Key outcomes

The key outcomes we are looking for from wrestling drills are:

• A safe contest, because the players are not trained to wrestle.
• A competitive one-on-one contest, which is motivational.
• Drills which use the whole body to secure a victory.
• Drills that allows players to explore their contact ability.

We need to distance ourselves from the TV-style wrestling and the more extreme forms of martial arts. The aim is to create a version of wrestling without kicks, punches and extravagant throws.

Wrestling tips for players

According to Steve Fraser, USA Wrestling's National Teams Coach, the top wrestlers go through mental and physical routines similar to top rugby players.

• Be ready to play the hand you are dealt and figure out how to win. Smaller and slower players need to work out how to defeat bigger and faster opponents.
• Develop an understanding of each particular match and what it will take to win it. This means knowing your opponent, the referee and yourself.
• Develop the ability to plan and visualise the whole match.

Create and follow a plan to win with the following key points:

1. Do not put yourself in a position where the referee can beat you. Don't get frustrated by decisions that don't work in your favour.
2. Keep pressure on your opponent at all times. Break your opponent's will. In other words, never give in.
3. Be able to break your opponent's balance and control the centre of the combat area.
4. Be able to attack and counter-attack. Don't rely on one style.

Modified rules

The style that most suits rugby union is Greco Roman wrestling, an Olympic sport. Following are some modified rules to use which take some of the elements most suited to rugby.

In addition, there are a number of areas which have been ignored in the interests of simplicity. For instance, the "throwing" element is modified since it is not safe to use full wrestling throws for inexperienced players.

Rugby Greco Roman rules

• Set up a seven metre square.
• The two wrestlers are only allowed to hold above hip height or below the neck.
• To score points in this drill, one wrestler has to:

1. Force their opponent to have three points of contact with the ground, other than the feet. For instance, two hands and an elbow, or a two knees and an elbow (one point).
2. Expose their opponent's back to the ground in a horizontal position. This means being held off the ground, with the back facing the ground (one point).
3. Make their opponent's shoulders touch the ground, even momentarily (one point).
4. Make their opponent's chest touch the ground (one point).
5. Hold their opponent's shoulders on the ground for two seconds (three points).

• Each drill lasts one minute and the winner is the one with most points.
• Have at least one player, though it's better with two, to act as judge to spot scores.
• Neither player is allowed to "avoid" contact. If they "run away", they are warned and made to go on their hands and knees. The bout then resumes.
• A player loses a point if he steps out of the square.

Wrestling in training

Wrestling can be used as a rugby warm up drill for training, or be integrated into the main session. It should not be confined to just one practice, but re-introduced every few weeks.

For an extended drill, split into groups of four, with two wrestlers and two "judges" alternating between bouts so all four players "fight" each other. Run each bout for one minute. With change over time, the first round of bouts should take about eight minutes.

To extend this drill session further, you could have two groups "fight" each other, with players from each team taking each other on.