Put Your Opponent on Their Back With These Awesome Turns
Learning how to turn your opponent is a must if you want to be successful in wrestling. Not only do you need to put your opponent on their back if you want to get a pin, but you can score a lot of points during a match if you utilize different tilts and turns. In order to be good at turning your opponent, you need two things: knowledge and attitude. You must know how to properly execute certain moves with good technique and you have to go out on the mat with a desire and determination to get a turn. Check out these awesome turns by some of the best wrestlers in the world.
Thread the Needle Roll Through Tilt with Logan Stieber
This first turn is a tilt that comes from a crossbody ride. Logan Stieber was a four time NCAA champion and world champion who is known from his arm bar series. Check out the video of Logan demonstrating how he likes to hit this tilt.
As you can see in the video, this tilt starts after you get your leg in and scoop the opposite elbow. When the guy on bottom feels their arm being attacked, their natural response will be to grab their own leg to prevent you from pulling it out. (If they don’t, then you have an easy hammer lock).
Once the wrist is secured, the top guy is going to roll over his front shoulder. While the roll is happening, top guy needs to turn his head and look back behind himself. To generate the power to make the roll happen, the top guy is going to use the leg that is not hooked in to push off the mat then kick it to create momentum.
After the roll through, keep the elbow and wrist locked up tight and keep the leg hooked. Just as with any tilt position, the guy will be trying to fight off his back, so the top guy needs to make adjustments to keep him on his back. The tighter the top guy can keep the bottom guy the better.
Front Headlock Pancake with Nick Heflin
Not all turns come from the top position. A pancake is a type of throw that comes from a front headlock position. It is common to see after you get a snap down or after someone shoots in on a shot and you defend it. There are many different variations of a pancake you can do. Check out this video of Nick Heflin teaching how he likes to hit a pancake.
This throw starts from an open front headlock position, but instead of the hand on the chin, you will have an underhook. This is a great position to be in because a lot of times when you do have the hand on the chin, your opponent will grab your elbow to defend. This move allows you to use that against them.
Another key point is you must drive into your opponent. Even though this is from a front headlock position, it is still a throw, and if you want to hit a throw from your feet, you need your opponent to pressure back into you. This pancake throw is no different. Drive into your opponent and when you feel them pressure back, let it rip. Another thing Heflin does is he pulls the arm through, don’t forget to do that. Lastly, when you hit the throw, make sure you let the head pop out.
You should end up with your opponent on their back. From here, keep you hips off the mat and make sure you don’t get rolled. This is a great position to get a pin.
Wrist Roll Tilt with Ed Ruth
If you like to run hammer locks, this is a great tilt for you. In this video, three time NCAA champion Ed Ruth shows and awesome tilt with a hammer lock that he calls a wrist roll tilt. This is definitely a move you can use to score a lot of points.
The first step when going for this tilt is to break your opponent down flat. You can do this whichever way you choose. Once they are flat on the mat, get wrist control on one side and drive to roll the wrist under and put it across the back like you are setting up a hammer lock. Watch how Ruth uses his whole body to create pressure to roll the wrist out.
After you have the wrist rolled out, place the hand on their low back but remember to not let the elbow bend past ninety degrees or the referee will stop the match for potentially dangerous. From here, watch how Ruth blocks and puts pressure on the elbow and uses it at pivot point to turn his opponent.
Once you have the elbow secured off the back and are blocking it with your knee, use your other hand to either hook in their armpit or you can reach across their neck almost like you have a claw ride. From here you will lift up then roll to your side for the turn.
When you have turned your opponent, be sure to keep everything very tight, especially the arm that is across the back. Also, pay attention to what Ruth is doing with his legs to control his opponent. This tilt, just like all tilts, rely on your ability to keep your opponent control long enough to get your five count and you must keep yourself out of danger as well.
Standing Tilt with Max and Ben Askren
If you want to get good at putting your opponent on their back, you need to learn how to do it from many different positions. This standing tilt is super effective and it is set up when your opponent hits a stand up and you get a two on one. Check out the video to see how it is done.
As you can see in the video, to hit this tilt you have to get a two on one after your opponent has hit a stand up. Pull their wrist across and put your elbow on the inside of their thigh and drop your head down to about hip level like Max does in the video. Then with everything very tight, circle to the front of your opponent and then roll and you should end up in a nice tilt position. The last key point is that Max is using the wrist control and pinching the elbow and knee together in order to keep control of his partner. This is not only a great tilt, but also a great mat return.
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