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Wrestling for tall, lanky guys

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AON

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I have an anti double leg body. Im about 6'1 and a half, 165-170 pounds. I have a decent build, and dont feel especially weak unless Im wrestling. The guy that teaches wrestling around here is a pretty stout build, and he keeps going over power double leg takedowns and picking people up blasting through them etc. i can get decent speed and explode but when it comes to finishing it's hard for me, my legs are VERY long and I usually end up sprawled on or having to do some wacky trip To get the guy down. I know theres a better style of wrestling out there for a guy like me. Its just frustrating during class repeatedly being told to blast doubles when I want to learn something else that maybe suits me better. What are some basic goto moves that a lanky guy should be practicing to use in wrestling?
 
Arm drags, snap-downs, uchi mata, single leg ... or just watch Buvaisar Saitiev. (Not as tall as you, but definitely lanky.)
 
Take advantage of your length and height advantage (relative to your weight class). Ankle picks are great. You should also develop a good front headlock. From top work the cradles and leg rides.

A guy I would watch is David Taylor. He's a D1 national champ currently at Penn State. David has about the same build as you and is super technical.

 
Singles and ankle picks. More specifically, I think sweep singles tend to work really well for guys with longer arms. If you are doing doubles, blast is probably not the way to go. Watch how Jordan Burroughs does doubles, he often doesn't penetrate that much but because he has super long arms he doesn't have to; he just drops with a small step and gets his hands behind his opponents legs and starts pulling. You could try it that way. But definitely the singles and ankle picks.

I'm a taller guy and while it may seems somewhat counter intuitive, I've always had good success with duck under high crotches.
 
Im in the same boat. Tall, thin, long limbs.

Im very novice, but im looking for arm drags, ankle picks, foot sweeps and trips. Im also focusing on singles over doubles. Definitely interested in hearing what the forum has to say.
 
AON said:
I have an anti double leg body. Im about 6'1 and a half, 165-170 pounds. I have a decent build, and dont feel especially weak unless Im wrestling. The guy that teaches wrestling around here is a pretty stout build, and he keeps going over power double leg takedowns and picking people up blasting through them etc. i can get decent speed and explode but when it comes to finishing it's hard for me, my legs are VERY long and I usually end up sprawled on or having to do some wacky trip To get the guy down. I know theres a better style of wrestling out there for a guy like me. Its just frustrating during class repeatedly being told to blast doubles when I want to learn something else that maybe suits me better. What are some basic goto moves that a lanky guy should be practicing to use in wrestling?
Click to expand...



First off, keep practicing those double legs!!

I used to feel the same way as you. YES, it's true. Shooting in properly is much harder for a lanky taller person like you and i, but that's mainly because it's more work for lankier people to keep proper posture while shooting in. Once you're posture gets strong and you have a solid fast shot, you'll be hitting those doubles, and you're long arms will make you harder to deal with even when they do sprawl. You might become more keen on single legs and ankle pics, but shooting in for double legs effectively lays out the ground work for you to be able to use those. You may also like upper body throws and trips from the clinch, arm drags, and snap downs, but again having a solid shot and double leg, along with good posture makes all that easier too. You saying you can't do doubles is the same as a short person saying they can't do triangles.. it's just not true. You just have to work a little harder and do it correct every time or it won't work.

2nd, there are easier techniques for lanky people too. Make damn well sure your coach teaches you how to leg ride, and do all the lanky guy stuff that stocky people find more difficult. This is something my school didn't teach and my wrestling record suffered for it. Make sure your coach can help you here or do your own research on it.
 
DPS831 said:
Take advantage of your length and height advantage (relative to your weight class). Ankle picks are great. You should also develop a good front headlock. From top work the cradles and leg rides.

A guy I would watch is David Taylor. He's a D1 national champ currently at Penn State. David has about the same build as you and is super technical.

Click to expand...


that was some slick wrestling.
 
Honestly, there is no formula for wrestling. Just find the moves that work best for you, and drill them.
 
Upper body takedowns would be more suitable for someone with your build. No point in having to get down low when you are so tall for your weight as you are putting yourself at an immediate disadvantage against a shorter more compact opponent with a lower centre of gravity. JBJ does pretty well with his greco roman style. Double underhooks and jack them up high. Use body locks, sweeps and trips.
 
aries said:
Upper body takedowns would be more suitable for someone with your build. No point in having to get down low when you are so tall for your weight as you are putting yourself at an immediate disadvantage against a shorter more compact opponent with a lower centre of gravity. JBJ does pretty well with his greco roman style. Double underhooks and jack them up high. Use body locks, sweeps and trips.
Click to expand...

B2FE7263C66F1154758B15D9AE21.jpg
 
Ezzatollah Akbari from Iran is extremely lanky and he made it to the world championship finals at only 21 years old. He was also able to neutralize Jordan Burroughs better than almost anyone he had wrestled in the past.

Here is his semi-final match of the world championships:
[YT]-XrSTZozO10[/YT]

The Burroughs match:
[YT]TADzFjoZueQ[/YT]
 
This guy was pretty lanky and tall and did pretty well for himself. He still hits double legs but uses length to set them up rather than quickness from inside ties.

 
practice the angles on your doubles, that way it's harder to sprawl
 
Harai Goshi is a great throw for tall guys, I don't know what it's called in wrestling but no doubt there is an analogous term.
 
+1 on ankle picks

See also: Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen in MMA
 
Einarr said:
Harai Goshi is a great throw for tall guys, I don't know what it's called in wrestling but no doubt there is an analogous term.
Click to expand...

Hip toss with a mule kick? So many of the judoesque throws don't really seem to have uniform names in wrestling.
 
I'm your build and my favorite takedown is the single leg sweep. and the reason it works so well for tall people like us is that from the clinch you can grab their leg with your long ass arms and there isn't a whole lot they can do about it. So I would focus on learning entries into the single and how to finish (sweep the leg, run the pipe and turn the corner into the double leg) that and ankle picks for days.
 
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