A high school takedown has been worth three points since the NFHS rules changes for 2024-25, and for 2026-27 the referee should name one of four calls whenever neutral wrestling stops out of bounds. A wrestling drill is one slice of a match repeated against a partner at the resistance you choose, and the clearest way to file drills is by the position a match starts or restarts from. Neutral work builds the stance and the shot, bottom work builds the escape and the reversal, and top work builds the breakdown and the near fall.
Nineteen drills sit below. Thirteen are filed by starting position, four cover the edge of the mat and conditioning, and two are for the freestyle and Greco-Roman months. Each card carries a cue short enough to shout across a loud room, along with the fault that keeps the drill from working.
Picture your room in late October, returning varsity wrestlers beside freshmen who have never started a period on the bottom. Session structure, with 60 and 90 minute templates, lives on our wrestling practice plan page. This page is the library you pull from when you fill those blocks.
What Are Wrestling Drills?
A wrestling drill takes one piece of a match, such as a shot, a stand-up or a turn, and repeats it with a partner whose resistance you control, usually starting cooperative and building toward live. The usual split follows folkstyle's three starting positions. Neutral is both wrestlers on their feet. Bottom and top split the referee's position between the two wrestlers.
Some coaches add a fourth group for the edge of the mat and conditioning, and this page does the same. Drilling is where the repetition happens. Live wrestling tells you whether it stuck.
The Target line on each card names a level on the ten-level wrestling scale explained in the skill map, where level 1 is a wrestler still learning to fall safely and level 10 can decide a bout from top or bottom.
What Are the 7 Basic Skills in Wrestling?
The seven basic skills are a coaching list, not a rulebook one. The version most coaches recite runs stance (sometimes called position), motion, level change, penetration, lifting, back step and back arch. USA Wrestling's folkstyle Level 1 curriculum(opens in new tab) teaches several of them by name, including the stance, motion, the penetration step, changing elevation before you penetrate and the back step. Stance and motion share the mirror lane card, and level change and penetration share the shot build. Lifting gets its own phase inside the throw card. Back arch has no card on this page.
A takedown is worth three. That has been the rule since 2024-25, with the stated aim of more scoring from neutral, so neutral work deserves a real share of your drilling time.
Near falls follow the clock. Two seconds of near-fall criteria earns two points, three seconds earns three, four earns four. Holding the exposure and getting out of it are both worth drilling with somebody counting.
The edge got wider. One point of contact by either wrestler keeps the action inbounds. That makes scoring near the line a skill you can practice on purpose.
The bottom wrestler still scores by escaping or reversing. Every bottom card on this page builds toward one or the other, and the bridge card exists for the moment neither has worked.
What Changes in Freestyle and Greco-Roman
If your club wrestles freestyle or Greco-Roman after the high school season, the last column below sums up how United World Wrestling's international wrestling rules(opens in new tab) shift the emphasis. One number is worth knowing as well. A grand amplitude throw from standing that lands the opponent in a danger position scores five points, and the throw card near the end covers that work.
Start
Drill Focus on This Page
Freestyle and Greco-Roman
Neutral
Stance, motion, the shot, hand-fighting, the head block and sprawl
Freestyle keeps leg attacks. Greco-Roman allows no holds below the belt line, so ties and upper-body throws take over
Bottom
Base, hand control, the stand-up, the switch, the bridge
In par terre the bottom wrestler may counter, stand up or counter-attack. Greco-Roman bans active use of the legs
Top
Breakdowns, rides, turns and holding the count
Par terre turns, with the referee standing the pair up once the attack stalls
The edge
Edge turn-in, back-to-feet scramble
Freestyle activity time: a passive wrestler has 30 seconds to score or the opponent gets a point
Neutral Drills: Stance, Hand-Fighting, and the Shot
Neutral is where the takedown lives, and it is where a freshman's habits are least formed. The order below works outward from the stance and finishes with the hand fight, which decides who gets to shoot at all.
What Are 5 Wrestling Moves?
Ask five coaches and you will hear five lists. USA Wrestling's folkstyle Level 1 curriculum gives a fair starting set of takedowns: the double leg, the single leg, the snap and spin, the head and arm off a back step and the arm spin. The double leg and both single legs get trained inside Attack on the Third Movement. The head and arm and the arm spin, which the curriculum files under back-step offense, are folkstyle takedowns too. Use that curriculum page for both.
