“More enduringly than any other sport, wrestling teaches self-control and pride. Some have wrestled without great skill – none have wrestled without pride.”—Dan Gable
Wrestling preseason is upon us. As any regular reader of this blog knows, I love the sport of wrestling. I was an average wrestler in high school—at best—nevertheless, it is the best sport in which I have ever participated. It isn’t the only sport, of course, but, above anything, it is a keystone sport. I wish every kid—boy and girl—would have the opportunity to participate in wrestling at least once in their early years. Why? Because….
Wrestling teaches self-disciple. I like to think of wrestling as being unique in that it has three levels of competition: team v. team, wrestler v. wrestler, and wrestler v. him/herself. “Hunger” is a multi-faceted word when it comes to wrestling. There is, of course, the hunger to succeed. But there is also the hunger pangs that come with cutting weight. Beyond the discipline of drilling and conditioning, wrestlers have to “make weight”. Wrestlers weigh in before competition, so it is daily weight checks, cutting food intake, withholding water,… sacrifice and self-control.
Few athletes work as hard as wrestlers. I never knew what it was like to sweat until I wrestled. I was never in better condition than when I wrestled. Like all sports—but ramped up a degree or two (or three)—wrestling requires the athlete to push through the hard practices. I still appreciate the days of high school practice when, drenched in sweat, we left the wrestling room after a hard practice of drilling to run in the pool deck (the hottest place in the school), to lift weights, do “Russian conditioning”, sprints, stairs, or whatever was on the agenda for the day. When you wanted to stop, there was always one more to do. I learned to not quit.
Wrestling is relational. My son pointed out recently that one of the things he loves about wrestling is that he gets to know kids at a wide range of grade levels. In lacrosse and football, he always participates on teams limited to a grade level above or below his grade. His club practices includes grades through high school. He especially appreciates the leadership and example he receives from the varsity kids.
Wrestling is competitive but it is supportive, as well. I emphasize to my son (better I say I reemphasize since he hears this from his coaches regularly) that he should always partner not with the kids he can beat, but rather the kids he wants to beat. In the wrestling room, there is no need to look good for the coaches. The wrestler has to be good. The coaches can’t pick favorites for the starting line-up. Rather, the wrestler proves his/her worthiness to be in the starting line-up by defeating the others in the weight class. As a team, the objective is for everyone to get better—the better your practice partner becomes, the better you become.
Some of my best friendships remain with old teammates and people with whom I have connected over the sport of wrestling.
Wrestling is foundational to all sports. Above anything else, the skills of wrestling carry over to all sports. I am hard-pressed to think of any sport that cannot benefit from some experience wrestling. Countless college and professional football coaches have argued that wrestlers make the best linemen (and other position players). I see firsthand the benefits of wrestling on my son’s lacrosse play. Whatever the sport, wrestling provides a foundation of strength, power, agility, balance, muscle coordination, reaction time, and general preparatory conditioning that carries over to other sports.
I preach multi-sport participation—especially before the age of 12 years. Wrestling need never become a primary sport, but making it one’s winter sport or giving the kid a season or more of club wrestling can help him or her be a better athlete. I have even seen kids who play basketball participate also in a few club practices a week. It can’t hurt.
Beware, though. Wrestling can get in a kid’s blood. Good, average, or poor, “once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy” (Dan Gable).
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!