Any athlete will tell you how important are the basics of their sport. There are basics in every sport, and not even the best of the best outgrow them or their importance.
Courtesy NBC Chicago
Followers of the 2020 Olympics saw it in action as they watched the United States men’s 4×100 relay team flub the all-important baton exchange. It matters not how fast you run your leg of the relay. You must get “the stick” to your teammate while in the exchange zone.
It takes much practice to complete smooth exchanges while running at a high rate of speed in a crowd and within a small zone. It is the basics.
Like track and field, wrestling has certain basics that every successful high school wrestler learns by practicing. Certain drills, like the spin drill, are taught even at the beginning level. The lower wrestler rests on hands and knees with the head tucked while the upper wrestler places their chest on the partner’s back while holding their head erect and clasps their hands behind the back.
When the coach blows the whistle, the top wrestler spins by moving the feet without crossing them, and, at each blast of the whistle, the spin direction is changed. The process is repeated as often as the coach thinks necessary and is used at all levels. A simple move teaches the wrestler to keep up while using their feet to move around an opponent who is low on the mat.
Simple, yes? Ever outgrown, no.
Gable Stevenson defeated a three-time world champion and bronze medal winner at the Rio Olympics by a 5th grade-taught move–and he did it twice in the final 20 seconds of the match. His opponent shot in, and Stevenson snapped his head before spinning behind him for two points. The official began them again in neutral, and–as his opponent shot in–Stevenson snapped his head down, placed his chest on his back, and spun around for gold.
David Taylor (photo, Inside the Mat)
David Taylor won gold in a similar fashion. He, too, trailed his opponent with seconds remaining in their match. When his initial shot for a takedown failed, his opponent relaxed a bit and stood erect. But Taylor had learned, by repetition, to take a second shot during that moment of relaxation by his opponent.
Bam! Taylor took him down for two points by a most basic, 5th-grade taught takedown—the double leg. Taylor, the winner of an Olympic gold medal, earned it because of an elementary move: take advantage of an opponent’s lapse and use a basic move to do so.
I hope every athlete watches the ending seconds of both matches to see the importance of never giving up and using learned and basic skills. After all, they are like gravity … they keep us grounded.
