High Double Underhook Twist Takedown With Pat Smith
It’s pretty well known that having double underhooks is pretty much one of, if not the strongest positions that you can find yourself in when it comes to clinch positions. The thing is that a good position is pretty much useless if you can’t do anything with it.
That’s why you have to know a few good throws to use in the situation, you can’t just rely on the strong position itself to get you the takedown or the win. A lot of newer wrestlers forget this when they first get the position and like to celebrate the position that they got and forget that there are ways to escape it and turn the tables.
This leads to a lot of reversals and embarrassing moments. So in order to avoid those embarrassing moments we’ve brought in a coach to give you some pointers on how to finish off of a high double underhook position.
In this video, Pat Smith goes over how you can land a twist takedown after you get those high double underhooks.
Who Is Pat Smith?
Pat Smith is an American wrestler who is a 2 time USA Greco Roman world team member and a 6 time USA national team member. He is also a three-time Pan American champion winning the title in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Twist Takedown From High Double Underhook
The video starts with Pat getting high double underhooks on his opponent and having his left foot in the lead as his dominant foot. He goes on to say that you are going to need to get your partner or opponent’s elbows as high up as possible. If your opponent is able to bring their elbows down they will be able to get overhooks or be able to start to work their way out of the position.
You want to have your underhook hands locked as high as you can get them. Preferably you could lock your hands behind your opponent’s head. This way you can control them and keep their elbows trapped up high. This will load your opponent’s upper body weight on top of you which will make the throw a lto easier.
From there you might want to think about bailing on the double underhooks and switch to something else. So if you want to land this specific throw, learn to keep your opponent’s elbows high.
From there you are going to keep your hips close to your opponent’s and you're going to power twist to throw them. Think of the switch like you're just turning around to face behind you but still keeping your stance.
When you twist make sure that both your arms and your legs are twisting to get as much momentum into the throw as possible.
Learn More From Pat Smith
If you like this Greco Roman wrestling technique breakdown and want to learn more from 2 time champion Pat Smith, then you should check out his complete video series “Effective Greco Roman Wrestling by Pat Smith” available exclusively on Fanatic Wrestling!