Perfect Your Effectiveness of the Same Side High Crotch with Thomas Gilman
Nowadays in wrestling, you have to be unique and creative. Obviously fundamentals are extremely important, but the sport and talent in general have evolved so much that to be successful you need to bring more to the table. High crotch technique today is not even close to what it was even just a few years ago.
Like many things in life, this sport is ever evolving. To keep up, your game needs to be ever evolving as well. This means taking that fundamental technique and getting creative and putting your own twist on it. Change it up to give your opponent something unexpected.
This is especially important with takedowns. The creativity present in takedown technique nowadays is exceptional. From the set up, to the takedown itself, to the transition; it’s got to be sharp.
In this video, Thomas Gilman demonstrates an effective technique for achieving the same side high crotch, check it out below!
The Technique
For this technique, Thomas sets up the scenario where he has a collar tie on his partner, and his partner braces up with his arm, extending Thomas so he can’t get to anything. This is a common defensive technique to the collar tie and it can be fairly effective.
From here Thomas drops his collar tie, and grabs a hold of the wrist his partner was bracing with using his other hand. He uses this grip to pull his partner's hand off of his shoulder, and then re-established his collar tie; now with wrist control.
To set this up Thomas begins moving back and forth, both pushing and pulling his partner to get him thinking and focused on his balance. If you were to be going for a single leg from here, you would want to pull your partner towards you to get him to step and make that leg closer and more available. Since he is going for a high crotch in this scenario and will be penetrating through his partners body, getting him to take that step is not important.
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To determine when to shoot for the high crotch, he times it with his pushing and pulling motions. When it is time to shoot, the first step is to use the wrist control you have to pull your partner's arm up to shoulder level. As soon as it gets to your shoulder, you change levels and start penetrating to the high crotch. Your head should just graze your arm that has the collar tie as you go to penetrate, essentially combing your own hair with it. This is useful to gauge the timing of your level change in conjunction with moving your partner's arm and shooting.
From here you can utilize some fundamental high crotch technique, such as getting tight to his body and starting to pull him up and back to shift his weight onto his far leg. What really makes this technique special is the use of the wrist control to lift your partner's arm. He is naturally going to want to bring that arm to the outside because that is where he feels stronger. Guide him into the direction he thinks he wants to go, and then quickly raise the arm and shoot right under it.
If you aren’t able to get your partner's arm to the outside and clear your elbow, you just start again from the beginning. Establish the collar tie and wrist control and try again. Another detail to pay attention to is head positioning. As you begin pulling his arm up, you need to bring your head to your bicep on the arm that has the collar tie. This places your head on the correct side of his body so you will be able to properly shoot for the high crotch.
About Thomas Gilman
Thomas Gilman’s impressive wrestling career took off in high school, where he became a four-time Nebraska State Champion and helped his team achieve three state titles. Thomas went on to his collegiate career at the University of Iowa, claiming the titles of NCAA Division I All-American, 2016 NCAA Championship runner-up, and Big 10 Conference Champion.
In freestyle wrestling, Thomas coined the 2017 World Championship runner-up, 2018 Pan American medalist, and was a two-time US World Team Member. After college, he has continued to compete internationally and has kept up with his impressive success rate.
About Thomas’s Instructional
Thomas has devoted this instructional to relentless collar tie offense. Included you will find techniques such as floating hand to outside single, wrist head in the hole, ankle pick, slide by, and so much more.
Thomas Gilman is your definition of an All-American wrestler. His success has put him at the top of the game, and he is here to share his success with you. Add all of the top level collar tie attacks to your arsenal, check out his instructional here!