The Ultimate Sag Takedown With Pat Smith
Who doesn’t like creative takedowns? Sometimes the stand up game can be difficult. You get guys who seem to be masters at sprawling, and getting a takedown becomes increasingly challenging. The best kind of takedowns are ones that are unique and unexpected.
When you start competing at higher levels in wrestling, you start to rely on some of the more creative techniques. A single leg can definitely lead to a solid takedown once you get it, but how often do you find yourself really getting it?
When you get someone into a body lock and have been hunting for a takedown, more often than not they are probably expecting you to try and pick them up and slam them. In the move demonstrated in this video, you can use your opponents reaction and momentum against them when in a body lock to take them down.
In this video, Pat Smith demonstrates a sag body lock takedown with a down and through finish. Check it out below!
The fundamentals of this technique are to play off of your opponents reaction. This is the case with many wrestling moves and when you can anticipate what your opponent's reaction is going to be, it puts you a step ahead of the game.
This technique comes from when you start your sag while having your opponent in a body lock. Let’s start by agreeing that no one wants to be in a sag body lock. No one wants to get slammed, and avoiding being caught in a body lock is definitely the first step towards avoiding the slam.
To set up the position, Pat gets a body lock on his partner and pulls him into his sag. In doing so, he uses the leg on the same side as his overhook as an anchor point. When Pat steps in for his sag, he steps that overhook leg far in between his partner's legs and pulls his partner on top of him. This is the point when your opponent starts to realize they may be in trouble, and they are going to react.
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The most likely reaction of your opponent is going to be for them to pull back. To keep them from successfully pulling back, you need to transfer your weight. From here you are going to want to shift all of your weight to the outside, onto your opponent's leg which is on the same side as your overhook. Doing this is extremely unbalancing for your opponent, as they now have no weight on their other foot, as well as all of your weight and their own weight all on their outside foot. When this is done properly, they are going to go down.
To land in a dominant position you do not want to just drop your weight on their leg and land wherever you fall. Once you transfer your weight, you kick your overhook leg through and move forward, allowing you to land down and through.
When you're in sag and you pull someone on to you, they are going to try and pull themselves back on to their heels. This is when you get to be a step ahead and expect their reaction, using it to go down and through.
Pat Smith is a former Oklahoma State University wrestler and former assistant coach at OSU. Pat was the very first four-time NCAA wrestling champion in the sport during his college career, and only a few have gained the same achievement since then.
Pat comes from a family of wrestlers, as both of his brothers are also NCAA titlists. He ended his college career with a 121-5-2 record, and set an Oklahoma State record with 98 consecutive wins. In June 2006, Smith was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Pat’s instructional focuses on an introduction to positioning and upper body attacks. Included in this 4 part instructional, Pat covers Greco Roman positioning and pummeling, single underhook defense, multiple circle sag variations, double underhook offense, introduction to bodylock position and finishes, and so much more. Pat has been actively involved in wrestling for decades and has priceless amounts of information and skill to offer.
Take full advantage of all Pat has to offer, check out his instructional here!