Wrist Wrestling 101 With Brett Pfarr

Wrist control is more often than not used as a way to get to other positions in the clinch. While wrist control is very effective at setting up and getting to other positions, that is not the only thing that it can be used for. Wrist control and wrist wrestling as a whole is an overlooked area that can be super useful for any wrestler to make use of. 

The great thing about wrist wrestling is that it is a fairly low risk position and attack but can lead to a pretty high reward. The low risk comes from how non committal wrist grabs and controls are, as compared to other entries like with shooting. This means that you can easily defend and escape if somehow you feel like you are losing control or it is going south. 

With all that being said, in this video Brett Pfarr goes over some options that you have off of wrist control. Brett Pfarr shows some transitions of off wrist control with both the inside and the outside step. 

The video starts off with Coach Pfarr in a more upright stance, similar to that of greco roman wrestlers. This is the stance where most of the time you will be going for some time of wrist control. 

Off of wrist control you generally have two options, the inside step and the outside step. For the inside step you want to step underneath your opponent’s hips and for your outside step you want to step with the leg farther away from the opponent to the outside. Remember to always pull the opponent’s wrist and arm to the opposite side that it is on to help get a strong angle.

Coach Pfarr says that in theory and when drilling he prefers to step to the outside off of his wrist grab. While he prefers it in theory, in practice coach Pfarr says that he actually tends to use the inside step for a few different reasons. One is because if he steps to the inside he can block his opponents back leg with his knee. This trips up his opponent and opens up some attack opportunities that he wouldn’t have otherwise. The other main reason is because if you take the outside step instead, your opponent can circle out and escape. If you like the outside step, make sure that your butt isn’t back and that your head and chest are forward and in so that you can better control your opponent and be ready to cut them off if they try to escape.

This is all for the opposite side wrist, the game drastically changes depending on what wrist you have control of. If you have the same side wrist or a cross wrist grip, the outside might work better for you. Ultimately, it’s up to you how you want to enter and what you believe works. 

BUY NOW