Scoring rarely comes from the first attack. It comes from the second or third, thrown while the opponent is still recovering from defending the first. That requires planning the chain before you shoot: if the double is stuffed, the hand slides to an ankle; if the sprawl is heavy, you come up and take the far leg. Wrestlers who treat a stopped shot as a mistake stop moving, and stopping is what actually loses the exchange.
Key points
- Decide the chain before you shoot, so the second attack is a plan rather than a reaction to disappointment.
- A sprawling opponent puts weight forward, which makes the leg they are not defending lighter and closer than it looks.
- Slide a hand to the ankle when the double is stuffed, bring your head to the outside, and finish it as a single.
- Get off both knees quickly; a wrestler stalled on their knees under an opponent is defending from the worst available position.
- Keep contact between attacks so you can feel which direction their pressure is going and take the other one.
Common mistakes
- Freezing with your head under their chest after a stuffed shot, which is exactly the position a front headlock punishes.
- Backing straight out to reset, surrendering the contact and the half second in which the opponent is still recovering.
- Repeating the same attack from the same angle, so the opponent sprawls earlier each time and eventually counters instead.
Put it into practice
Second and third effort
- Set a rule that every shot must be followed by another attack within three seconds, whether or not the first one works.
- Have a partner sprawl on your double every time so you rehearse sliding a hand to the ankle for the single.
- Repeat with the partner defending the single, so you come up to your feet and re-shoot the far leg.
- Finish with thirty-second bursts of live wrestling that start from a stuffed-shot position.
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