Stance Mirror Lane
NeutralBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 5 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: A stance that survives movement
Partners face off a little over two feet apart. One leads, moving forward, back, sideways and in circles, and the other mirrors every step. The mirroring wrestler keeps the knees bent, the weight over the arches, the elbows tight and the eyes on the partner.
Reps: 4 rounds of 45 seconds, swapping the leader each round
Target: Level 4 holds the stance for a whole drill. Level 6 keeps it to the end of the period.
Coaching cues
Knees bent, weight on your arches · Elbows tight to your ribs · When they drop, you drop
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Standing up tall the moment the leader circles, which hands over the legs for free
Fix: Let the leader drop level without warning. Anyone caught tall starts the round again.
Three-Phase Shot Build
NeutralBeginner
Players: Individual, then pairsTime: 8 minEquipment: Open mat, tape marks
Builds: Level change and penetration as two separate skills
Phase one is the level change on the spot: hips down, back upright, head up. Phase two is the penetration step across the mat, lead knee down and straight back up. Phase three runs the same step into a partner who stands still and offers the legs.
Reps: 15 level changes, 10 steps per side, then 10 per side into a partner
Target: Level 3 gets the step right about half the time with nobody resisting. Level 4 keeps it together against light resistance.
Coaching cues
Hips drop, chest stays up · Step through them, never at them · Head up the whole way in
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Diving at the legs from too far away with the head down, so the back rounds and the shot dies
Fix: Tape the step distance on the mat and make every rep land on the mark, head up, before a partner comes in.
Make it harder
Ask for the penetration with no knee touching the mat, so the drive comes out of the hips.
Attack on the Third Movement
NeutralIntermediate
Players: PairsTime: 12 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: A shot timed to the opponent's movement
Partners circle in stance. The attacker snaps or pushes twice and shoots on the third movement, rotating through the double leg, the head-outside single and the head-inside single. The defender starts at roughly 30 percent resistance and goes to full in the last set.
Reps: 3 sets of 8 attacks per wrestler
Target: Level 5 attacks out of the partner's movement, not from a dead stop. Level 6 switches to a second attack when the first one stalls.
Coaching cues
Snap, snap, shoot · Go when their foot moves · Finish through the legs
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Shooting from a dead stop because the setup feels like wasted time
Fix: Count the setups out loud. A shot without two touches first is a wasted rep, so nobody counts it.
Make it harder
Let the defender counter-attack the instant an attempt fails.
Defense Circle
NeutralIntermediate
Players: 1 defender, 3 or 4 attackersTime: 8 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: The head block and sprawl before fatigue slows them
One defender stands in the middle with three or four attackers around them. You point at an attacker, who shoots on the legs immediately. The defender blocks with the head, pulls the hips back and defends the legs.
Reps: 45 seconds per defender, rotate, two rounds each
Target: Level 6 on the scale stops a leg attack with a head block without going down.
Coaching cues
Head first, then hips · Hips back and down · Stay off your knees
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Reaching for the shooter with the hands while the hips stay in, so the shot lands anyway
Fix: Run one round where only the head and hips may defend. Hands come back in the round after.
Make it harder
Drop your pointing cue so the attackers pick their own moment and nothing can be anticipated.
Hand-Fight Rounds: Ties Only
NeutralAll levels
Players: PairsTime: 6 minEquipment: Open mat, a stopwatch
Builds: Winning a tie, and breaking one, before anybody shoots
Partners start in stance. Nobody shoots. A point goes to whoever wins wrist control or a tie, or breaks the partner's tie. Arms are never allowed to lock out straight.
Reps: 6 rounds of 30 seconds, 30 seconds of rest between them
Target: At level 7 your wrestler makes the attack out of a grip they won. This drill is where that starts.
Coaching cues
Elbows bent, never straight · Win the inside position · Clear the hand, then move
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Locking an arm straight to hold a tie, which stands the wrestler up and sets them up for a snap
Fix: Call 'elbow' every time an arm straightens and give the point to the partner.
Make it harder
Ban one arm entirely. One arm teaches the right elbow position faster than two.
Bottom Drills: Escapes, Reversals, and the Bridge
High school wrestlers often treat the bottom as a place to survive. Treat it as a place to score. A wrestler who reliably gets out early in a period hands the top wrestler almost no time to build anything.
Base comes first below, then the stand-up, then the switch and last the bridge for the night everything else fails. Each card takes one piece of the escape apart.
