Use Henry Cejudo’s Shot Drill To Up Your Double Leg Game
A very common wrestling drill is shooting shots through a partner’s legs. This not only helps to emphasize the proper mechanics of a shot but also forces you to lower your level when shooting. Both of these points are important when trying to hit a high crotch or a double leg, but this drill as is leaves out a major component to finishing a double leg or a high crotch and that is finishing up and in.
To get takedowns in wrestling you have to learn how to shoot a shot properly. The best way to do this is by repetition; literally hitting thousands of shots in practice so when you see an opening in a match, there is stopping to think about it but rather it becomes an automatic response to take the shot and do it with correct technique.
Ready to learn GOLD MEDAL TECHNIQUE from a UFC double champ? Click Learn More!!
When you watch the video, you can see that Cejudo improves on this common shot drill by adding the last half of the double leg/high crotch movement to the drill to increase your ability to finish the takedown.
So let’s breakdown a couple key points of Cejudo’s shooting drill.
First point is lowering your level. Unless your opponent happens to be standing straight up, you need to get around your opponent's first line of defense and to do this you have to lower your level.
Second point is being able to penetrate deep when taking a shot. A common problem when beginner wrestlers start is they do not take a deep shot; they shoot to their opponent not through their opponent. When you shoot a double leg or a high crotch, you should move your opponent backwards.
The third point, which is what Cejudo adds to this drill, is instead of staying low and turning and shooting another shot back through the legs, is to step up with the outside leg and post your foot on the ground. This is very important because this is the leg that is used to drive your opponent across. If you just take a shot and don’t drive, you will get sprawled on, stretched out, and probably scored on, so make sure you plant that outside leg and drive hard keeping your feet moving all the way until you finish the takedown.
The fourth and last point is to bring your head and chest up at the same time as you are planting your outside foot and driving. This will bring your hips under you and help you to drive with more power. When you shoot, after you have made contact with your opponent, it is very important to keep your head up and continue to drive your opponent to keep from getting sprawled on.
This is a great variation to a very common shooting drill. By drilling this, you will be able to up your double leg and high crotch game allowing you to get more takedowns and avoid being sprawled on. Small details when doing drills matter big time. The way you drill is the way you perform out on the mat. So if you are only drilling shots halfway, your finishing percentage will not be nearly as high as it should be. There is a reason that Henry Cejudo is an Olympic Gold Medalist and a two division UFC world champ, and that reason is because he has figured the small details that make the difference between first and second place.
Gold Medal Wrestling By Henry Cejudo gives you a behind the scenes look at what makes Cejudo one of the best wrestlers to ever hold a UFC Championship. Drills, Techniques, and Strategy are all found here in Gold Medal Wrestling!