Proper preparation will allow you to turn nerves into excitement and allow you to be spirited in competition. How to properly prepare Know your offense from set up to finish Know your defense to ties, shots, and scrambles if necessary Know your top game plan for ride, turns, and returns Know your bottom game plan for escaping common rides and general understanding of defending turns Create realistic situations in your practice with singlets on, short goes, match simulation, etc. Practice meditation at practice, at home, at competition. Proper preparation turns emotional thinking into logical thinking this is what its all about.

When observing wrestlers who set a high pace, a common misunderstanding is that they “do not get tired.” This statement is misleading. Of course, physical endurance is vital in setting a high pace. However, having endurance does not mean you will not get tired. Guys like David Taylor, Mitchell Messimbrink, the Brands Brothers, etc., surely get tired (just watch Messimbrink and Hamitti). The difference is they learn to function when they are tired. They are not afraid to get tired. They understand that is part of the sport and are willing to go into deep waters. They are comfortable with being uncomfortable.

How do we solve this? Well, truth is i'm not entirely sure but here are some things I beleive we can start to do to eliminate this lethal part of our sport. - For starters Understand Fight Ready Shape. Getting your body in optimal shape is the first part and its not cutting weight, its just doing things the right way. Such as eating healthy, drinking healthy, and consistently training all required aerobic and anerobic and strength parts of your body. - Next we should not create weight allowances or extra lbs for tournaments etc. What is the point of having a weight class if we are always bumping the weight up and encouraging likely even more weight cutting. - Cutting weight takes away from learning and a focus on development skill wise, so why wear sweats all day everyday. It distracts you with pain. Yes it builds some character and toughness but so does consistently putting your body in proper form to be fight ready. - Making competitions active with in 1 hour eliminates cutting too much weight as well. Having a quick weigh in is not hard, so why are we doing night before weigh ins etc... Eliminate this! - Allowing parents to pay extra to weigh in early is both not moral and does not help the cutting issues. - Allowing two hours for tournaments I believe is ok, but again if it was one hour people would cut less and they would be more focused on wrestling development. - Elite Level Cutting taking scientific approach to water weight loss is healthier than depletion, everyone needs very clear teaching on how this is done and how it works.

Be a parent who loves your kids regardless of outcomes Be a parent who does not fixate on track-wrestling profiles and records Be a parent who hugs and tells your kid you love them Be a parent who allows the coach to coach Be a parent that researches and communicates all your needs for your child with your coach Comment below if you agree on all the above

I beleive its different because often times our practice simulations dont line up with our competition simulations. Live wrestling with sweats is not the same as a singlet Long 1 hour live goes can build mental strength and toughness but dont prepare you for battle with a fully energized individual with only 7 minutes to compete In order to make the competition better we need to make our simulations better