Hold Your Base: Breakdown Rounds
BottomBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 6 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: A bottom wrestler who is hard to flatten
The bottom wrestler starts down in the referee's position and the top wrestler tries to break them down flat with any legal breakdown. The bottom wrestler keeps the elbows tight, the hips heavy and one leg ready to move.
Reps: 6 rounds of 30 seconds, swapping roles each round
Target: Level 4 gets through a short live round. Level 6 executes cleanly in a live bout.
Coaching cues
Elbows in, hips heavy · Hands straight back under you · Move first
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Posting a hand out wide when the breakdown starts, which gives the top wrestler the arm
Fix: Pause the rep each time a hand posts wide, reset it under the shoulder, then go again.
Make it harder
Stretch the round to 45 seconds and start it with the bottom wrestler already half broken down.
Stand-Up: Clear the Waist Hand
BottomBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 8 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: Hand control on the way to an escape
This card is about one thing, the top wrestler's hand at the waist. From the referee's position the bottom wrestler comes up with the back into the partner, captures the waist hand with both hands, peels it off and turns to face. The top wrestler starts passive, then holds the waist for real. Until the bottom wrestler is facing the partner and free, they are still controlled.
Reps: 6 stand-ups each against a passive partner, then 6 against a live waist hand
Target: Level 4 runs the basic techniques on their own against light resistance. By level 6 the execution stays clean in a live bout.
Coaching cues
Head up, back into them · Two hands on one hand · Peel it, then turn
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Standing up without controlling the hand, so the top wrestler lifts and returns them to the mat
Fix: Make hand first the rule. No stand-up counts unless the waist hand is held before the hips rise.
Switch to a Reversal
BottomIntermediate
Players: PairsTime: 8 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: Going from controlled to controlling in one movement
From the bottom, the wrestler clears the top wrestler's hand, sits a hip through, reaches over the top wrestler's arm and turns the hips to come out behind. Start at half speed so the hip movement is right, then let the top wrestler react.
Reps: 8 per side at half speed, then 6 live
Target: Level 6 hits it live from either side, though one side stays the safer one.
Coaching cues
Clear the hand, sit the hip · Reach over, hip out · Come up behind them
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Reaching back before the hips have moved, which leaves the arm hanging for the top wrestler to trap
Fix: Drill the hip movement alone until it is quick, then add the reach.
Bridge Escape Off Your Back
BottomIntermediate
Players: Pairs, plus a counterTime: 8 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: Getting off the back before the count climbs
Run the bridge series card first, every time. The bottom wrestler starts turned toward the back with the top wrestler holding light pressure, bridges onto the head and toes and comes out over the shoulder onto the belly. Since 2024-25 a high school near fall scores two, three or four points for two, three or four seconds, so every second on the back now costs something.
Reps: 8 per side, then 4 rounds where a partner counts the seconds out loud
Target: At level 4 the bridge holds only briefly.
Coaching cues
Hips up first · Turn in toward them · Never flat
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Pushing the top wrestler away with straight arms while the shoulders stay flat on the mat
Fix: Bridge first, hands second. The hips make the space and the arms frame into it.
Top Drills: Breakdowns, Turns, and the Near-Fall Count
Top is where the near-fall clock does its work, but no turn starts until the bottom wrestler is broken down flat. That is why the breakdown card leads this section, and why the last card links a takedown straight to the count.
One rule shapes every turn here. Under NFHS Rule 7-3-3 as revised for 2025-26(opens in new tab), locking or overlapping the hands around the opponent's body or both legs from the top is a technical violation unless the opponent's weight is entirely on their feet, you have lifted them off the mat or they already meet near-fall criteria. A leg caught inside the clasp counts the same as an arm. Coach your wrestlers to keep their hands apart until one of those conditions holds.
The cradle is the top move a folkstyle coach will miss here. USA Wrestling's folkstyle Level 1 curriculum lists it under the referee's top position.
Chop, Then Ride the Hips
TopBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 10 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: A breakdown that keeps the bottom wrestler down
Starting on top in the referee's position, the top wrestler chops the near arm out at the elbow and drives forward and across in the same beat, putting the bottom wrestler onto a hip. Then they ride with the chest on the hips while the bottom wrestler works at half effort to rebuild a base.
Reps: 10 breakdowns per wrestler, then 3 rides of 30 seconds each
Target: Level 4 gets the breakdown against light resistance. By level 6 it lands cleanly when the bottom wrestler is fighting for real.
