Greco and Freestyle.... living in harmony? - Yappi Sports

mos07 · #1 04-15-17, 07:44 PM

First off, I love freestyle and Greco season. My kid loves it. We are big fans.

That being said, in some respects they seem counterproductive to each other. I know my son benefited in folkstyle this year based on his Greco training last spring. That was obvious. He was more comfortable in ties, etc. Freestyle also benefited him.... better movement, more comfortable with tilts, etc....

It seems to me though trying to compete at both and being successful at both is at odds with each other. Freestyle seems to compliment folkstyle better... a smooth transition. If that is your goal, I get it. Greco is IMO a different animal. To be truly good at it, you move away from certain tendencies you have in folkstyle. That is not the case in freestyle. It just seems to be different. I guess if freestyle is your focus, a Greco match here and there is not a big deal, but if Greco is your focus, the transition back is a little tougher.

I get why they are lumped together .... short season etc... To be honest, I would not mind scrapping folkstyle altogether and just having a freestyle then a Greco season. I realize that would never happen though......

I guess what I am getting at is I think you have to choose.... if you are making the off-season commitment, can you be great at both? Or do you have to commit to either freestyle or Greco to be truly great at one or the other?

Thoughts?

Lambeau Fields · #2 04-15-17, 08:09 PM

Do both. Double your off-season matches. Master the skills you have and practice new ones when the stakes are extremely low.

mos07 · #3 04-15-17, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lambeau Fields

Do both. Double your off-season matches. Master the skills you have and practice new ones when the stakes are extremely low.

I appreciate the feedback. My kid does both. Your response of when the stakes are low though is where the issue arises for me...... when the stakes get higher, should the concentration be on one or the other? When is that point.... Cadet?

elliotlewis · #4 04-15-17, 08:36 PM

Greco= Handfighting and elite under and over hook training!

bucksman · #5 04-15-17, 08:57 PM

I am thinking Lambeau Fields is viewing things from a 100% high school perspective, which is where most wrestlers are ability wise. Very few are the elite national types where Fargo type productivity and success is going to happen/be expected.

If you're the general wrestler out there trying to get better for the high school in-season then any and all out of season competition is welcomed.

mos07 · #6 04-15-17, 09:28 PM

Bucksman, I agree with your assessment of Brett Favre's comments. No doubt all training is good.

I am talking about kids that want and have those Fargo type aspirations.... when is the time to concentrate on one or the other?

Or do most elite freestyle/Greco kids do both? That is the kind of information I am looking for.....

Suplexer130 · #7 04-15-17, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mos07

Bucksman, I agree with your assessment of Brett Favre's comments. No doubt all training is good.

I am talking about kids that want and have those Fargo type aspirations.... when is the time to concentrate on one or the other?

Or do most elite freestyle/Greco kids do both? That is the kind of information I am looking for.....

I had a couple AA's in Greco and was always about a round out in freestyle from placing. I was always trained doing both pretty evenly. A lot of the guys that trained with me in high school were all Americans as well, some freestyle some Greco but we all did both styles pretty evenly.

Lambeau Fields · #8 04-16-17, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bucksman

I am thinking Lambeau Fields is viewing things from a 100% high school perspective, which is where most wrestlers are ability wise. Very few are the elite national types where Fargo type productivity and success is going to happen/be expected.

If you're the general wrestler out there trying to get better for the high school in-season then any and all out of season competition is welcomed.

Correct. I was speaking in terms of high school kids looking to "round out their game" and also becoming better competitors overall. All of these kids should do both and not fear Greco.

If the kid is primarily interested in elite level success in either Greco or Free Style, without regard to folk style, I think that question answers itself. The kid either has skills and styles that lend itself to Greco or skills and styles that lend themselves to Free Style. Or he likely enjoys one more than the other. Kamal Bey from OPRF is a perfect example of this. Elite kid, incredible athlete. But he was quoted as saying he liked "launching people". The last I heard he was in Colorado Springs training for a career in Greco. Nick Boykin ((HWT from Tennessee) is another example. Big, athletic kid. Could probably wrestle or play football in college, but I think he too is heading out to Colorado Springs to train for Greco.

mos07 · #9 04-16-17, 06:45 PM

Thanks everyone for the input. It helps. The more information I can gather from people in the know makes future decisions easier. Need wrestling advice, ask wrestlers...

MPhillips · #10 04-16-17, 07:40 PM

Elliot summed up pretty well what 'elite' Greco is.

UsedToBe103 · #11 04-19-17, 11:29 AM

Although fewer wrestlers compete in Greco, there have been many high school wrestlers that won Fargo titles in both - I believe David Taylor was one of them - so I don't think it's counterproductive. It seems like many of those elite guys don't focus on one or the other until college, and some of them even compete in both styles at the UWW (formerly FILA) University Nationals.

Many kids think that Greco won't benefit their folkstyle very much because it is "all throws." They don't realize that there are many techniques that can be used in all three styles, such as duckunders, slidebys, arm drags, Russians, no-leg fireman's, etc. As others mentioned in this thread, Greco teaches hand fighting and positioning skills, as well as simply being comfortable, offensively and defensively, in throwing positions.

Since there are fewer moves available in Greco, one must refine their technique that much more. A Greco wrestler who develops a great gut wrench can still use that move in Freestyle.

mos07 · #12 04-20-17, 07:35 PM

Thanks again for all the input on the thread and the private messages. A lot of good advice for offseason training, strength conditioning, and competition. I like the training of both styles. Competition at both on the same day seems to be a little much sometimes though. Maybe that is where I saw a problem. Last week at Westerville, my kid put in an 11 hour day.

Again, I understand why there are not separate Freestyle and Greco tournaments; in a perfect world that would be nice. The Greco only tournaments would attract parents and crickets. I get that.

I think based on everyone's comments looking for a Greco only club is not the best path but to keep on training at both seems to be the majority opinion. I also believe selectively choosing events and which style to compete in on any given day would be smart. However, Greco and freestyle State are on the same day, so here we go.....

keithcarter · #13 04-20-17, 07:57 PM

Coach please help me out with the 11hr day unless you are counting weigh ins. Greco began at 9 and Freesstyle was done at 5:30. Most were done with freestyle by 4:45-5:00. Now if u weighed in at 7 i agree with you.

Just curious how many matches did your son get all day.

Id love to run separate days but theres just not a way it works right now. We are doing our beat to shorten the days but its true two different tourneys.

mos07 · #14 04-20-17, 08:12 PM

Yes, we were there for early morning weigh ins.... 7am. That made the long day..... My kid was wrestling up in weight, no since of traveling up for early FRI weigh ins.

And my kid's weight was one of the last to finish freestyle - victim of circumstance I guess. It just made for a long day.

Nothing against the format or how things were run... It was just a long day for us.