Standing Switch Defense Opportunities with Ben Askren
When someone gets your back, you're in a pretty bad position. They have a ton of options available to them. Whether it’s transitions or takedowns, they are in full control. Meanwhile, all you can do is either stall, escape, or just accept the fact that you're in a terrible position and deal with what happens next.
This obviously means that you are going to want to avoid letting your opponent get a hold of you from behind as much as possible. However, no matter how much you try, you’re probably still going to find yourself in that position a few times.
This means that you’re going to need to know a few escapes from this position if you want to stay competitive. Luckily for us we have one of the best freestyle wrestlers and combat sports athletes in general to show us how to defend yourself when someone gets your back when you're standing.
In this video, Ben Askren goes over how you can use a standing switch defense in wrestling.
Who Is Ben Askren?
Ben Askren is a top tier wrestler and wrestling coach but he hasn’t just stuck to wrestling. Askren is also a very accomplished MMA fighter having won both the ONE championship and Bellator welterweight titles and he even competed in the UFC for a short time.
Standing Switch Wrestling Counter
The video starts off with Ben Askren talking about when you should actually go for this escape. If your opponent’s hands are separated when they have a rear standing position, Ben says that you shouldn't worry about going for any reversals. You should just try to escape and get back to a neutral position. This is because it’s basically a waste of energy on an attempt that might not work. You’re already so close to the escape already.
The situation changes when the hands are locked around you already. From this position, Ben says that you should try to threaten your opponent in some way. This way your opponent might even just let go if you’re threatening them with something and that gives you an opportunity to escape.
You need to make sure that you’re actually threatening them with something that might work however.
Ben goes on to say that he doesn’t do the standard switch. What he likes to do is first is grab the arm on the same side that he's going to turn to, the right arm in this case. From there Ben fakes to the other side and whips around his opponent so that they are on the side of him.
Once his opponent is on his side, Ben drops the knee that’s closer to them. This should have loosened up their grip enough to when you can pivot on your knee and go the high crotch. From there you can work from the high crotch position that Ben loves.
Getting really good at this switch will actually make your opponent not want to even grab your back in the first place , even though it is a strong position, because they are basically just giving you a high crotch.
Learn More Techniques From Ben Askren 
If you like this technique and want to learn more from “Ben “Funky” Askren then you should check out his full video series “Ultimate Askren Wrestling By Ben Askren” available exclusively on Fanatic Wrestling!