Coaching cues
Chop and drive together · Chest on the hips · Your weight on them, not your knees
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Chopping the arm and then sitting back, so the bottom wrestler simply posts the hand again
Fix: Say 'chop-drive' as one word on every rep until the arm and the drive leave together.
Turn Chain From Four Starting Spots
TopIntermediate
Players: PairsTime: 14 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: A turn that works from wherever the scramble leaves you
The bottom wrestler is on hands and knees. The top wrestler starts from four spots in turn: beside the head, beside the legs, in front and behind at an angle. Round one uses a half nelson, round two an arm-bar turn.
Reps: 5 turns from each spot (20), then swap roles. Two rounds
Target: Level 5 owns one reliable turn. Level 8 runs turns in series.
Coaching cues
Sink the half before you move · Drive the head, not just the arm · Stay chest to chest
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Starting every rep from the same side, so the turn is welded to one setup
Fix: Call the starting spot only after the bottom wrestler is set, never before.
Make it harder
Let the bottom wrestler defend at half effort, forcing a switch of turn mid-series.
Count the Seconds
TopAdvanced
Players: Groups of 3Time: 8 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: Holding back exposure long enough to score the four
One wrestler on top, one underneath, one counting. The top wrestler starts with a half nelson already turning the bottom wrestler toward the back and holds the exposure while the counter calls the seconds aloud. The bottom wrestler fights out at full effort. Near-fall points in high school now follow the seconds held, so a top wrestler who holds four seconds instead of two has doubled the score.
Reps: 9 rounds of 20 seconds, rotating so each wrestler takes three turns on top
Target: Level 7 lands the turn under match pressure about eight times in ten.
Coaching cues
Chest down, hips low · Elbow in tight · Squeeze through the count
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Easing off to adjust the grip, which lets the bottom wrestler turn to the belly early
Fix: Adjust with the legs and hips. The upper-body grip stays put until the round ends.
Takedown to the Four Count
TopAdvanced
Players: Groups of 3Time: 10 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: Turning a takedown into back points before the bottom wrestler builds a base
Start in neutral. The attacker finishes a double leg to the mat and, before the partner can build a base, sinks a half nelson and turns them toward the back while the third wrestler keeps the near-fall count out loud. With the scoring above, a takedown and a four-second near fall add up to 3 + 4 points from one sequence. Release the clasp on the double leg as the partner lands. The NFHS 2025-26 wording of Rule 7-3-3 treats hands overlapping or interlocking beyond reaction time while bringing an opponent to the mat as a technical violation. Once the partner is down, the hands stay apart until the turn meets near-fall criteria.
Reps: 8 sequences per wrestler at a controlled pace, rotating attacker, partner and counter
Target: Level 8 moves from one attack to the next with no pause, and the turns arrive in series.
Coaching cues
Unclasp as they land · Half in before they post · Hands apart until the count
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Pausing after the takedown, which hands the bottom wrestler time to build a base before the turn
Fix: The counter claps once as the takedown lands and again a second later. If the half is not in by the second clap, restart from neutral.
Edge, Scramble, and Conditioning Drills
The edge, the scramble and the third period belong to no single position. Close matches get decided there anyway.
Stalling by one of the wrestlers for leaving the wrestling area
Stalling for pushing or pulling the opponent out of bounds
Stalling for backing out of the wrestling area
Wrestling action is taking place
Your wrestlers will hear which one it was. Drill against the one they keep getting.
What Are Some Good Agility Drills for Wrestling?
In wrestling, agility means getting into a stance from anywhere, fast. USA Wrestling's drills, activities and games page(opens in new tab) lists the foot-speed staples, bunny hops, carioca, sprints, backward sprints and lateral glides. Put them in the warm-up. Then run Back-to-Feet Scramble below, which ends every rep in a stance against a partner, so the quick feet turn into wrestling.
Edge Turn-In
Edge and ConditioningIntermediate
Players: PairsTime: 6 minEquipment: A mat with a marked boundary
Builds: Scoring at the edge instead of drifting out
Partners start about a yard off the boundary line and the attacker has to score before both of them go out. The action stays inbounds while one point of contact of either wrestler is inbounds, so there is more room than it feels like.
Reps: 6 rounds of 30 seconds, swapping roles each round
Target: Feeling the edge coming is one of the markers of level 7.
