Gilmore's Take: Mid-Season Review

     Over the winter break I fell off a little bit with updating our web page and writing my blog.  Therefore, I am going to evaluate the 1st half of our season, and talk about what we need to improve on for the 2nd half. 
     As I look back over the 1st month of competition we have had our ups and downs.  The beginning of December our young team saw some success, and felt a sense of satisfaction for the hard work that they have put in.  As winter break came and our competition was increase our lack of experience really began to show.  As it became more difficult to to accomplish the little things like heavy hands, moving our feet and hand control our frustration level began to rise.  Just like everything in life, when things begin to get tough old habits come out.  We saw this throughout our competitions these last two weeks.  Many of our wrestlers started looking at matches and hoping they could win, or hoping their opponent would make a mistake.  We turned into a team that started using bad technique in hopes that it would work, instead of using our constant pressure philosophy and making things happen.  With that being said, this is expected with a young team.  We have pointed out our mistakes and we are working on improving them.
      I think Rocky said it best: "It ain't about how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward.  It's how much you can take, and keep moving forward.  That's how winning is done."  For us to be successful the remainder of the season we need to keep this quote in mind.  We are not going to win every match, but we need to be hard nosed and stick to our game plan in every match.  If you are willing to wrestle the full 6 minutes of a match, and your opponent is not, you will have opportunities to score and take control of the match.  By doing the little things, and competing for 6 full minutes, you give yourself a chance to win.  Our goal is to be "in" every match.  If you are "in" the match, and you are the more aggressive wrestler your chances to win increase dramatically.  As the season wears on you will start to see wrestlers looking for excuses not to compete, or just wanting their season to be over.  By being the wrestler who is willing to "keep moving forward" you will start beating those wrestlers who are suppose to be better than you.  Mental toughness is a very important part of this sport.  We have to win the mental game.  When we can start winning the mental game, we will see our potential turn into success.