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Wrestling and Football


navy80

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I coach a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade football team.  My four best players are wrestlers.  These four are way ahead of my other players.  Not just tackling machines, but beast at every position I put them at.

 

  Several of our wrestlers start on our varsity football team, but the coaches still hate wrestling.

 

Why?  Why don't some football coaches realize that football and wrestling go hand in hand?

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A better question is how many football coaches wrestled, or an even better question that would not be answered is how many tried and quite?  I haven't talked to a football coach who understands wrestling that did not endorse it to his football players.

 

The smartest football coaches are in college and the NFL and most love to get wrestlers on their teams, and recruit and draft accordingly. The reason young wrestlers are generally very good and more physical then their classmates is simply, because they have experienced a contact sport that requires man on man toughness, and lets face it wrestlers are simply a different breed and generally tougher than others! ;)

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I coach a rec 2nd grade team and my best 2 players are wrestlers (one ISWA state champ and one runner up).

 

I also coach a travel (IEFA) team that finished state runner up last year. Some of my best players were wrestlers. I have a couple of ISWA state champs on this years team.

 

I have some really good recruiting info, that I have handed out at football camps. It highlights how both sports benefit each other and gives many names of wrestlers that have played in the NFL. If anyone would like me to forward you this info, please message me.

 

By the way Avon Head football coach (Mark Bless) was an undefeated state HWT champ for Greenwood back in the day.

 

Get out to the football fields and get those kids wrestling!

 

Matthew Brewer

ISWA Developmental Director

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What do you think of discouraging wrestlers ( or all kids ) from playing football?  Football is very detrimental to developing brains and as damaging as letting your child compete in boxing.  I like to watch pro football, but would not feel good about coaching kids in a sport that is as potentially damaging as football.

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What do you think of discouraging wrestlers ( or all kids ) from playing football?

The old eye for an eye approachprobably wont get you very far.  Football is the "it" sport in Indiana and most states. Some would argue basketball here but the popularity of the nfl, imo, makes football Americas pastime. I love football but hate when h.s. football coaches actively tell kids not to go out for football. I find it ignorant and if they simply said nothing pro or con re wrestling it would be better.

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I don't think of it as an "eye for an eye" approach, I think if as protecting kids from a very dangerous sport.  I loved football as a kid, I just don't want my kids playing it now that there is so much known about how bad it is for kid's brains.  I know there are some people who play who never see the affects, but there is a disturbing number of kids who are going to have trouble later in life.

Take the time to look at a simplified presentation of a study by Purdue (will have to click next at top of page) and tell me it is good for kids to play football - http://www.purdue.edu/differencemakers/nauman.html

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I don't think of it as an "eye for an eye" approach, I think if as protecting kids from a very dangerous sport.  I loved football as a kid, I just don't want my kids playing it now that there is so much known about how bad it is for kid's brains.  I know there are some people who play who never see the affects, but there is a disturbing number of kids who are going to have trouble later in life.

Take the time to look at a simplified presentation of a study by Purdue (will have to click next at top of page) and tell me it is good for kids to play football - http://www.purdue.edu/differencemakers/nauman.html

 

Don't have time to read your posted report.  What I will say is that kids that play pee wee and h.s. football, imo, will have no more lasting effects (especially conscussion related) than any other sport.  I have coached pee wee footbal and I don't think I ever saw a kid get hit so hard that he suffered a concussion.  I know that it happens at that level, I just never saw it.  The little guys that can uncoil and deliver a devastating hit are few and far between.  At the h.s. level the number of big hits increases but still is miniscule compared to the big hits that occur at the next levels.  Telling kids not to go out for football at the pre-college level due to health concerns, is silly, IMO.

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I'm going to hop on my soap box and go off on a side tangent.

 

 

People that say "my kids will never......" usually feel that way b/c they played that sport and made poor choices w/ their bodies (being head hunters in football, extreme weight cutting, etc" or had over bearing parents.

 

I wrestled and played football, was a D-1 prospect in both, and still love both sports. Neither of parents were athletes and were clueless and I wrestled HWT so I only had to cut weight my senior year and some during my Cadet freestyle days when the limit was 242. So I had very few "bad" experiences outside of pressures I put on myself.

 

However I know a guy who knows a guy who has a friend that was a top notch wrestler, but made very poor choices, he cut extreme amounts of weight b/c it was the cool thing to do, wrestled on a torn up knee b/c it made him manly, had an over bearing father, and allowed the sport to beat him up, so now he will not let any of kids wrestle b/c of "The sport beat my body up and spit me out. My kids will never go through that" The sport didn't beat him up, his outside influences did, it's all about learning from mistakes and educating.

