I was just wondering what is a good age to start children in wrestling. I have a four year old and he is starting tee ball soon. I wasnt sure if there was something like that for wrestling. maybe some clinics or something??? Thank you
It depends on the maturity level of your child. I started my younger sons at about 4 & 5.
They were following a older brother who didn't start wrestling until he was 10. The younger brothers grew up going to their big brother's matches and were excited to start wrestling.
Some kids are not ready to deal with wrestling at a young age. It is not that they are not physically ready but they may not be emotionally ready.
If you can find a good quality youth program and coach in your area I would say give it a try but make sure it is fun for him or it might discourage him from continuing in wrestling.
__________________
If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them.
Personally, I don't see much need for a 4 year old to start wrestling. He should learn to ride the bicycle first, fishing, skiing, skating and playing soccer or basketball. He can start wrestling around 8 or 9 or later. He needs to build up his physical development first. Otherwise injuries and bad habits will likely happen in wrestling practices. Also, I don't think 4-5 year olds have the mental maturity to learn the complexities of wrestling.
Personally, I don't see much need for a 4 year old to start wrestling. He should learn to ride the bicycle first, fishing, skiing, skating and playing soccer or basketball. He can start wrestling around 8 or 9 or later. He needs to build up his physical development first. Otherwise injuries and bad habits will likely happen in wrestling practices. Also, I don't think 4-5 year olds have the mental maturity to learn the complexities of wrestling.
Personally, I don't see much need for a 4 year old to start wrestling. He should learn to ride the bicycle first, fishing, skiing, skating and playing soccer or basketball. He can start wrestling around 8 or 9 or later. He needs to build up his physical development first. Otherwise injuries and bad habits will likely happen in wrestling practices. Also, I don't think 4-5 year olds have the mental maturity to learn the complexities of wrestling.
I agree but also would like to point out a few issues with this idea.
I just started my son this year (he is 11, 5th grade). He had done gymnastics for 4 years so he was in pretty good shape. Also did all other sports but always gymnastics.
Starting later means they will have to deal with losing, and losing a lot. There are quite a few kids who have been wrestling for years by 11. So the mental ability to deal with this is important. We tried to go to novice tournaments but it seemed these were tougher than the normal tournaments (supposed to be only 1st year kids, what a joke).
I would advise looking very hard to find a very good youth club (I did). And look around for a long term camp, also. My son attended an 8 week camp (2 x week for 2 hours) that only did drilling. Very little live wrestling. And we will attend again in the fall before the season. This should will get him to a level we (him and I) hope that will allow him to compete. My son enjoys wrestling but getting hammered all the time is not much fun. Another thing about starting later at a good club is that the kids his age will be very tough. At my sons weight and age he had the Nuway and Myway champion, and one weight up he had another Nuway champ. So practice was tough but he has gotten muuuuuuuch better (he may not see it yet).
I would say 4-5 is a little young. But 8-9 is probably perfect. 11 is a little late to introduce but some kids do not get it offered until 9th grade so it is all perspective. I love watching him mature and learn about himself. Wrestling is such a great sport. Nothing compares to it IMO.
There is a flip side as well. If you are not used to losing you will probably quit when you get older and kids get better. Some kids that mature faster win based on their maturity. They often end up quitting when everyone catches up.
In the end, success is measured by who survived through high school and college, not who won the most at kids tourneys.
Alexander Medved, the only 3 time freestyle Olympic champion, started wrestling at 20 years old when he was in the military and was asked to participate in a military wrestling tournament. He ended up beating everyone without wrestling a day in his life. He was a very strong man from doing manual labor from an early age.
It still depends on the kid. Mine wrestled a little at five but she was good for about 20 minutes of practice and would then wander off and play. By the time she was six she just couldn't get enough of the sport - still no athleticism but pretty fundamental. By seven she was a stud but I just kept things basic...... sprawl, inside control, half, whipover, front headlock, and it was mostly freestyle.
She made a lot of friends in those early years - many all over the country - that are still friends to this day. Keeping it pretty basic, I kept out the bad habits. When she picked up one (picked up by wrestling with the HS team) I just stopped her doing that stuff to get it out of her system. For example; funk with legs as option number one and shooting singles to her knees.
Another thing...... being a very competitive kid I have kept the expectations to wrestling well. Wins and losses are not that important. The effort, and wrestling hard and doing her best - win or lose - counts much more. The kids that truly burn out tend to have those over the top parents who berate the kids constantly, have them cut a lot of weight, and make the whole thing a pressure packed situation, instead of a trip with wrestling being just part of an entire trip experience.
Lastly, when you make the whole competition and training thing as part of life, while doing a lot of other things (we rock climb, scuba, hike, water sports, sight see, and so on), it is not 'really' all wrestling, all of the time. It is a lot of things being done 'while' wrestling.
__________________
I am 47, bald, ugly, and don't own a single cool thing. Kids like me though.
Can your daughter do neck bridges and do flips back and forth doing front and back bridges? Can she circle her legs around the head while on back and front neck bridges? Can she reach back from standing position down to a neck bridge and then do a flip to a front bridge?
Both of mine started at the age of 5 (they are the same age). Karissa walked in the wrestling room after soccer practice one day and after watching for a little while asked if she could try. Well I immediately said NO but the coach overheard and said let her try, ever since then she cannot get enough of it.
My son is the same way, it has been 9years now and if they had their way we would be in the room everyday with them kicking the crap out of each other (its a sibling thing).
Can your daughter do neck bridges and do flips back and forth doing front and back bridges? Can she circle her legs around the head while on back and front neck bridges? Can she reach back from standing position down to a neck bridge and then do a flip to a front bridge?
My son can, we call him Gumby. He does bridges while holding a 50lb sand bag on his chest.
what age? 
Linear Mode
