In the previous technique blog we covered finishing a single leg on the mat (HERE) and I mention in that post that this is a very tough position for incoming freshman to finish. Equally, if not more challenging for the incoming freshman is countering the single. There just seem to be a few key points that younger wrestlers do not understand, especially in relation to sprawling and keeping the opponent in front. Heck, most college wrestlers have a lot of trouble with this position!
Often I see a wrestler try to defend the single by sprawling, but the moment the opponent gains the slightest positional advantage, the wrestler defending wrestler will quickly go to a “shin” whizzer or “closed” whizzer (if you’re not sure of the position here I go over it later in this post) . In my experience as an athlete and coach, there are a very small amount of wrestlers who were effective when immediately going to the shin whizzer. For most, it seems keeping the opponent in front with baseline counter offense is the best way to not only defend the position, but to also score. Techniques like a shin whizzer are utilized after every effort is made to keep the opponent in front and now the defending wrestler has to “extend” the position to avoid getting scored on.
The baseline counter to a single is covered in the video below. It is a little longer because there are so many key points that will help anyone trying to learn this position and those key points will be emphasized below the video…
Key Points To Countering a Single with “Baseline” Counter Offense
Get the head down! One of the biggest mistakes I see here is the wrestler defending the single will only try to sprawl and sometimes use a whizzer in the arm pit. In order to defend this shot we have to get the head down.
USE YOUR HANDS! Whether it is pushing on the head, throwing in a whizzer, pushing on knees, attacking an ankle…we must be using our hands. We should be “beating” up the opponent with our hands and hips.
Pressure in with the hips. For a portion of this technique we are moving away from our opponent, but once the head is down and the leg the opponent is on is back far enough, we change from moving away to attacking back into the opponent.
Keep your chest off the back. If your chest is on the back then you do not have good hip pressure.
What if you cannot break the opponents lock to score?
Often you can do everything right and your opponent will still be able to “hang on” to the single leg. I really like locking around the knee and body to create some interesting opportunities to score. Fact is, even if you can break the lock you may bypass to lock as you can score some back-points from this position.
Key Points to Locking at the Knee and Belly to Secure a Cradle
Shift over your opponents head. You have to “shift” a little to get your thigh and hip on top of your opponents head so they can’t lift you.
Attack into your opponent and get your elbow to the knee. Your outside knee should should move right to the outside of your opponents knee and your elbow should be on the inside of his knee…almost on the mat. If you lock behind the hamstring it is fairly easy for your opponent to get the leg back.
Pull the knee off the mat and get it close to your body. At this point your opponent is in big trouble and often will “bail” out on the single and just try to get flat.
New directional shift once opponent is on their hip. Once you get opponent to their hip you want to move pressure into their head and shoulder. This will create a pivot point on the mat so you can bring the knee to the head to secure the cradle.
What if you get locked around the knee and stomach, but you can’t get your opponent to their hip?
This is a bit of an unorthodox way to score this counter, but it can work well. Sometimes when you get this deep lock you will not be able to drive your opponent to their far hip, so you can try to create some action by rolling in the opposite direction. The trick on this one is to NOT roll all the way through.
Key Points to Rolling Through When Locked on the Knee and Stomach
Block the with your free leg. I forget to point this out in the video, but notice how I block the tricep with my free leg as I roll to that side. This traps the head and arm so he cannot use it as a post to stop the roll.
Don’t roll all the way through. This is hardest part of the technique because you have to stop the momentum of both you and your partner so you can slide up between the legs to score your points.
What if your opponent is stuck out front and you cannot break the grip on the single or lock around the knee and stomach?
Some wrestlers have what my coach, Greg Strobel, called guerrilla grip and it was just incredibly hard to improve position, even when the opponent is stuck in front. I recommend first looking for the lock, but if you can’t look to knock them to their side with “belly whizzer” and “hip tip.”
Key Points to Scoring with a Belly Whizzer and Hip Tip
Get the arm deep on the belly. You want to get the arm that is on the same side of the leg your opponent has as deep as possible. This is done by shifting weight to the same side as the single, so you can “reach” further across his stomach.
Get your opponents hips off the mat. You can simply knock your opponent to their side, but it is more effective you you can get their hips in the air.
Don’t let them get to their belly. Once you have “tipped” the hip and your opponent is on their side you do not want them to get to their belly. To prevent this the hand that is on the belly immediately goes to thigh once the opponent hits their hips after the lift. This is hard to explain, but watch the end of the video a few times to understand it better.
What if the opponent is able to come “through the middle?”
