Freestyle Notes

A training log. Five techniques, one season, a lot of mat burn.

The Russian tie finally makes sense

October 2026

I have been doing the Russian tie wrong for weeks. I thought it was just "grab one arm with two hands." It is not. The grip is only half of it; the other half is where your body is.

What I do now, attacking his right arm: my right hand takes his wrist, my left arm goes over the top of his upper arm and my hand clamps just above his elbow, and my armpit sits on top of his shoulder. My chest is glued to the back of his arm and my head is right next to his. If there is daylight between my chest and his arm, it is not a Russian tie, it is just two hands on an arm and he pulls out.

The second thing a coach corrected: hips. I kept standing square and leaning in. Now I step my near foot in close to his and keep my hips under me, so I am pulling his arm down across my body rather than hanging on it. When it is right, he has to bend at the waist and his near leg gets light.

From there I am drilling two things only:

• Go-behind: drive the arm down and across, step my outside foot around, release the tie at the last moment and take the hips. Timing matters more than strength.
• High crotch / single on the near leg: when he leans back to free the arm, his weight sits on that leg. Drop my level and take it.

Still getting countered by guys who just turn into me and square up. Next week: keep the tie but move my feet more, so he can't square.

Front headlock: stop holding, start controlling

September 2026

The front headlock came out of the snapdown work. Every time a snap lands I end up there, and every time I ended up there I would just hug his head and wait. Wrestling coaches have a word for that position when you do it like I did: stalling.

Things that changed it for me:

• Weight on the back of his head and neck, not on his back. My chest presses down on him and my hips stay back and low. If my hips drift forward he can lift his head and shoot through.
• Head and arm, not just head. One arm around his head, the other hand controlling one of his arms at the elbow or triceps. Holding only the head lets him post both hands and come up.
• His head below his hips. As long as that is true, I am winning the position. When his head comes up level with his hips, I have lost it.
• Move. Circle to the side where I control the arm, snap his head down again if he tries to stand, then spin behind.

The go-behind from here is my best score in live goes right now. The other finishes I am still terrible at, so for now: spin, spin, spin.

A snapdown is not a pull

August 2026

My first snapdowns were me grabbing a collar tie and yanking. Nothing happened except my partner getting annoyed. A real snapdown is about timing and direction, not strength.

The version I am drilling:

• Collar tie with one hand, the other hand controlling his wrist or the inside of his elbow.
• I wait for him to push into me or reach forward. That forward pressure is what I use. Snapping a guy who is standing straight up does not work.
• The snap goes down and toward me, his head toward my feet, while my wrist control takes away the arm he would post with.
• I step back as I snap, so there is space for him to fall into. Then I immediately circle to the side and land in the front headlock.

Best tip I got: fake the shot first. When he reaches down to block a level change, his head comes forward on its own and the snap is free.

Low single: keep your head outside

August 2026

The low single has been the most frustrating of the five. In drilling it looks easy. In live wrestling I either shoot from too far away and get sprawled on, or I get the leg and then sit there not knowing what to do with it.

What I have learned the hard way:

• Head outside the leg. Every time my head ended up inside, my partner sprawled and I was the one in a front headlock. Head outside, ear on his knee or thigh, and his sprawl does a lot less.
• Shoot off something. A shrug, a hand fake, a snap he reacts to. A shot from nothing gets stuffed.
• Get my chest close to the leg. Reaching with only my arms means he pulls the foot back and I end up flat on my stomach.
• Have a finish ready. The one I am drilling: come up the leg to my knees, then to my feet with his leg trapped, and finish like a high single. Some people dump him from the bottom; I am not there yet.

Next goal is chaining it: snapdown attempt, he pops his head up, low single.

The ankle pick and why it is not a pick

July 2026

The ankle pick was the first move on the list because it looked the easiest. It is easy to drill and hard to hit, because the part that matters is not the hand on the ankle.

What I misunderstood: you do not lift his foot. You make him put his weight on that foot and then take away the post. From a collar tie, I drive his head down and across so his weight lands over the leg I am going for. I step my lead foot outside, change level, and scoop the heel with my free hand while the collar-tie hand keeps steering his head. He tries to step to catch himself, the foot is gone, and he goes down.

Common mistakes I made, in order of how often:

• Reaching for the ankle before his weight was on it. He just lifts the foot and I am bent over in front of him.
• Letting go of the head. The head control is what makes the whole thing work.
• Not stepping. Without the step I am reaching from too far away and lose balance myself.

It works best for me right after a failed snapdown, because he is already pushing his head up and back onto his heels.

Why this blog

June 2026

I started wrestling as an adult, which means two things: my body does not forgive mistakes, and I forget what the coach said by the next session. Writing things down helps it stick.

The plan for this season is deliberately small. Five techniques that connect to each other:

• Snapdown to front headlock.
• Front headlock to go-behind.
• Failed snap to ankle pick or low single.
• Russian tie to go-behind or single.

If I can hit each of them in live wrestling against someone my size by the end of the year, I will call it a success. Updates when there is something worth writing about.