Three Ways To Pin Your Opponent From Short Offense
One common position in wrestling is a short offense position. It is common for wrestlers to end up in a short offense position after a snap down on after one guy shoots and the other guy defends the shot and is able to get the leg free. It is a great position to be in because the defensive guy has to carry a lot of the other guys weight.
Once you are in a short offense position, there are many ways to get a takedown, you could simply spin behind or get a front headlock and hit a throw by or a dump, but there are ways to put your opponent to their back from a short offense. Here are three ways you can pin your opponent from a short offense position.
Pushing Whip Over by Adam Wheeler
One great option you can use to pin your opponent is a pushing whip over. In this video, Olympic bronze medalist Adam Wheeler demonstrates how to do it correctly.
One of the best situations to hit the pushing whip over from is after a guy has shot a single leg on you and you sprawl and hook inside their arm to break their lock. Once the lock has been broken, you already are under the arm and the other arm goes around the head and now you are set up to hit it.
Learn the Wheeler Whip and More!
When you go for this move, be sure you are driving through your opponent, not just trying to whip them over. Also, before you even begin, you make sure you lower your chest. If you don’t and start driving into them, you will not have the correct pressure and you will basically be giving them your leg.
You should end with your opponent on their back with a really deep half. From here just stay chest to chest and keep your head up for the easy fall.
Head and Arm with Ed Ruth
Another great way to get a pin from a short offense position is with a head and arm trap. This is similar to a gator trap, but the way you lock up the head and arm are different. In this video, three time NCAA champion Ed Ruth demonstrates how he likes to hit this pin.
As you can see in the video, this head and arm trap comes from a front headlock position, but instead of a normal closed front headlock, Ruth reaches all the way under the chin and arm and locks on to his own elbow. He basically gets a figure four with his opponent’s head and arm trapped inside. Another thing to pay attention to is how Ruth touches his opponent’s spine to help keep it locked up nice and tight.
Become a Cradle Machine with Ed Ruth!
When the head and arm are locked up, start to put pressure on by “sinking” off to the side you are eventually going to roll. Then, use your feet to start to circle to the same side, which creates a lot of pressure, and then roll your opponent to their back and look for the pin. Pay attention to Ruth’s footwork through out the roll and his hip heist he uses to end up on top. If you don’t sink off to the side and walk your feet and just try to roll, you won’t be as successful with it.
This is a great way to get a pin from the short offense, especially for wrestlers with longer builds.
Roll Through Cradle from Front Headlock
Most wrestlers know how to do a near side cradle from a front headlock, but this roll through cradle is a bit different. Here is a video of Hudson Taylor demonstrating how he likes to hit this near side cradle.
In the video, Hudson Taylor starts the move in a front headlock position, but as you can see this near side cradle is unique because you don’t actually have to have the cradle locked up before you begin the roll. Look how he is using his shoulder to put a lot of pressure on the base of his opponent’s neck and pulling the arm tight. This pressure allows him to circle off to the side without his opponent breaking free.
From there he drops his head off to the side and puts his head “in the hole” and reaches to secure the leg. It is important to keep secure the leg for two reasons. First is to keep the other guy from ciricing away from you. The second reason is that you need to have control of the leg before you roll so that you can use it to lock the cradle up. Notice in the video, Taylor keeps the triceps tight and grabs on to his own wrist to lock the cradle up.
From this position, Taylor is in a standard near side cradle. There are a lot of finishes that can be done from here, but he chooses to step over the top leg with both of his legs and tripods up on his head. Watch how he takes his time when he gets the cradle locked up. If you get this locked up and step over the leg, it is extremely difficult for someone to escape. The biggest mistake people make when doing this finish is they try to rush through it and that allows space for your opponent to defend the cradle.