A very common finish for the single is to come “through the middle” and can be a very challenging position to defend. This is one of those positions where knowing how to score the technique will help you defend the position, as there are some key points on both sides of the technique that will help ensure success. It is a bit of a “cat and mouse” game. The wrestler in on the single wants to keep the arm he posts with free and the defending wrestlers wants to trap it to the body. If the offensive wrestler is able to avoid getting his arm trapped he needs to quickly attack the ankle of the defending wrestler and the defending wrestlers needs to prevent….
Key Points To Scoring When Your Opponent Comes Through the Middle
Trap the arm. Best case scenario is if your opponent posts the arm and you are able to catch it before he attacks your ankle. From here you need to get both legs to the side of the trapped arm.
Leg Curl. Do a hard leg curl (pull your heels to your butt as hard as possible) and pinch your opponents head with your knees. This will prevent your opponent from getting your ankle.
Get height! Once you slide both knees to the side of the trapped arm make sure you get your head up and drive weight to his head to score.
What if your opponent gets to an angle and starts to secure “backside” on the single?
In my opinion the two toughest spots to defend the single are when your opponent gets backside or drives to their feet. In both situations I think is best to work incredibly hard to get your opponent back in front so you can get to your baseline counter. In the case of an opponent getting backside often a “shin” whizzer can help do just that…and if you can’t get to that baseline there are some tricks that can get you the score.
Key Points to Scoring When Your Opponent Gets Backside and You Have a Shin Whizzer
Get the knee free- In order to finish the single your opponent wants to control your knee, so keep it away. This will also allow you to keep pressure into your opponents shoulder.
Drive in- With your free leg you want to be driving into your opponents shoulder with the outside of your hip, ultimately getting his head on the mat if possible.
Get back to Baseline- When the opponent is moving in work to pivot the knee under their chest while simultaneously freeing the ankle so your opponents lock goes back to your knee.
Watch for leg in on far side and limp arm- I forgot to point this out in the video but two pretty weak attempts to score when on the offensive side of scoring the single leg with a shin whizzer is to either try to put the far leg in or limp arm out. Wish I showed how to deal with these and may in future videos. Both are pretty easy to prevent and I’ll try to get those videos together in the future.
What if the opponent is able to drive to their feet with the single?
Well, you’re on one leg, so this is a much less than ideal situation, but all hope is not lost. There are a few techniques that work well here, but basically you need to get that foot back down to the mat. Also, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out, but the higher your foot gets in the air, the more compromised your position has become, so you need to avoid that. Beyond the baseline counter I’m showing here there a few awesome techniques where you can actually take your opponent to their back, and hopefully we get to those in later technique videos.
Key Points to Scoring When Your Opponent Gets the Single to the Feet
Keep your lower leg and ankle away from your opponent. The key for your opponent to get the leg high is to gain control of your lower leg (ankle), so you have to keep it away. A leg curl is good, but I like to keep the outside of my foot on the shin.
Attack whizzer and wrist. Best place to control this position is to have a whizzer on the same side as single and to be attacking wrist of the inside hand. If the opponent has hands locked wrong, with the inside arm’s hand on top, it is fairly easy to split the lock and get your foot down. I have heard a lot of arguments that it doesn’t matter if your hands are locked wrong on a single and I am very open to varying technique, but this puts the wrestler with the single leg at a severe disadvantage.
Can’t break the lock, drag your opponent to the mat. This is an interesting position if you can prevent your opponent from getting your leg high on the single. The game here is to make your opponent work hard and take a lot of time to try to get leg high and in the armpit, and the longer you can drag out the position, the better chances you have to re-gain position. Often, the wrestler in on the single will get frustrated and give up the position if you can drag it out. Once you are able to get that foot down you return to the original baseline video at the beginning of the blog.
What if the opponent gets your leg high and in the armpit?
In all honesty I’m not very flexible and if my opponent gets my leg high I try a couple things to try to quickly regain position, but if those tactics don’t work I turn down and possibly try to dive through to catch some funk (presented in another video) or to save time I give up the takedown so I have time to try to get the points back.
Key Points for Countering When Your Opponent Gets Your Leg High on a Single Leg
Attack bottom hand- You need to pull your opponents lock down in order to get your foot down, so work hard to pull on the grip.
Get your foot to the body- Work to get your shoelaces on the midsection or to the leg of your opponent and this will allow you to get your foot down.
I wanted to provide a “baseline” for common positions you will see when countering a single leg on the mat. These are the most common problems you will face when you are trying to score, as well as the most common solutions. Could there be more problems? Absolutely!
Also, these are not the only counters to the positions presented, but rather the techniques that worked best for me. One of the most frustrating things I see in teaching technique is when a coach thinks that their way is the only way. There are a lot of ways to score in this position and maybe what is presented doesn’t work for you, but make sure you find a way to score in the position.
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Brilliant job Coach Ayers, truly love the tome and work you put in.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you!