5 Reasons you Lose Close Matches

1. Not being aggressive enough/Wrestling too conservatively. The best way to beat someone at or above your level is by wrestling aggressively and increasing your attack rate. It will help you to win both the physical and mental battle. Few people like to wrestle someone who is at them for 6 or 7 minutes straight. Watch this awesome clip on being aggressive.

2. Overthinking before and during matches. This tends to happen when we make a certain match “special”. In practice, most wrestlers are not thinking too much about the outcome, score or consequences of winning or losing. They aren’t thinking about their coaches, parents, seed, record, etc. Overthinking tends to make us more nervous and less confident. Step 1 to avoid overthinking is to stop making any match “special”. Live wrestling is live wrestling. Watch this Wrestling Mindset clip on the topic.

3. Getting scored on early in matches. One thing that can wreak havoc in the mind is getting takedown or put to your back against a wrestler you KNOW you are better than. It’s good to go into a match expecting to dominate, but it’s not okay to panic if we get scored on. Many wrestlers tend to get flustered when they give up early points. Their minds start to go into overdrive and doubts creep in. It is important during these times to stop focusing on the outcome and simply focusing on scoring the next point. 6 minutes is a long time! Don’t let an early takedown or scramble derail you mentally. Make sure the focus is on constant scoring and improving your position rather than solely on winning or losing. Good mindset clip on avoiding this mistake.

4. Getting tired or even more so WORRYING about getting tired. The fear of fatigue is a common issue at all levels of wrestling. Wrestlers think and worry about how they will perform when tired during a match. They will then tend to hold back or wrestle conservatively early in the match because they don’t want to be exhausted later in the match. This can and will cripple many wrestlers because they will slow down their offense and hence score less points. Overcome the fear of fatigue and you will win more. Watch these 2 video clips from Wrestling Mindset.

5. Giving your opponent too much respect. When you put your opponent on a pedestal you almost completely destroy your chances of winning or wrestling well. Almost every wrestler has done it at some point, but if it continues it will be very difficult to Jump Levels and beat good wrestlers. You need to approach every match the same and attack with the same intensity regardless of name, rank or quality of opponent. No one is invincible and no one wears an S on their chest. All opponents are vulnerable! Learn to wrestle with more Confidence here.