benni hanna 79 Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Being a 3 sport athlete and severely injured sophomore year I never had the time nor the money to attend wrestling camps or to practice before late October. Do you think that wrestling year round helps a wrestler improve drastically or just improvements here and there? I was just wondering whether it's better for someone to stick to one sport or to keep playing them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabio Jr. Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 unless your a FREAK athlete its hard to become DOMINENT in a sport if you only focus on it in season...for me im unathletic as heck but i still ran XC in the fall because our room wasnt openI was OK was a SS qualifier but I never was gonna have the success i had in wrestling because i put 100x more time in to it. Wrestling year round basically adds another season to your ability. IE your sophmore year you would be at the level of yourself as a Junior if that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benni hanna 79 Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Nice. I just want to know how to advise younger kids that enjoy playing sports or my own kids if they truly want to have success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benni hanna 79 Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Possible future kids that is lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ENoblewrestling Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I know that I am in the minority here, but I think that an athlete can be fine participating in multiple sports. I would like to see the numbers on this year’s state champs. I know that a lot of the upper weights at least play football, and that doesn't seem to hurt them too much. Athletes who participate in three sports are conditioning and becoming better athletes year round. Focusing on one sport is nice in theory, but how often does an athlete really put 100% into their offseason? I have found that they generally may go to a practice or two a week, and a camp or two. They can do that while participating in track or baseball in the spring. I find that more often than not athletes who want to focus on "one sport” use that as an excuse, not to do the other sports, more so than using that time to truly become better at just wrestling. I mean if they are just focusing on wrestling, I see that as at least an hour 5 days a week, in the room. Im sure there are some who keep on going year round, but most I have seen use their offseason, going to a couple of practices a week, and a tournament on the weekend. They could do this and still play another sport in my opinion. I would also say that three sport athletes have much less burn out, which is a major problem in wrestling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcochran Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 You are only young once. Experience as much as you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornet Coach Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Studies also ahow that if you are at much greater risk for overtraining injuries if you "specialize". If you are always only using the same muscle groups you will get injuries from overuse as well as not strenthining the other muscle groups and the imbalance can cause sports injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tskin Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I will use one of our Top Wrestlers as a example. He is a three sport athlete and excells in all of them, All Conference in Football, State Qualifier in Wrestling, and 6th place finisher in Long Jump and State Qualifier in 4x100 relay in track. I like the idea of kids working out in the offseason but I don't want our athletes just wrestling. I really want them to be in other sports and have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabio Jr. Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 So are we saying that wrestling in the offseason doesnt drasically improve wrestling ability as opposed to a spring sport? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlHungus Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 So are we saying that wrestling in the offseason doesnt drasically improve wrestling ability as opposed to a spring sport? I don't think anyone is making this blanket statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 So are we saying that wrestling in the offseason doesnt drasically improve wrestling ability as opposed to a spring sport? I think it depends on the individual. The word "drastically" may over be overstating it in some cases. Athletes who stay competitive may become better wrestlers because there conditioning and mental toughness will grow, or at least maintain, as they compete in other sports as well. The two state placers Muncie Southside had this year both play multiple sports. They both did some off season wrestling but that was when they were not training for their other sports. I think it is possible to play other sports and continue to get some mat time during the off season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charger.dad Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 and then you have kids like zach corpe at elkhart memorial a few years ago who was all state in football and baseball, and placed 2nd at state in wrestling......and he only wrestled during wrestling season!.......what an athlete......i seriously think that if he had been a wrestler only and did all the year round stuff alot of kids do, that he would have been a multiple time state champ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regionrat1 Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 mR. rOBINSOn all state football - state champ wrestling - state place winner track and field - he needs a secretary to take care of da young mans schedule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreparetoWin Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Most of these examples are of already freakish athletes....what about the kids who aren't super athletes. Does playing a new sport that they have never played before, help them more than putting them in a wrestling room where they have shown signs of excelling. I dont know this answer but for me 1 other sport was okay but if I played 3 I am not sure I would have had reached the goals I set in wrestling. I was not a super athlete. I am sure we all have stories of great athletes who played 3 sports and didnt start wrestling until they were in 7th or 8th grade and were state placers and all state in other sports too. But my question is were these athletes going to excel in anything they did no matter how many sports they played? So does playing multiple sports make you a better athlete or do better athletes play multiple sports? I would like to hear from state placers who arent natural athletes if they owe there success in wrestling to picking up baseball, track or soccer for the first time as freshmen or sophmores....or from year round wrestlers who were thankful they only played one sport or two maximum. Again I dont know the answers but would be interesting to see some studies done and numbers gathered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regionrat1 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 wit all da kids playin video games or skarboarding most schools have a tough time fillin teams. I would encourage kids to play multiple sports / less burn out / i know a local coach who wount let his b-ball player play otter sports- basicallly tells not to bother to come out if youi play football or baseball - baloney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlevito Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Encourage kids to be multisport athletes. Many kids make the excuse of saying they won't have time to lift weights for football, and get mat time also. That is false and kids need to realize that they can succeed at being a 3 sport athlete and still carry good grades. And on top of that, still be able to have a life as a teenager and have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tskin Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 My point is you don't have to give up everything for wrestling to train in the offseason. Especially during