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In wrestling, conditioning can play a major role when it comes to having success on the mat. To quote the great Dan Gable "Once you've wrestled, everything in life is easy".
While pure strength alone can definitely help a wrestler succeed, it's not everything. Not even close. These youth wrestling drills and workouts help coaches build conditioning, strength, technique, and team building into practice. The 10 ideas below are grouped into those four simple categories so they are easy to scan and use.
Key Takeaways
- The best drills and workouts combine conditioning, strength, stamina and technique.
- Turning workouts into fun competitions can make practice more engaging for the whole team.
- A well-rounded wrestling program doesn't have to be complicated.
Youth Wrestling Conditioning Workouts
In wrestling, conditioning is one of the most important—and often overlooked—parts of the sport.
To someone on the outside, three two-minute rounds might not seem like much, but any wrestler or coach knows just how intense those minutes can feel. And when you add multiple matches in a tournament setting, endurance becomes even more important.
These conditioning drills can be done as a team during practice or assigned as at-home workouts to help wrestlers stay sharp, build stamina, and stay ready for match day.
1. 400m Sprints
Sprints can be a great way for wrestlers to build up anaerobic endurance. Anaerobic endurance is built through intense training in a short time frame such as in 60-90 second intervals. Therefore, when running these sprints, make sure your wrestlers are going full speed for the best results.
2. Stance and Motion Drill
The stance and motion drill should be a major focus of any youth wrestling program. This drill is done by having your wrestlers get into their wrestling stance with their knees bent and their hands in front of them.
Next, have them shuffle in all directions while you call "shot" or "sprawl". On "shot" the wrestlers should do their preferred shot and then get back into their stance. On "sprawl" the wrestler should sprawl back like they're avoiding a shot. You can run this drill for 1-2 minutes for each set with short rests in between.
3. Gassers
Coaches often rely on tough conditioning drills to build stamina—and while athletes may not love them in the moment, they pay off once it’s time to compete on the mat.
One of the most common conditioning workouts is gassers. There are plenty of sprinting drills wrestlers can use to improve cardio, but gassers are a classic across sports, especially football, and translate really well to wrestling. They can be run on a nearby field or, in some cases, in a gym depending on available space.
When it comes to conditioning drills for wrestling, focus on high intensity wrestling exercises to help build up anaerobic endurance for your wrestlers.
Using these few drills before getting on the mat each day at practice will certainly help to get your wrestlers into peak conditioning shape just in time for the season ending tournaments. Just remember to start slow and build on these wrestling exercises for youth throughout the season!
Youth Wrestling Strength Workouts
While strength training isn't everything in wrestling, it can definitely help your wrestlers succeed on the mat. Strength training wrestling workouts can also have the added benefits of preventing injury and increasing the confidence of your wrestlers.
Try out a few of these drills and see how your wrestlers progress throughout the season!
4. Wall Sits
Wall sits are a simple but highly effective way to build lower-body strength and endurance. Athletes sit against a wall with knees bent at a 90-degree angle and hold the position for as long as possible.
To make it more engaging, coaches can turn it into a friendly competition. For example, whoever holds the position the longest earns a small reward or gets to skip part of conditioning for the day.
5. Ab Cycle Sets
Ab cycle sets can work wonders for your wrestlers' core strength. There are many different types of ab workouts you can incorporate into your cycle, but a good place to start would be, crunches, flutter kicks, leg raises, planks/side planks, and Russian twists.
You can start out with cycles of a minute or two to help get a baseline of how long your wrestlers can go. From there, try to push the time an additional 10 seconds on each exercise to help build up their resilience and core strength!
6. Push-ups and Pull-ups
You can never go wrong with these two classic exercises to help build up strength for your wrestlers. Just like with ab workouts there are a lot of different variations you can try to spice things up a bit.
Have each individual wrestler try and do as many reps as they can and push them to challenge themselves throughout the season to see how they can grow. Not only will building chest and back strength help them on the mat, it can also teach them the benefits of how much simple workouts can benefit their bodies through time.
It's important to keep in mind the age of your wrestling club before going crazy with strength training. These few workouts are ones that any age level can safely participate in and grow from. With strength work, start small and build throughout the season.
Youth Wrestling Technique Training
With the fundamentals of body conditioning and strength out of the way, you can start to focus on the nitty gritty technique of the classic wrestling moves.
Focusing on having your youth wrestlers master the basics can go a long way when it comes to individual and team success. Try out some of these drills for great wrestling technique practice!
