Go For Broke With Reece
In all competitive endeavors there are times that you play it safe, protect what you have and wait till the end and there are times when all is lost, toss caution to the wind and you go for broke.
In wrestling these all or nothing situations happen much more often than in other sports. Sports like Hockey will only pull a goalie if they are down and they have a minute or two left. Football will throw that “Hail Mary” pass in hopes to get a last minute touchdown at the very end.
How often do we see those situations? One in five games? One in Ten? One in a season?
In wrestling this could literally be every match. When you are in physical combat with another human being who is trying to prevent you from doing something. In wrestling points to not come as frequently or without response as often as other sports. Football has two whole squads one for offense and one for defense, in wrestling it’s all on one person. This is why a team scoring a pinfall earns more points than a win by points.
So what do you do when you are down by one and there is 30 seconds left? You go for broke! Wrestling may be a single individual on the mat but it is a team that is competing.
Below Highlight shows a few go for broke moves when the other wrestlers defends the single with a whizzer and tries to stall you out.
The first option is not only for a single leg defense, but any time an opponent has a whizzer as a defensive mechanism. The Limp arm is an effective way to free your underhook from a whizzer.
Add some Highlight techniques to your arsenal! Click Learn More!
The way to perform a limp arm is to sink into your undertook hard by driving into your opponent, when they respond by trying to drive you down with the whizzer you go with their attempt. Make sure to turn your palm to the sky and move your shoulders forward and away.
If done right your arm will slip right out and hopefully your opponent has over stepped in their defense opening the pathway for the reversal. Take note to what Reece says about closing that gap between you and your opponent quickly or else you might end up with them having an underhook and you with the whizzer and now you are worse off than when you started.
The second hail mary of sorts is from the same single leg whizzer position.
This move requires some agility as it is a tad bit acrobatic in nature.
This is referred to as a step over. This works because as you step over your opponent you create great tension on the arm that has the whizzer as you lock into their hip across their back.
Some points to help you step over is to make sure you are weighted forward onto your non whizzered arm. Which acts as a post, this in theory should make your lower half of your body light. Step over their back with the same side leg as you have the underhook on.
Your heel should find the hip (iliac crest for those of you who know anatomy) and slide your heel into the inside of the thigh. These actions should pull you across their back.
They will have no choice but to let go of the whizzer. If they choose to be stubborn and hold on, keep moving across their back and take the armbar turn to the farside. Which will result in many more points than you would get for the reversal.
Reece Humphrey is honest when he says that this movement is not for him, but worked great for his teammate Logan Steiber who used it much more on his way to four NCAA titles.
Reece is to be listened to, Pat Downey has become a monster using Reece as one of his primary coaches. Reece has also had great success on the mat.
While wrestling for Ohio State Reece was the NCAA Runner up and Third Placer in 2009 and 2010.
When Reece stepped up to the Senior level in Freestyle he has seen medals all over the world.
Here is a list of his accomplishments in Freestyle since his NCAA career.
- 2011 New York athletic club International Open Champion.
- 2011 USA World Team Trials Champion.
- 2012 New York athletic club International Open runner-up – 60 kg
- 2013 USA National Freestyle Wrestling Champion – 60 kg
- 2013 USA World Team Trials champion – 60 kg
- 2014 Grand Prix of Paris – 3rd place – 61 kg (Paris, France)
- 2015 USA National Freestyle Wrestling Champion – 61 kg
- 2015 USA World Team Trials Champion – 61 kg
- 2015 Granma y Cerro Paladol runner-up – 61 kg (Havana, Cuba)
- 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International runner-up – 61 kg
- 2016 Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial 3rd place – 65 kg
Stepping up against the best in the world Reece has proven he deserves a place at the table when American Wrestlers are concerned.
Reece has been coaching for many years and has tons of information to share. In particular on finishing takedowns and upper body throws.
He has taken the time to outline a 3 part instructional series on single leg takedowns and finishing them.
The first part of his instructional is based on the high crotch position. Reece goes over footwork and positioning. He also touches on several finishing options once you have made it into the High C position.
The second part is dedicated to a more traditional approach to Single legs and their entries. What is great is Reece Highlights (pun intended) how to troubleshoot common defenses to the single leg.
The last part is something you will not see often in instructionals, and that is what to do once you get the takedown. Sticking with the most common and effective ways to handle a position Reece goes over the Half Nelson ride.
The ability to ride an opponent and keep them down keeps them from earning an escape point, it also burns down the clock. The less time your opponent has to mount a comeback the better.