Coaching cues
Turn them back to the middle · Finish before the line · Hips in, head in
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Driving straight through toward the boundary and running out of mat mid-finish
Fix: Make every rep turn the drive back toward the center before the finish is allowed.
Back-to-Feet Scramble
Edge and ConditioningAll levels
Players: PairsTime: 6 minEquipment: Open mat, a whistle
Builds: Getting back to a real stance from anywhere
Each rep starts from a different position: flat on the back, on the belly, on the knees, sitting. On the whistle both partners get to their feet and into stance, facing each other with hands up. Whoever arrives in a proper stance first wins the rep.
Reps: 3 rounds of 6 starts, a short reset between rounds
Target: If the stance on the eighteenth start looks like the stance on the first, that is the level 6 habit of keeping it to the end of a period.
Coaching cues
Hands under you, then feet · Eyes on your partner the whole way up · Arrive in stance
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Popping straight up tall and settling into stance a beat late
Fix: Judge it from the partner's side. The rep only counts when the wrestler arrives with the knees bent.
Bridge Series and Neck Preparation
Edge and ConditioningAll levels
Players: Individual, a helper for part 4Time: 10 minEquipment: Open mat
Builds: A neck and a bridge that exist before a match needs them
Five parts, always in this order. Neck work lying on the back, chin to chest and away, slow. Then a gymnast's bridge with the hands taking part of the load. Then the static wrestler's bridge. Then assisted bridge-overs forward and back, the spine bending from the top down with a helper supporting the hips. Last, continuous bridging, up and down with no pause. Unassisted bridge-overs are only for wrestlers who are clean on the assisted version.
Reps: 15 neck reps, 3 x 15 s gymnast's bridge, 4 x 20 s static, 8 assisted bridge-overs, 3 x 10 continuous
Target: Level 4 holds a bridge briefly.
Coaching cues
Build the load slowly · Spine bends from the top down · Stop the set if anything pinches
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Going straight to the wrestler's bridge with nothing done for the neck first
Fix: Run the five parts in order every practice and keep the unassisted version for wrestlers who have earned it.
Make it harder
Add a partner's light weight on the chest, but only once the movement is clean unloaded.
Grip and Period Endurance Circuit
Edge and ConditioningIntermediate
Players: Whole room, in pairsTime: 13 minEquipment: Ropes or towels
Builds: Attack volume that holds into the third period
Five stations, 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds to move: partner carries, rope or towel pulls, turn attempts on a partner on hands and knees, squat jumps and a plank held while gripping a partner's wrist. Two rounds, with 3 minutes between them. Count reps at every station.
Reps: 5 stations x 40 s on, 20 s move, 2 rounds, 3 min between (5 + 3 + 5 = 13 min)
Target: Level 5 gets through a full period with the stance sagging in the second one. Level 6 keeps the stance to the end.
Coaching cues
Count every rep · Move in the twenty, do not rest · Round two matches round one
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Treating the circuit as a test of who suffers most, so the reps shrink and nobody notices
Fix: Write each wrestler's count per station after round one and hold them to it in round two.
Make it harder
Add a third round only once two rounds go by without the work shrinking.
Freestyle and Greco-Roman Drills for the Off-Season
If your wrestlers stay on the mat after the state tournament, the freestyle and Greco-Roman months reward skills a folkstyle room trains less. The throw card below serves both styles, and the activity clock is for your freestyle months.
Throw Entry and Lift
Freestyle and GrecoAdvanced
Players: PairsTime: 15 minEquipment: A padded throwing area
Builds: The entry and lift trained apart from the throw
Cover the landing first. The wrestler being thrown keeps the chin tucked and the hands off the mat and arrives on the side, ten unhurried reps from low down with no throw at all. Then partners take a light tie, and the attacker back-steps into an arm throw or a hip throw, lifts the partner's toes off the mat, holds two seconds and sets them down. Only after that does the real throw happen, slowly, onto padding.
Reps: 10 landing reps, 10 lifts per side, then 6 slow throws per side
Target: Level 6 makes the entry work live and switches to a second attack when it stalls. Level 8 adapts it to partners built differently.
Coaching cues
Hips under theirs · Lift with the legs · Set them down under control
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Running the whole throw at once, so an entry fault hides inside the finish
Fix: Keep the two-second lift on every rep until the entry is clean. The throw itself comes last.