 

Same with football, If you have proper technique and try not to be a meat head you'll be fine. People that feel bad about football and will never let their kids play usually feel that way b/c of poor choices that they made, not what the sport did to them.

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"In every physical sport there risks of injury short and long term....you land just right on a takedown and boom no more walking for you...guess we shouldnt support wrestling either..."

 

I totally agree with the first part, but that is a dumb lazy argument if you look at the facts of what football does to you compared to any other sport.  All I am saying is that if people knew how much worse football is for you than other sports, I don't think they would want their kid doing it.

 

"Same with football, If you have proper technique and try not to be a meat head you'll be fine. People that feel bad about football and will never let their kids play usually feel that way b/c of poor choices that they made, not what the sport did to them."

 

Another totally not true assumption there.  I played football and wrestled.  I liked both.  I now know how bad football is for you and don't want my kid to play.  I do hope other people remain ignorant so I can enjoy watching the sport.  There is a reason the NFL is currently being sued by 2,000 former players for brain injuries.  I don't know a guy who know's them, but I do know how to read about it.  There is no proper technique to stop your brain from moving inside your head when you hit something.  I know that happens in every sport, but do a little research and you will see one sport is much worse than the others.

 

 

 

 

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In our Youth league, all coaches are required to take a Heads Up course through USA football.

 

Also in this league, we have gotten rid of all outdated helmets and equipment. A few kids on my team have the new helmet made by Simpson racing.

 

The Indiana Elementary Football Assoc., which is headed up by a wrestling parent (Mr. Obst from Westfield) has adopted rules that limit the amount of contact by the players during practices. And... there must be a trainer at all games.

 

Also high schools and most middle schools have adopted new concussion guidelines.

 

It will never be perfect but, there have been many recent steps by many people to make football and wrestling much safer.

 

By the way........ The NFL has just agreed to pay players $765,000,000 for concussion lawsuits! I am sure that they will do everything in there power to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

 

Wrestling and football can be brutal for the participants we as coaches and parents need to educate our kids and lose the win at all cost mentality. Both sports can be safe, if we go about it the right way.

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I came on stronger than I thought I would when I started on this.  The only way to make football safer is to limit contact.  NFL teams are now going very light contact for the whole training camp and are headed toward no contact practices/camps.  That would make it much more acceptable to me.  New equipment and technique have nothing to do with limiting concussions though.  It's a huge discussion that has to do with the brain moving inside the skull - you don't have to get hit in the head (be a head hunter) to get a concussion, you just have to change speeds enough (hit) to have your brain slosh around.  I just suggest that parents read articles like the one Purdue did a few years ago where it showed you don't have to have concussions to mess up your brain - the kids who got concussions and sat out were better off for brain functioning than those who didn't get a concussion because the sub-concussive hits are as bad or worse.  I don't care if your kid plays, just think parents should really know what is really going on because the damage is permanent and in a very high percentage.  Again, I know every sport has concussions but one is so much worse than the others that it isn't the same comparison.  I know some people would rather not read real studies about the topic than have their kid stop playing the sport.  I just disagree with that approach.

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The whole concussion thing that is going on in sports is terrible. However,  it is called an Assumption of Risk. With any and all sport, when you step onto the mat or the field, you are assuming the possibility that there are risks involved.  Concussions,  breaks, acl tears,, even paralysis are things that can happen.  As others have mentioned , teaching proper technique and being able to recognize the signs of those injuries is about the best that can be done. Football and wrestling can teach life lessons but can be harmful to our bodies.  If you love it , do it. If your scared of getting hurt, walk away.

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I came on stronger than I thought I would when I started on this.  The only way to make football safer is to limit contact.  NFL teams are now going very light contact for the whole training camp and are headed toward no contact practices/camps.  That would make it much more acceptable to me.  New equipment and technique have nothing to do with limiting concussions though.  It's a huge discussion that has to do with the brain moving inside the skull - you don't have to get hit in the head (be a head hunter) to get a concussion, you just have to change speeds enough (hit) to have your brain slosh around.  I just suggest that parents read articles like the one Purdue did a few years ago where it showed you don't have to have concussions to mess up your brain - the kids who got concussions and sat out were better off for brain functioning than those who didn't get a concussion because the sub-concussive hits are as bad or worse.  I don't care if your kid plays, just think parents should really know what is really going on because the damage is permanent and in a very high percentage.  Again, I know every sport has concussions but one is so much worse than the others that it isn't the same comparison.  I know some people would rather not read real studies about the topic than have their kid stop playing the sport.  I just disagree with that approach.

 

A Purdue study wouldn't be very accurate, they get their bells rung every Saturday! Ziiiiing!

