You have three seconds

by Ted Witulski/USA Wrestling

Taken from The Mat

Times have changed. When TV was first introduced to the American culture the popular sit-com at its inception was the Honeymooners. The Honeymooners, in retrospect, is far removed from today’s TV programming. “Pow right in the kisser”, the often delivered line was about the only eye popping excitement from the show. Especially when viewers consider that each of the half-hour Honeymooner shows was filmed with one stationary camera.

Then along came Gunsmoke, it was revolutionary because it used multiple cameras. Of course the multiple camera angles, of between three to the late episodes of seven, is hardly revolutionary anymore. Most football games on television have more cameras covering a single play. From the quarterback’s reception of the snap from center, to the one-on-one battle between the receiver and the d-back, every aspect of a single play is covered quickly.

Have you ever watched a child watch MTV? Eyes barely open, bodies slouched, even when they are interested in the show, they appear disinterested. MTV long removed from the days of Honeymooners has taken TV to a whole new level. Forty years ago teenagers watched the Honeymooners and were satisfied with the lone camera angle. In today’s fast paced society MTV changes the camera angle on average at least once every three seconds.

The blur of images and sounds is what the coach is up against when organizing a two-hour practice after a long day of school for the students. Every practice is another challenge to sharpen these athletes mental edge and draw them deeply into the sport.

Unfortunately, to reach those athletes, it seems you only got about three-seconds.

Don’t just throw your arms up in disgust. Each coach needs to recognize the necessity of a well organized and ever changing practice routine to keep wrestlers attention. The infectious enthusiasm of the start of the new season will eventually dissipate. A practice that always follows the same routine will eventually become monotonous. Always look to make the greatest impact on wrestlers at each practice.

There are many ways the coaches can assure that the impact that they want to have on their team remains strong. USA Wrestling’s National Coaches Education Program encourages coaches to seek out and use a variety of methods in obtaining the attention of its athletes during a season of practices.

Warm-ups often become a routine that varies little throughout the season. The team warm-up sets the tone for the practice. If wrestlers only go through the motions then the risk is that a sub-par warm-up will lead to a disappointing and emotionless practice.

A practice routine shouldn’t just be a tired and slow jog in a circle. There is literally hundreds of ways wrestlers can warm-up to start a practice. Encourage the team leaders to take charge in pacing wrestlers through different beginnings of practices. Possibilities might include a warm-up based on crawling drills and tumbling drills. A warm-up for another day might include hopping and jumping drills. A strength building warm-up using buddy carries is another way to get the juices flowing. Coaches that setup a practice with a fun and varied warm-up will capture the team’s attention with greater ease.

Remembering that the time coaches have to make an impression on the wrestling team is exceedingly short and unfortunately dictated by a declining attention span. Coaches should front-load the technique that needs to be emphasized. When wrestlers need to learn technique from a coach, often the coach relies on a lecture model that is commonly used in the classroom setting. The danger inherent in this is that kids have gone through a day of classes that similarly have used this format.

When a coach needs to lecture his team on the specifics of technique it is strongly suggested that the coach use visual-aides, to help “entertain” the team by holding their attention longer. Coaches will often demonstrate the technique on a wrestler, but other visual-aides such as video of a team member in a match using the technique can help hold the team’s attention. Further the use of a dry erase board gives the wrestlers another way to focus on the technique at hand.

To heighten the impact of the technical demonstration coaches can write a precise phrase on the chalkboard to serve as a backdrop. If the team is learning the importance of moving off the bottom, a coach might write, “COIL UP—YOU’RE A SPRING”. Keep in mind that these wrestlers are the same kids that average better than five hours of television watching a day. It is imperative for coaches to consistently work to capture and hold their attention in practice.

Another common mistake made by coaches is to try to teach too much in that short fifteen to twenty minutes where the wrestlers are tuned in. Don’t try to cover a concept of neutral wrestling and then switch to a reversal technique. If it is necessary to teach both techniques in the same practice separate the technical lectures at different points in the practice. Coaches might even need to go as far as teaching the bottom technique in a different area of the wrestling room as an unconscious way of breaking from the previous technique lecture.

Many study shows that adult learners can keep tuned in at best for 15 to 20 minutes at the start of a class or in this case a practice. During a two-hour practice, coaches should accept and adjust to the fact that their wrestlers attention span will have dropped to, less than three to five minutes by the end of practice.

When a coach truly considers the message in attention span, late practice live wrestling for extended times such as thirty minutes will have less meaning. Especially late in a practice, wrestlers will need to constantly refocused on the objective of a drill. Having athletes wrestle live for a long period of duration, may serve as a conditioning element, but it will do little to provide the learning needed to improve technique.

The art of coaching wrestling at times will have to bend to the science of today’s society. Attention spans for youth are increasingly short. To help a coach reach the members of his team, he must be prepared to have variety throughout the season. Additionally, coaches should think about how they can effectively instruct their athletes during practices. As we try to sharpen the skills of athletes, we are increasingly on the clock to capture their interest. Coaches no longer plan practices for the generation that watched the Honeymooners; instead, the youth of today grew up on the ever-changing images on MTV. Work hard and hold the wrestler’s attention. It’s a tough job. Remember you got about three seconds.

Article courtesy of Ted Witulski, USA Wrestling and The Mat