Make it harder
Enter straight out of a grip fight, so the entry has to work from a tie that is less than ideal.
Thirty-Second Activity Clock
Freestyle and GrecoIntermediate
Players: PairsTime: 6 minEquipment: A visible clock
Builds: Scoring on demand when the referee names you passive
Put 30 seconds on the clock and name one wrestler. That wrestler has to score before it runs out or the partner takes the point, which mirrors the activity period in international freestyle rules. Swap the named wrestler every round. Greco-Roman handles passivity with its own procedure, so this card is for your freestyle months.
Reps: 6 rounds of 30 seconds, swapping the named wrestler
Target: Level 7 uses the activity time on purpose from either side.
Coaching cues
Score early in the thirty · Move them, then attack · A grip is not a score
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Waiting for the last five seconds to attack, when the partner knows it is coming
Fix: Add a rule that holding a grip is never enough. The point has to come out of a movement.
Put Your Chosen Drills on One Sheet
Anything you added from a card has collected here, with the minutes totaled. Check it against the mat time you have before practice starts, then save it as a picture for the wall or paste it into a text to your assistant.
Your Wrestling practice plan
Add drills from the sections above to build a session you can export, print, or copy
A good wrestling routine gives every practice time in all three positions, with the share shifting as the season moves. Bottom work in particular should stay in every week of the season, not just the preseason.
That weighting is coaching judgment. No governing body publishes it as a standard. The wrestling starting set described in the skill map below makes a similar call in its four session templates, which run 50 to 60 minutes and each lean on one skill set. Its match simulation template puts bridging ahead of the conditioning round, because bridge-overs load the neck and that load belongs on a fresh wrestler.
Here is one way to shift the position mix from the preseason into the season. Every cell is editable, so rewrite it for your own calendar. For the minute-by-minute layout of a single practice, use the templates on our wrestling practice plan.
Wrestling Preseason Position Mix
Phase
Position Focus
Cards From This Page
Live Wrestling
Preseason, weeks 1-2
Stance, motion, a base on bottom. Neck preparation every day
Stance Mirror Lane, Three-Phase Shot Build, Hold Your Base: Breakdown Rounds, Bridge Series and Neck Preparation
Short positional goes from one start at a time
Preseason, weeks 3-4
Shots off movement, escapes, breakdowns
Attack on the Third Movement, Stand-Up: Clear the Waist Hand, Chop, Then Ride the Hips, Hand-Fight Rounds: Ties Only
Situation goes from all three starts
The week before the first dual
Scoring situations: the edge, the near-fall count, the reversal
Edge Turn-In, Count the Seconds, Takedown to the Four Count, Switch to a Reversal, Grip and Period Endurance Circuit
Full-length periods
In season
Whatever the last match exposed, plus a bottom block in every practice
Defense Circle, Turn Chain From Four Starting Spots, Bridge Escape Off Your Back, Back-to-Feet Scramble
Match-length goes, kept short on the day before a meet
The Wrestling Skill Map Behind Each Card
Set up Striveon for wrestling and you start with six skill sets holding 32 skills, twelve drills and four session templates. That starting set, the wrestling preset, was written for a Finnish club that coaches Greco-Roman and freestyle with one staff. Read it as a structure. It is not a folkstyle program, and nothing here pretends otherwise.
A drill is filed under the skill set it trains, and a skill set holds the skills you rate. In the preset, every skill is rated on one ten-level scale, and each level has a written description of what a wrestler at that level does on the mat. Level 5, for instance, lands their own base techniques roughly seven reps out of ten when the partner pushes back moderately, and attacks out of the opponent's movement, yet the stance sags and attack volume drops in the second period.