Track season. I have coached track for a number of years and coached many state placers and qualifiers who are in college now on scholarship. Track does not take a large amount of time to compete in as wrestling does. I encourage kids to be multisport athletes purely from the standpoint as its something different and it keeps them from that burnout stage. So if a kids wants to put in the effort and go to some camps and compete in the offseason more power to them and they will see benifits from that, but leaving in a matroom 24-7 were it allows you to do nothing else will only do harm in the long run to the majority of high school athletes. That isnt to say you have that stud who all he wants to do is be in the room. Personally I was a 3 sport athlete my first two years of high school and Junior year all I did was wrestle for the most part and by my senior year I was so over weight cutting and wrestling it took me two years after I graduated before i would even step back into a matroom. But everyone is different. So you just have to feel out your wrestlers and see what THEY want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benni hanna 79 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 Thanks guys this really helps because I've always been really good at baseball, but I've been wrestling since age four. I love it, but at La Porte they really don't have a good wrestling club, nor a good middle school team so I spent more time on football and baseball. Wrestling kind of got lost in the mix just because of my location and I can do nothing but appreciate the comments about the benefits of playing multiple sports to help me be encouraged that I made the right decision. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosgrove Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 i was always a three sport athlete and always wrestled year round and had a outside life with that as well I had alot of fun in high school a little to much ive easily gone to a hundred wrestling camps but i owe that to alot of them to Mark Galka I think kids in high school should do other sports not just one makes them more athletic and I know alot of you people will say im crazy but baseball helps alot with wrestling if taught correctly how to hit the ball how you rotate your hips and your foot position just the little things i have noticed and taken from one sport to another Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detail Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Great thread. This subject impacts so many kids. An observation I have had is the choice of specializing can start first with your kid. What makes them happiest? As we all know, kids perform best at what they do when they own the decision and feel good about what they are choosing to do with their time. Not when it is forced upon them. Often times, as they mature, you will begin noticing their interest towards specializing. They began initiating discussions towards that end. They begin wanting to make more practices in that particular sport. A parent does not need to suggest this route. Kids are smart enough to figure that out on their own. They see and hear examples of specialization constantly. When a decision of specialization then becomes supported by parents, the kid becomes open to managing his off-season time productively with only limited help by the parent. I support multi-sport and specialization for athletes. Again, it comes down to what your kid wants. For whatever it is worth, here is a tiny view into specialization. For example, if a kid decides to drop baseball in Spring, that time can be replaced with the technical, physical and mental side of the ISWA season. They add experience in the sport by the intense matches of Folkstyle, Freestyle and Greco State Tournaments and those tournaments that precede the state tournament series. Besides the skill acquired in this extra season, they acquire mental fortitude and more “feel for the sport” (mat time). Then, if your child is willing and has the opportunity of training with a purpose in May and June for a national tournament/s at some venue, they gain even more mat time with extra mental preparation. By summer, if a kid chooses not to play football, his time can be replaced by staying off the mat and his time redirected towards, for example, developing the posterior chain muscles from July through October 27th. This removal from the mat helps prevent burn out and gives the kid new refreshing challenges, all of which contributes to the quality of their wrestling. Then, when the season starts, they feel a sense of being refreshed with the added bonus of being stronger. Burn out can sometimes be addressed by changing the pace of training. I've noticed not too many kids want to be on the mat 12 months of the year. If you have one of these kids, it is unusual. When necessary, help encourage your kid to remove himself/herself from mat training and redirect their focus for a period of time with ancillary work that helps compliment their wrestling ability. Be creative. This is where other sports can come in but they can conflict with the above scenario. Specializing, in my opinion is just that. You define broad areas of work needing done from technique to mental to strength and then you work backwards in making certain those areas get covered. In this example, one could argue that playing other sports does not afford you the time to cover all of these bases. Finally, I understand that to make it to the final match in high school requires some degree of mental mastery. Your average 16-18 year old can crack under this type pressure. I have used the word “mental” a number of times in this post to illustrate how a specialized kid arguably has more opportunities to experience and confront the mental side of wrestling more than the kid who does not train year round. The mental side of wrestling can never be underestimated. I am in no way implying that a kid cannot experience this in other sports, they absolutely can; they would just need to make certain their chosen sport, whether individual or team, is honestly putting them in somewhat of a similar environment. If you listen, kids will reveal their interests in training year round. It is not for everyone and certain kids are better off putting their eggs in multiple baskets or simply enjoying what life puts before them. At the end of the day, it's all about listening and supporting these great kids who have whatever level of interest in this GREAT sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstruck Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 2013 State Qualifiers: Gavan Jolley Little - All-Area Football; 3x Cadet All-American in the off-season; 50+ off-season matches and played football Jasi Coureur: State Qualifier - runs CC and Track - 40+ off-season matches 2012: Alonzo Shepherd - 3x State Qualifier, Folkstyle All-American (off-season) 60+ off-season matches, ran CC and played soccer in HS Elijah Curtley - state placer, 3x Greco State Champ, all-area football Just our experiences here.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoopy Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I always encouraged my kids to keep active. In a smaller school in is probably more important for them to participate. If you listened last week many were multi-sport athletes. HERF did it all for Culver. Jimtown seems to have good participation both in other sports and open wrestling. EMD won in many sports with the same guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstruck Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 video on our kids in multiple sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuckNHide Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 There is something to be gained both ways. Do you want to have your experience an inch deep and a mile wide or and inch wide and a mile deep. They both offer advantages. They both can offer some experience to draw upon later in life. The stud Athletes can be more competitive in multiple sports. I think Wrestling is great for kids who are fairly athletic, but don’t run well. This skill is a must in many sports but I have seen many kids who can run well be successful in wrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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