bulldog-leader 56 Report post Posted March 28, 2006 What do you or your coaches do to motivate wresters to compete in the off season? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pioneer_pride 1 Report post Posted March 28, 2006 a personal favorite of mine is using negative influence. when they go 0-2 or let's say they just don't place at the state tournament....I like to kick them when they are down...as they are walking back to get their stuff out of the stands, and head to the showers, i like to nag at them... "don't feel bad, that kid that just whooped your @$$....he was way more dedicated than you, he wrestled all summer while you were sitting home playing with your playstation." ;-) Of course, i wouldn't say something like that to a kid who went to camps & wrestled in some off season tournaments. It definitely shows which teams are going to be successful when you go to an off season tournament and see who's sending 20 kids compared to who's sending 0-1 kid. Seriously what I would say to your team mates to motivate them to wrestle in the summer is look at all of the off season wrestling going on in the more powerful states (Oh, In, PA). Just search the web. Ohio's season is over with. Last weekend there were 11 off season tournaments in Ohio. In Columbus they had 3 tournaments....all of which probably had 200+ kids. It is NOT by coincidence that these kids kick our kids' tails. It's simply their hard work paying off!! A lot of those top Ohio kids wrestle 100 matches in the off-season. Think about that....Let's say the average h.s. wrestler in Ky gets 40 matches during the season. That Ohio kid gets the equivalent to 2.5 of our HIGH SCHOOL SEASONS!! You can't compete with that kind of experience by wrestling your regular season and hanging up your head gear. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragons275 0 Report post Posted April 7, 2006 no offense i dont agree with the kick them when theyre down becauase theyre already down y would u want to hurt their feelings even more saying he kicked your a$$. what works best with me is good match you went 2 and out its ok uve got another year go to some camps and get better but what works best is to have alot of people on the team go to the same camp like almost the entire doss team going to river city that made me want to go just because theres people that i kno there Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bulldog-leader 56 Report post Posted April 7, 2006 Dragon great idea about getting everone to go to a camp. However what about a team that has less than 10 members on the team. And almost non of them want to do anything during the off season. They always have an excuse. I don't have a ride. I don't have the time. I don't have the money. I've got to go here and there. ect. ect. ect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragons275 0 Report post Posted April 7, 2006 Yeah u have a point. I think kids are just lazy when it comes to sports they want it handen to them and they dont want to work for anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pioneer_pride 1 Report post Posted April 7, 2006 GOD I'M GLAD THIS WEBSITE IS BACK ONLINE!!!! Dragons275....I respect your disagreement with my negative comment...BUT I look at it as tough love. I've tried this "good job, you went 2 and out...get em next year" thing for a long time. I think a lot of kids want to get better, we all want to be champions....but it's at that MOST painful moment of just losing, that sometimes you can learn the most. That pain fades fast. I'm compassionate about it...I don't purposely say hurtful things, even if I gave you that impression above. When my son gets done placing 2nd in a tourney he should have won, or not placing in a tourney he should have placed in....it's harsh, but the first thing I'll say to him is "remember all that time you spent text messaging instead of lifting weights?" "remember all those tournaments that you skipped to hang out with your friends?" That's WHY you just went 0-2. I imagine I'm going to get my teeth knocked out for saying something like that one of these days. But if his senior year, he's standing at the top of the podium, I'll be overjoyed, standing there with my camera with my 2 fake teeth in the front. Bulldog-leader - Here's a GREAT link to a motivational section at USA Wrestling. This is "10 steps to greatness". http://www.themat.com/ncep.php?page=display&ArticleID=137 I've seen these posters hanging in some wrestling rooms....look at all the stuff they recommend about wrestling in the off-season. I believe I know who you are...I feel for you. If you're the kid I'm thinking you are, I wish you the best of luck this season. You're in an unfortunate situation where it's not the best program around. All I can say is give back to the sport, when you graduate, try to help a youth or m.s. program at your school. Your school has always had a hard time building that program...but it can be done. Look at the AWESOME job being done at Newport. They started from scratch and now have a good feeder program, and a great head coach who's going to make them very successful in the near future if he stays there. Get it started at your school after graduation! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragons275 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2006 The kick them in the teeth method works too I just wish my coach would say anything to me after a match other than u should have done this or u should have done that he says it after every match win or lose i just wish he would yell at the team if we goof off or motivate us. by the way the 10 steps to successful wrestling is hanging up in our wrestling locker room it was hung up by not a coach but a parent who volunteered his time and money and redid the locker room himself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
