THE PATRIOT WRESTLING PHILOSOPHY
At Lake Brantley High School, wrestling is not an
extra-curricular activity; but is an extension of the classroom.
It is a vehicle we use to help young men and women learn excellence.
Our number one objective is to provide an atmosphere where individual
talent is challenged, encouraged and honed to its fullest potential. We
are always aware, and totally believe, that a team concept is
imperative if that potential is to be fully realized. It is difficult
to become a champion by yourself. Team is the support system of
champions. We
teach that the whole is greater than any of its component parts.
Our coaches are teachers first. A team rarely, if ever, will win
because of what its coaches know. Without the ability to teach, a
coach's knowledge is of little value. Our coaches operate under the
same rules of
decorum that are present in the classrooms. Profanity or berating
students has
no place in this program.
The cornerstone of our philosophy is that we will not beat ourselves.
It teaches that all great champions are drilled and skilled in the
basics. We
teach low risk/high success techniques that work against the best
people. We train to defeat champions.
We believe that an aggressive, attacking style is best from any
positions, but particularly on our feet. We beat our
opponents on our feet. If we control this position, it is unlikely that
we experience defeat.
We will stand from the bottom and try never to help an opponent expose
our shoulders. We want to be attacking and offensive from the bottom.
We believe that if we succeed in our quest for supremacy in the first
two
positions (neutral and bottom) that the third and final position, top,
will be unnecessary. We utilize the top position to dominate those
opponents we feel we can pin or technically overwhelm. We will lose a
match from this
position. Very few of our wrestlers are told to choose the top position
for the start of a period. Finally, if we are placed in the top
position by the
opponent's choice, it is a strong possibility that we will choose to
wrestle from our position of strength, neutral, by intentionally giving
up the escape.
Conditioning is the final piece of our philosophy. We will not beat
ourselves. That means we will look harder than our opponents to
condition ourselves, mentally and physically to go the hardest, the
longest. The brain is the first muscle to tire so we will exercise it
just as much, if not more than our other muscles. We will be
the best conditioned team, and we will dominate the third period.
Young people exposed to this philosophy will embrace its discipline.
They will develop a sense of self and purpose that will make our number
one objective a reality.