7. Takedowns
Takedowns are one of the first and best wrestling moves for beginners to learn and can be a major key to success on the mat. According to Olympic champion wrestler Jordan Burroughs, takedowns are all about timing and anticipation. From double leg to single leg takedowns, there's a lot to master here. Check out this video for a great breakdown on the top techniques behind mastering the takedown.
8. Pins
When it comes to wrestling, a pin is a quintessential aspect every wrestler loves to practice and master. While there are many different types of pins, the half-nelson is a great place to start. While most can learn basic pins and use them well, mastering a few tips and tricks can really help take your wrestlers to the next level. One way you can help practice pins is by first teaching a few pins and then allowing your wrestlers to pin their sparring partner a few times with little resistance.
While they're doing this, make sure they're focusing on getting their pins as tight as they can. This will help them subconsciously do the same when it comes to real matches. For a good place to start with pins, check out wrestling training videos.
We could spend the whole article on this section alone, but takedowns and pins are a great place to start with your wrestlers.
After teaching them the basics, you can then have them focus on mastering a few pins. From single leg to double leg takedowns, to cradles, half-nelsons, and chicken wings, you can never go wrong with simply teaching the fundamental wrestling moves and then focusing on mastering those.
Youth Wrestling Team Building Workouts
Wrestling team building drills can not only be competitive, but they can also allow your wrestlers to really get to know each other and have some fun. Ending each practice with a fun team building exercise can be a great way to end a tough practice on a high note!
9. King of the Mat
King of the Mat is a competitive and high-energy drill that wrestlers tend to enjoy. It’s a great way to build confidence, toughness, and live wrestling experience in a fast-paced format.
The drill typically starts with the lowest weight classes wrestling each other for about 30 seconds or until a clear winner is decided. A coach or referee may be needed to help determine the winner. The winner then immediately takes on the next weight class up, continuing to “climb the ladder” until every wrestler has had a turn.
10. Making Workouts a Fun Competition
While this isn't an actual drill, finding a way to turn drills into a fun competition can be a great way to team build. Another added benefit is that it can help push and ignite the competitive nature of your wrestlers.
Don't be afraid to get creative with the competitions you come up with! You can either have them compete for bragging rights, or you can involve rewards such as getting to skip conditioning for the day. While turning drills into a competition, be sure to try and keep it fun for your wrestlers. Teach them to not only work hard, but also to have fun while doing it.
Jersey Watch helps simplify sports organization management
Building a well-rounded wrestling program doesn't have to be complicated. By mixing in conditioning work, basic strength exercises, fundamental technique drills, and a little friendly competition, you can set your wrestlers up for success on the mat and keep them engaged throughout the season. Start simple, build gradually, and don't underestimate the value of making practice enjoyable.
The habits your wrestlers develop now, like pushing through wall sits, drilling their shots, competing in King of the Mat, are the same ones that will carry them through tough matches when it counts.
If you're looking for a simpler way to manage your wrestling club off the mat, Jersey Watch helps coaches handle registration, scheduling, and team communication all in one place, so you can spend less time on admin and more time coaching.
FAQs
What are the best youth wrestling drills and workouts for coaches?
The best youth wrestling drills and workouts for coaches are the ones that cover conditioning, strength, technique, and team building. This list includes 400m sprints, the stance and motion drill, gassers, wall sits, ab cycle sets, push-ups and pull-ups, takedowns, pins, king of the mat, and competition-based workouts. Using a mix of these ideas can help keep practice balanced and useful.
What are good wrestling conditioning drills for beginners?
Good wrestling conditioning drills for beginners include 400m sprints, the stance and motion drill, and gassers. These drills help coaches work on effort, movement, and cardio without making practice overly complicated. It also helps to start slow and build throughout the season.
What basic wrestling skills should youth wrestlers practice first?
Youth wrestlers should practice basic skills like takedowns and pins first. Takedowns help with timing and anticipation, while simple pins like the half-nelson give wrestlers a good place to start on top. After that, coaches can keep teaching the fundamentals and help wrestlers master a few go-to moves.
How can coaches make youth wrestling workouts more fun?
Coaches can make youth wrestling workouts more fun by turning drills into simple competitions. King of the Mat is one example because it gives wrestlers a chance to compete, cheer each other on, and challenge themselves. Bragging rights or small rewards can help too, as long as the focus stays on working hard and having fun.
Written by Sierra Swigert at Jersey Watch, youth sports management software.
