with Mark Cody,
Presbyterian College Director of Men's and Women's Wrestling;
former Head Coach at University of Oklahoma and American University;
2011 NWCA National Coach of the Year; 3x All-American
Many wrestlers struggle with creating openings and finishing takedowns against quality opponents. Even the best high school wrestlers struggle when they reach the collegiate level and need to learn to use their whole body to control and attack their opponent, instead of just their arms.
Mark Cody, one of the most experienced and highly regarded collegiate wrestling coaches, has developed a series that generates a ton of offense. His system stresses attacking with your body and not your arms, which helps athletes of all sizes to be effective. The series isn't challenging to learn and has a beauty in it that most finishes all come from the same set of skills.
Coach Cody solves the issue of losing takedowns by sharing his "two hands on the leg" philosophy. He emphasizes constant forward motion, which helps wrestlers stay on the attack and close the gap so that they can take good shots. He teaches how to stay solid in attacks by keeping power in one place, which keeps the offensive wrestler from getting into a bad position. The techniques he demonstrates will eliminate many opportunities that opponents often have to create scramble situations.
Arm Drag and Arm Drop Series
The arm drag is a common set-up seen at all levels of wrestling, with wrestlers from youth levels up to Olympians using it with great success. Coach Cody teaches a unique finishing technique to the arm drag that will keep a wrestler from giving up their ankles and getting leg rolled. He also shows how to maintain pressure with the body in order to keep the opponent from getting to their belly
Coach Cody shows his modification of the arm drag into a more controlled, methodical position: the arm-drop. He demonstrates a logical progression of attacks: single leg, ankle pick, and snap down. With every technique, Coach Cody emphasizes using the whole body to pressure and control the opponent, instead of relying on upper body strength.
Every takedown is carefully addressed to minimize the risk of the opponent initiating a scramble, and follow-ups into pinning combinations and turns are investigated.
Shrug Takedowns
The shrug, or slide-by, is perhaps the most efficient takedown in wrestling. It requires minimal energy to finish and exposes the attacker to virtually no counter attacks. Despite this, it is a technique that few wrestlers are able to decipher, let alone master.
The shrug series showed by Cody is perfect to use on an aggressive opponent. This series teaches wrestlers to have heavy hands and attack with their body and hips. He demonstrates the nuances of setting up the takedown, enabling wrestlers to treat it as more than just a reactive technique. Cody discusses a number of gripping varieties, and the differences of each, which allows wrestlers and coaches to figure out which method works best for their body.
Takedown Finishes
Every successful coach and wrestler knows the hardest part of scoring a takedown is not getting to the legs - it's finishing the takedown once you're there.
Cody shows techniques to finish the double leg, the high crotch and both the high and low single legs; he shares highly effective, and sometimes non-conventional, methods that have been used with terrific success by his wrestlers to minimize scrambles and wasted energy.
With this video you will learn how to stay in good position throughout your attack without wasting energy and leaving yourself open to scrambles and counters!
67 minutes. 2017.
WRD-05136B:
with Mark Cody,
Presbyterian College Director of Men's and Women's Wrestling;
former Head Coach at University of Oklahoma and American University;
2011 NWCA National Coach of the Year; 3x All-American
Fundamental defense from the feet is a trademark of great wrestlers. In order to win at the highest level, your athletes must be solid on their feet, and especially at defending opponent's shots.
Mark Cody's teams were known for their fundamentally sound defense and ability to score back points with their counter offense. In this video, he shows different defenses to the single leg and the high crotch. He emphasizes heavy hip pressure and shows ways to break a tight lock and finish the go-behind with a cradle or turn.
Stance, Motion and Downblocks
The most effective defense is always prevention. If your opponent cannot snap you down or get to your legs, he has no chance of scoring. Coach Cody demonstrates the proper stance and how to move in order to create angles to attack an opponent while keeping yourself in good position. You'll learn how to down block and sprawl, and how to recover from these movements to get yourself back in good position.
Coach Cody shares individual and partner stance and motion drills that are excellent for reinforcing solid positioning skills. They have a unique emphasis on creating forward pressure to prevent the opponent from initiating their own attacks.
Single Leg Defense
Coach Cody teaches defensive techniques from several positions:
- Low level - Various options depending if the opponent is in tight or extended; and how to score from a possible stalemate position
- High level - See a couple of options and how one can set up the other
When defending a single leg shot, Coach Cody emphasizes pressuring down on your opponent's head and applying hip pressure. You'll see how to apply constant hip pressure while attacking your opponents back ankle. He demonstrates how to score using a "high leg over leg under" technique, which puts the attacking wrestler in danger of going over to his back. Also, Coach Cody demonstrates locking through your opponents legs, which leads to cradle and turk opportunities.
High Crotch Defense
Coach Cody demonstrates leg in the air defense and a high crotch defense that is similar to the high single leg defense, except that the defensive wrestler squares their hips to negate the angle that the attacking wrestler has created. He pays special attention to defending against and countering the crackdown finish that has become so popular from the high crotch.
Defending and Clearing Ties
The Underhook and the 2-on-1 Russian tie are two positions from which many wrestlers will look to control the clock and set up their own offense. Here, Coach Cody shows several ways of safely clearing each tie-up without exposing yourself to attacks from the opposing wrestler.
Re-Shot Techniques
The re-shot is one of the best shots in the sport, and all elite wrestlers are good at it. Coach Cody demonstrates the basic theory of the re-shot and demonstrates how to use your opponent's motion to set up your own leg attack. Learn how to drill so that your opponent's shot becomes your set up.
The defensive techniques taught in this video will give your wrestlers an advantage on the mat. Being able to score from a defensive position is often the difference between winning and losing a match. Solid technique is critical in wrestling and can overcome strength and athletic ability.
"I can't think of a video that shows so many moves in an hour. Many of them are very unique so that makes this video valuable." - Customer Review
64 minutes. 2017.