Skill Set (Name in Striveon)
Count
Skills Rated (Names in Striveon)
In a Folkstyle Room
Stance and Grips
5
Wrestling Stance, Motion in Stance, Moving the Opponent, Grips and Ties, Breaking a Grip
Neutral, as written
Leg Attacks and Defence
6
Level Change and Penetration, Double Leg Attack, Head-Outside Single Leg, Head-Inside Single Leg, Head Block, Leg Defence
Neutral, as written. This is the takedown
Standing Throws
5
Arm Throw, Neck-Lock Throw, Hip Throw, Cross-Belt Throw, Duck-Under
Mostly freestyle and Greco-Roman work. Keep, trim or rename for a folkstyle-only room
Par Terre Wrestling
5
Gut Wrench and Roll, Arm-Bar Turn, Half Nelson, Reverse-Belt Lift, Bottom Defence and Bridge Escape
Top and bottom. Swap the gut wrench for a folkstyle turn because of the locked-hands rule
Match Tactics
5
Staying Active, Using the Activity Time, The Edge and Stepping Out, Wrestling to the Score, Reading the Opponent's Stance
The edge and the score carry over. Activity time is a freestyle rule
Physical Preparation and Recovery
6
Safe Landing, Bridge and Bridge-Over, Grip Endurance, Match Endurance, Core and Hip Control, Weight Management Within Age-Group Limits
Carries over in full
Change any of it. A folkstyle room might fold Standing Throws into one off-season line and add a riding skill the preset never names. The skill sets you rename, add and drop stay the ones your ratings run against, so the words on the screen can be the words you already use in the room.
Matching Drills to Where Each Wrestler Is
Start from the wrestler, not the roster. Watch one live go, put a level on the skill you care about and read across the matching row below. Our guide to designing drill progressions covers how to space the step from one row to the next across a season.
Wrestling Drills by Level on the Striveon Scale
Where They Are on the Scale
What You See on the Mat
Cards That Fit
Levels 2-3 (drill only)
Recognizes the stance but straightens when attention drifts. One attack and one mat turn land in about half the reps when the partner offers nothing back
Stance Mirror Lane, Three-Phase Shot Build, Hold Your Base: Breakdown Rounds, Bridge Series parts 1-3
Levels 4-5 (live, one-sided)
Runs the basics against light resistance, strong one side and weak the other. By level 5, seven in ten against moderate resistance, attacking off movement
Attack on the Third Movement, Hand-Fight Rounds: Ties Only, Stand-Up: Clear the Waist Hand, Chop, Then Ride the Hips, Edge Turn-In
Levels 6-8 (scoring from both)
A second attack when the first stalls, a head block that holds, points from standing and the mat. By level 8, chains with no pause and turns in series
Defense Circle, Switch to a Reversal, Turn Chain From Four Starting Spots, Count the Seconds, Takedown to the Four Count, Bridge Escape Off Your Back
Partner Safety and Illegal Holds
Partners by weight. Pair within a weight or two whenever your room allows it, and put your beginners with someone patient before someone strong.
For 2025-26 the NFHS clarified the language on the leg block, or cut-back. Leaving your feet and using the foot or leg to cut out an opponent's leg is illegal, including from the rear-standing position, and the rationale notes that the move can cause significant injury to the defender's lower legs. Teach your wrestlers the illegal holds early, so a tired wrestler never reaches for one.
Landings and necks. Run throws and returns to the mat at walking pace first. Coach the landing before anybody gets thrown, which is why the throw card opens with ten landing reps, and do the neck preparation before any bridge work.
Youth, First-Season, and Solo Wrestling Drills
First-season freshmen, youth club kids and a wrestler working alone at home each need a different slice of the cards.
First-Season Wrestlers in a High School Room
A freshman who has never wrestled needs to learn to fall safely and to work with a partner before anything with a score attached. The preset's level 1 reads the same way. Give your first weeks to the mirror lane, the shot build, the base rounds, the chop-and-ride breakdown and the first three bridge parts. Live wrestling waits until the stance stays put while moving.
Youth Wrestlers and Kids' Programs
Younger kids learn wrestling through games. USA Wrestling's curriculum lists dozens, among them Switcher, Wrestlers Handshake, Caged Up, Coiled Spring and Bull Riding, alongside movement lines like the bear crawl, crab walk and seal crawl. It also keeps one-on-one live wrestling minimal with younger ages. Borrow a card's structure, keep your rounds short and let the game carry the rep count.
Solo Drills at Home, and Drills That Need a Partner
Wrestling alone still works for a few skills. The first two phases of Three-Phase Shot Build need nobody, and neither do the neck work, the gymnast's bridge, the static bridge and continuous bridging from the bridge series. Shadow wrestling in front of a mirror covers stance and motion. Skip assisted bridge-overs at home, because the helper is the safety. Everything else on this page needs a partner, and most of it needs one about your size.
Printing These Drills or Saving a PDF
The two fill-in tables, the position mix and the level rows, each have a Print Form button that prints that table alone. For a PDF, pick Save as PDF in your browser's print dialog. The planner downloads your chosen cards as a picture or copies them, minutes included.