Neautral Position Primer

The neutral position (both opponents on their feet) is, of course, a position one needs to master in order to become a proficient wrestler.

Stance and Position
You probably already know you need to keep your feet about shoulder width apart - not too close together and not to far apart.  Some top wrestlers recommend keeping your arms close to your body with your elbows in.  In other words, you don't want to be reaching for your opponent.  Your head and shoulders should be up; you shouldn't be excessively bent over at the waist.  You don't want to be flat footed.



Motion
You want to use short, choppy steps.  Don't cross your feet.  You can circle and you can stalk (move forward, approach and pursue your opponent).  Lead with your head and use your legs.  Don't reach for your opponent.

Level Change
Generally, when you want to change your level you need to bend at the knees not the waist.  You still keep your head and chest up.  You can change level and continue to use motion or you may change level just before making a takedown attempt. 

These basic skills are important to learn and continue to practice even after learning.

These basic skills are needed in addition to learning about different ties, hand fighting, and specific moves.

In fact, Olympic Gold Medalist John Smith states, "If I were a high school wrestling coach I would concentrate on stance, motion, and position before teaching a lot of technique."

Common Wrestling Ties:

• Collar and elbow
• Underhook
• Overhook
• Over and under
• Russian (also called the two-on-one)
• Baseball bat grip
• Double bicep tie
• Wrist ties
• You of course can shoot from an open position without a tie-up

You can force your opponent out of position by pulling, pushing, and twisting his body in various ways depending on how you tie up and how you use your position, motion, and level change tactics.

Common Takedowns:

• Double leg
• Single leg variations including the sweep single, high crotch, and low single
• Duck under
• Ankle pick
• Arm drag
• Fireman's carry
• Front headlock
• Various throws

So, even if you considered yourself a seasoned wrestler you need to keep in mind how important the basics like stance, position, motion, and level change are.  Then you'll be able to utilize ties and specific takedowns more successfully.

Defense

"I shoot, I score.  He shoots, I score." - Olympic wrestling champion Dan Gable

Defending against an opponent's takedown attempts is as important as scoring your own offensive takedowns. 

The most common defense involves sprawling and using a whizzer.  You usually want to force your opponent's head down while sprawling and squaring up your hips.



Olympian Terry Brands is demonstrating some common defense in the video above.

Olympic gold medalist John Smith has explained at camps that when an opponent gets in deep on a shot you may still be able to defend by bumping your hips while passing your opponent's head to the center and using your other hand to push his head down.  Bump - pass - push. 

On the other hand, wrestling has evolved over the years and new techniques like the spladle, funk defense, trick knee or rubber knee defense, and ankle whizzer are being used by some wrestlers as well.



Remember that you can score from offense and defense in the neutral position.