Working The Front Headlock With Pat Downey

The front head lock is a fundamental wrestling position that offers a lot to wrestlers. It is also a fairly easy position to find yourself in. A common way to get into the front headlock position is off of a good sprawl. You’re basically halfway into the position already and your opponent is probably going to be on their hands and knees after you sprawl on them. You just need to be quick and you could find yourself in a strong position on your opponent right after they just tried to take you down and use a ton of energy. 

The position also offers a ton of different takedowns, transitions and ways to score points. The thing is you actually need to know how to work off of that position, or else you’re just using it to lay on top of your opponent waiting for them to escape.

That’s why we have a top freestyle wrestler here to show you how to work the front headlock. 

In this video, Pat Downey goes over the front headlock and the different options that you can work off of when you get it. 

Who is Pat Downey

Pat Downey is an American freestyle wrestler who won the 2019 US Open National Champion. In the same year at the Pan American games, Pat also won the bronze medal in his weight division. In 2016 he became an NCAA Division 1 All-American while competing for the Iowa State University Cyclones. 

How To Work Off Of The Front Headlock

The video starts off with Pat saying that there are a few reasons that people are converting front head locks. The first reason that Pat says is that people’s way of thinking about the position is wrong. Let’s say you get the front headlock after stuffing your opponent’s shot, most people are just going to think about squishing and holding their oppoinet there. Also if you try to move around them, it's probably going to be really hard if you’re facing off against a good athlete.

Pat says that the first thing that you should do is keep your opponent under you and put your weight on them. To do this you need to be on your toes. If your weight is not on your toes, your opponent isn’t going to feel any pressure. You want to also control your opponent’s shoulder and trap area. 

You don’t want o to give your opponent your arms either. Doing that gives them an opportunity to move around and manipulate you. You want to have T-Rex arms on your opponent’s back. You also want to be balanced so that you can move to either the left or the right. This way you can fake and move around your opponent. 

From there, Pat shows a series of attacks that you can use so that you can get on top and get to work. 

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