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I played football & wrestled in high school.  I can truly say wrestling helps you in football in terms of teaching you to use leverage against your opponent.  As for football helping you in wrestling, it reinforces the need to know what you are doing in terms of skill and strategy.  You got to know how to block, tackle, understand the playbook, etc. in football.  In wrestling, you got to know how to do single & double leg takedowns, how to use a cradle, half-nelson, etc. to pin an opponent, and how to get up after your opponent takes you down.  If a young man in high school has the opportunity to compete in both sports, I'd encourage him to do so.

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I knew it was too much to ask people to read about brain injuries caused by a sport some of you guys coach to youth players and have kids playing.  You guys are right, I was really out there on that one and apologize for that.  I played and wasn't injured so that should be good enough I guess.  You shouldn't read or think about stuff like that - it's a waste of time.  I think I get it now - won't happen to your kid anyway if they don't head hunt and use proper technique.  Makes perfect sense. 

Wait, how did those 4,500 former NFL players with brain injuries and dimentia get $765 million when it was their fault for head hunting and not using proper technique?  And too bad the NFL won't have to release their internal files on what they knew about brain injuries but lied about.  They just want to take care of those old NFL veterans who had really bad technique I guess.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000235494/article/settlement-reached-in-nfl-concussion-lawsuit

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How Wrestling Makes Better Football Players

 

Physical Skills:

Wrestling is a very physically demanding sport.  It is a total body sport requiring athletes to be flexible, strong, explosive, agile and have a great sense of balance.  Wrestling requires a level of conditioning that matches or exceeds any other endurance sport.  Wrestlers, through the course of their training and competition, often compete while being subjected to physical discomfort and pain at a level that far exceeds most other sports.  Wrestlers are required to control the movements of their opponent in order to be victorious.

 

Lateral Movement - keep your opponent in front of you

Explosiveness - close distances quickly and initiate contact

Agility/Balance - take on blockers or tacklers while remaining on feet and running to perform tackle/block/run

Strength - wrestling requires strength through a wide range of motion, this allows the athlete to perform football tasks in unusual positions.

Control - control of your opponent when blocking or tackling.  When a wrestling trained football player tackles a ball carrier they stay tackled.

 

Proprioception is the ability to sense the position, location, orientation and movement of the body and its parts.”  Understanding one’s body position in space without having to look by using the bodies other senses.  An example of this occurs when a wrestler is in a scramble and his head is stuck underneath his opponent.  Without looking he is able to move his whole body and all four limbs in different directions at the same time.  All while simultaneously keeping track of his opponent’s entire body and staying in-bounds to finish the takedown. 

On a football field, an offensive lineman has to keep track of the man in front of him, his body, the bodies to his right and left and the quarterback behind him all at the same time.  A wrestler is forced to hone this skill everyday in a competitive practice environment.  This repetitive practice can only benefit a football player.

 

Anaerobic conditioning is defined as your ability to physically perform at a rate faster than can be met by incoming oxygen.  Aerobic conditioning relies on your body having enough oxygen to support high levels of activity for long periods.  Wrestling relies heavily on anaerobic conditioning as the extreme physical demands of wrestling often exceed the amount of oxygen your body is able to intake.  This anaerobic conditioning is reinforced in wrestling practices and competitions.

Superior anaerobic conditioning is beneficial to a football player because it allows for quick, explosive actions even in a state of aerobic exhaustion.  Football players who wrestle will train their bodies to push beyond normal and comfortable limits to make the play.

 

Mental Skills:

Wrestling requires discipline to train and maintain proper weight and conditioning throughout the season.  Wresting most importantly requires mental toughness.  A wrestler competes as an individual and must defeat his opponent without help.  He relies on his skill, training, conditioning and determination alone.  A wrestler has teammates as well and must remain accountable for his actions to his team.  When he loses he blames only himself and when he wins he shares the victory with his team.

 

Wrestling makes tough, disciplined, conditioned and dedicated football players.

 

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I knew it was too much to ask people to read about brain injuries caused by a sport some of you guys coach to youth players and have kids playing.  You guys are right, I was really out there on that one and apologize for that.  I played and wasn't injured so that should be good enough I guess.  You shouldn't read or think about stuff like that - it's a waste of time.  I think I get it now - won't happen to your kid anyway if they don't head hunt and use proper technique.  Makes perfect sense. 

Wait, how did those 4,500 former NFL players with brain injuries and dimentia get $765 million when it was their fault for head hunting and not using proper technique?  And too bad the NFL won't have to release their internal files on what they knew about brain injuries but lied about.  They just want to take care of those old NFL veterans who had really bad technique I guess.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000235494/article/settlement-reached-in-nfl-concussion-lawsuit

 

General, honestly, thanks for the info I will check it out as I coach M.S. and Frosh levels. Like I said in my original post, education is important.

 

 

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