Anxiety/Nervous before a match + other questions from a first year wrestler

[bigteeth96]

Question 1: Hi, I am a first year wrestler and I never really played sports on a team before, so I am not good with handling the mental/nervous factor that comes with wrestling. I love wrestling, but I hate being nervous. I don't know why I'm nervous either. I am not afraid of getting hurt or getting a nose bleed. I am not afraid of the audience either. When I am warming up for my match, I feel all shaky. I keep thinking I am not stretched well enough and I have to yawn a lot. I am not hungry because I eat healthy and hydrate with water well. I tell my self I am going to win, I am going to rip his head off, I am the super saiyan, all sorts of stuff like that. However, the nervousness still gets to me. BUT, after I shake my opponents hand, all/most of it goes away and I just wrestle my heart out. Do you fellow wrestlers have any advice for getting rid of this nervousness before a match?

Question 2: On only one of my matches, I was intimated by my opponent and I let him control me for a bit in neutral. I guess it was the first time I had wrestled someone stronger than me because I could feel his strength pushing me. I am not asking about how to wrestle a stronger opponent, just how to get rid of the fear of wrestling someone you know is stronger than you physically.

Question 3: I notice that some wrestlers have a low stance in neutral right before the whistle is blown. Then, they dive with no good penetration step and get something like in this video.
http://www.thewrestlingtalk.com/videos/VideoID-1600/
Is it a good idea to do this? Should I back up a little when the whistle is blown just to avoid getting caught by this from a quick opponent?

Question 4: What is your favorite: Takedown, pinning combination, breakdown, standup/reversal?
Mine is:
Takedown: Single leg trip ( against a right foot forward stance opponent )
Pinning combination: power half nelson ( it works well for me )
Breakdown: tight waist w/ wrist/ arm control ( waist control gives me a good amount of control and if tight, it is hard for the opponent to rip it off )
Standup: basic standup + rip the waist control + run ( switches and sit outs seem too risky for me )
I am not saying I will not do other moves. These are just the moves I seem to do a lot.

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Question 5: I like to go for high crotch/single leg takedowns against right foot forward stance opponents because I am a left foot forward is it seems easy for me to just take a quick shot and get control of the leg. However, I don't like going for that takedown when I vs. left foot forward stance people because the leg I like to shoot on is in the back now. Any suggestions?

Question 6: Many of my opponents have an extremely low stance at times and it can be quite frustrating because they are so low that their elbow is nearly touching their knee, so they would be able to just sprawl or block any of my shots.

Thanks everyone. I have a meet tomorrow. I will post how I perform .

[Laynerz]

I get nervous like that too. As soon as that whistle blows though it changes. My coach told me he always had butterflies before every match.

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When wrestling someone who is stronger and pushing into you a lot, use a throw by or high crotch. Easy take downs when they are pushing into you.

Not sure whether its a good idea or not, but I haven't ever seen really good wrestlers do that. I had a kid do that to me in the 3rd and 4th place match at my school's tournament. Easy go behinds because of how easy it was to snap him down and get behind.

take down: russian to a snatch single
pin: cradles, halfs and when i'm riding legs; the guillotine
escape: sit out with a hip heist finish

[bigteeth96]

Thanks Laynerz, you have been a major help to me lately.

1. I guess that's a part of wrestling that I have to accept.
2. It does seem like they are open when they are pushing into you a lot. Plus, they are wasting their energy doing that.
3. Ok, unless I am versing an extremely quick person, I will probably be able to sprawl and get behind for 2.
4. Interesting

[Laynerz]

no problem, a good throw by will beat a lot of pushy wrestlers. i wrestled the kid who went on to become the sectional champ last weekend and i scored 2 take downs just from a throw by because of how pushy he was. good luck at your match tomorrow

[IloveSATS]

1: It's important to realize that being nervous before a match is not always a bad thing. When you're nervous, adrenaline gets your heart pumping and will help to warm you up and get you mentally ready for a match. However, it's true that too much nerves can be a bad thing, and it will affect you on the mat. What you will develop as you continue to wrestle and wrestle more matches in competition is you will develop a mat sense - you will simply start to get used to walking out on the mat and competing. As you get used to competition, these nerves will eventually go away and it will just seem like another day at the office. That's not to say you shouldn't get pumped and ready to roll before a match, because you should - but eventually, those nerves will go away.

Confidence is also a factor when it comes to nerves. As you continue to develop your technique, strength, and conditioning and you start to win more matches, you won't go out thinking "man, this guy is really big and he looks pretty strong, I might lose" - you'll think "man, I can't wait to get out on the mat and show everyone how badly I'm gonna whoop this guy's butt".

2) You have to trust in your technique and your conditioning when you wrestle a guy who is stronger than you. If you go out there scared, you aren't going to open up and use your offense - you'll be on the defensive for the entire match. Trust that you are more technically sound than him, and confidence will naturally follow. Is he a lot bigger than you? Perhaps he is cutting a decent amount of weight; if so, know that when it comes down to the third period, you'll have the conditioning in your back pocket to win the battle.

3) That's called by many "a low single off the whistle". It's more of a tricky tactic and one to use when you think your opponent isn't prepared for it. As a first year wrestler, I honestly wouldn't learn about trying to do that yourself - however, you should be wary of it. Especially at the middle school/JV level, many kids shoot right off the whistle at the beginning of a match (not specifically a low single even, many shoot high crotches and doubles) because they can get away with it most of the time. This is because their opponent is not ready to counter that shot right from the start (not knocking JV wrestlers here, just saying that it happens a lot). You don't need to back up at the beginning of a match, just be aware that an opponent could potentially shoot at you right off the bat. The best advice I can give you is to stay on your toes (literally and metaphorically) and be ready to sprawl or downblock at all times.

4) Kinda differs - my favorite and the one I use the most are not always the same, but here goes...

Favorite takedown - inside trip/footsweep (from a Russian, underhook + collar, over under)
Most used takedown - high crotch and then cutting the corner into a single leg (from elbow control and inside/outside control)

Favorite pinning combination: Tight waist/half into a crab, tilt him back for near fall and then hop over and readjust for the fall (can't really do this against the better guys that I wrestle since I have trouble getting into the crab against guys who know what they're doing on bottom)
Most used pinning combination: Crosswrist roll-through tilt into a turk

Favorite breakdown: Spiral ride to tight waist/half, hook leg and pinch hips to pull him into a crab ride
Most used breakdown: Off the whistle, hand in the crotch and arm underhooking straight below his neck (almost like a short half-nelson), basically a spiral ride except you're not getting out to the side. Then, sink my shoulder in and sink in a claw and pressure forward with my knee to break them down.

Favorite stand up: Right off the whistle, step my leg up and block the inside control so he can't get my wrists. Then, I get on his wrists and pivot into my stand up, then cut out for the escape. If he pressures me back down to my base, I knee slide up and do it again.

5) I might not understand the question correctly, but if he has a certain leg back, that does not mean it will never be forward. I am a left leg lead as well, but when I want to shoot to his right leg and he is also a left leg lead, I just grab some type of tie-up (collar, inside/outside control) and circle to the right. When he steps his leg to follow, that leg should now be leading (if only for just a moment) and then you can shoot your high crotch or single leg.

[bigteeth96]

Thanks a lot everyone
I won my match. I was only a little nervous this time. I didn't wrestle excellently, but I did well and pinned my opponent.