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Guru Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 As coaching improves the quality of wrestling improves. Very True Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 As coaching improves the quality of wrestling improves. One other thing I neglected to mention before stems from this comment. Growing wrestling opportunities at the college level throughout the state. Yeah it's an up hill battle at this point but also the larger number of college options has aided other states development from what I've seen. This peaks more interest which develops the cultural and community aspect of the sport. Allows for more opportunities for youth development through camp and other programs. It gives the high school guys more post high school wrestling options close to home, which means a greater chance of some continuing to wrestle in college. It also attracts out of state wrestlers to the state for college, which means more may stay in area and join coaching ranks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fwrestler Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 1. Our kids are not testing themselves out of the state. We have some very good wrestlers, but it seems most are afraid to venture outside the Indiana border. Tournaments like FILA Cadets or FloNationals are a short drive to Cleveland away, yet our participation at those events is dismal. Add to that a great event like Central Regionals held in our state that had more Illinois and Ohio wrestlers than Indiana wrestlers. I think this might be helped by the IHSAA changing the rules to allow programs to compete in any out-of-state tournament during the regular season. Having a program like Mishawaka or Crown Point at the Ironman or Beast of the East would expose wrestlers to different competition and might make kids around the state think twice about going out of state to wrestle during the offseason. I wish I would've had the chance to wrestle in more national competitions than I did, as styles of wrestling really do vary from state to state. It's a great way to test your strengths and weaknesses, and you can definitely pick up a couple moves from wrestlers from other states that will come in handy back in Indiana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcatcountry97 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Wow. Sounds like you guys are pretty hard on the coaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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