Whats with Good Wrestlers Quitting?

[bbulldog152]

So a 14-18 year old kid who weighs 150 lbs and loses 2.25 lbs per week for 4-5 weeks and gets to 140 is no big deal?  These kids are growing.  Even losing 10 lbs can have a significant effect on someone, even if they did it the right way. 

at 2.25 lbs a week it would take about 4.5 weeks to drop from 150 to 140 which is is about 7% body fat which means they would have to start off at 11% to 14% body fat to be able to make that drop. so no it's not a big deal with the right coaching and right attitude. if you want to be the best you have to do as the best. well a wrestler should be able to loose at least 1.5% a practice unless the practice is too easy.

I think a l0t of kids quit because they get mentally broke. This could because of many reason but basically means they don't feel it's worth it anymore. Yes no matter how good or bad a wrestler wants to win or loves wrestling the love and drive can be taken away. They're just kids and can be driven too hard. Yeah it's the parents and coaches job to push them but there is a such thing as being pushed too hard. My roommate in college came from a family where his dad and older brother were state champs. He started wrestling cause he wanted to and wanted to state champ but his dad would be just too negative never gave him a chance to enjoy high school and by time he was done with high school though he won state he hated wrestling so much he went to college 13 hours away from home just so he wasn't around his dad. so yes kids can get burned out if pushed the wrong way.

[towelboy08]

Being "burnt out" is a real concept. Wrestling has evolved from years ago, where you did wrestling when it came around and that was it. there was no year round wrestling as there is now. so a kid can easily get burnt out. a kid may be burnt out, but continue to wrestle because of the expectations of fans, team mates, and even coaches. You are always told to "do it for yourself" but lets be serious...easier said than done.

[Smooth34]

Being "burnt out" is a real concept. Wrestling has evolved from years ago, where you did wrestling when it came around and that was it. there was no year round wrestling as there is now. so a kid can easily get burnt out. a kid may be burnt out, but continue to wrestle because of the expectations of fans, team mates, and even coaches. You are always told to "do it for yourself" but lets be serious...easier said than done.

I know kids who play basketball year-round.  They do it at school, AAU, etc.  I never hear about them getting burnt out.  Do I think kids get tired, beat-up, fatigued, etc.....YES.  However, most kids use being "burnt-out" as a convenient excuse.  It can be a cop-out because no one else can ever really know for sure.  Only the man in the glass.

[bbulldog152]

Are you trying to compare basketball to wrestling? If those basketball players had to cut weight year round they would get burned out.

[Grenadier2012]

Are you trying to compare basketball to wrestling? If those basketball players had to cut weight year round they would get burned out.

Well said, I was just about to post the same thing.  Not all kids quit because they can't hack it, it is usually the tough kids that have put in the time and excelled that get "burnt out".

[The Iowa Kid]

I never remember seeing any basketball players running with me at 5 am on a Saturday morning to cut weight before a tournament.

[bbulldog152]

I don't think there's any high school sport that brings the demand that wrestling does.

[revandy]

Every kid I've had quit was over a girl, work or laziness.  Most were girls though (both the reason they quit and what I thought of them).

I would seriously suggest you take some time to ask yourself why you are coaching. I think that we fail to see that these kids are indiviuals and that they will all react differently to parental and coaching attempts at motivation. It would be nice if we could teach each youngster in the same way and get the same results but that is a fantasy land. Maybe we need to listen more to what we say to the kids and listen even more to them and encourage them instead of calling them names.

I am sure that every kid who ever quit wrestling did so because of a girl, work, or laziness. It couldn't possibly be the thought that spending one more second listening to a jerk of a coach makes their skin crawl and their intestines twist. It has to be a problem with the kids. 

[mikev]

This sport, more than any other, can turn kids into cowards.  This is not a sport for the meak or weak.  You have to be 100% committed. 

cowards?......i don't think so......it turns them into very confident young men......ones that are not afraid to step out in front of others and face possible defeat.....the ones that quit are not necessarily cowards either......like what has been said on here, there are many different reasons that a kid might give it up......i don't think it's often because of being a coward........

[Smooth34]

cowards?......i don't think so......it turns them into very confident young men......ones that are not afraid to step out in front of others and face possible defeat.....the ones that quit are not necessarily cowards either......like what has been said on here, there are many different reasons that a kid might give it up......i don't think it's often because of being a coward........

I wasn't trying to compare basketball and wrestling as sports, I was just saying kids do play year-round and many get just as much parental pressure as wrestlers. 

Wrestling is the greatest sport in the world.  It teaches confidence, perserverance, discipline, and just about every other important quality one can use in real life.  I wasn't trying to say every kid who has ever stopped wrestling is a coward. 

However, many kids who stop wrestling (quit) or who never try it is because they don't want to work that hard.  Which is why schools have 75 kids on the football team and 15 kids on the wrestling team. 

If quitting is okay with you, regardless of the reason, that's your opinion.  I just think kids use being "burnt-out" and weight-cutting as convenient excuse.   Stop cutting weight if its such a big issue.  You can have success at any weight if you put the time in. 

[bbulldog152]

Wrestling just isn't for everyone even if they're good at it. it takes a unique kind of person to wrestle. and not everyone has the mental mind set to wrestle. All the other sports don't have the demands that wrestling has which is why they don't quit as much.

[towelboy08]

I know kids who play basketball year-round.  They do it at school, AAU, etc.  I never hear about them getting burnt out.  Do I think kids get tired, beat-up, fatigued, etc.....YES.  However, most kids use being "burnt-out" as a convenient excuse.  It can be a cop-out because no one else can ever really know for sure.  Only the man in the glass.

A convenient excuse for who? If they are doing it for themselves then who cares who believes his excuse or not? And basketballs level of commitment is quite different than a wrestlers, I can assure you. These good wrestlers dont have to explain to anyone why they quit.

[Smooth34]

A convenient excuse for who? If they are doing it for themselves then who cares who believes his excuse or not? And basketballs level of commitment is quite different than a wrestlers, I can assure you. These good wrestlers dont have to explain to anyone why they quit.

So they don't have to explain to their coaches or teammates or parents why they quit? 

No accountability...nice.