Instruction Camps Don’t Always Help Young Wrestlers

Esperanza wrestling Coach Chuck Bishop has mixed emotions when his wrestlers leave for instructional camps every summer.

Each spring, Bishop hands out packets of information and applications about summer camps to his team.

But Bishop said his wrestlers are making a risky investment when they pay fees ranging from $20-$30 for a one-day camp to $365 for larger camps, such as the one run by former Olympian Dan Gable at the University of Iowa.

“Camp costs are increasing to the point where there are diminishing returns for a freshman or a sophomore who goes to one of the high-pressure camps,” Bishop said. “They’re learning skills there that they’re not able to use because they don’t have the foundation.”

Bishop said wrestlers with five or six years of experience have mastered the basic moves and can benefit from the coaching at the larger camps. He said many younger, inexperienced wrestlers go to the larger camps in hopes of being competitive the following year.

In some cases, those are false hopes.

Many coaches overemphasize the importance of the camps, he said.

“They think because everyone else is doing it, then they do too,” Bishop said. “I’ve had some kids go off to instructional camps and come back with no improvements.”

Nonetheless, California is a hotbed for summer camps. Bishop said several of the top wrestling schools--Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Iowa State--have summer camps in California as well as in their home states.

“Most of them are coming out here in the summer because of the resources and wrestlers we have here,” he said.

Esperanza’s Rob Langenwalter, who has a 27-2 record and is ranked No. 1 in Orange County at 126 pounds, said he learned several new moves at Cal State Fullerton’s camp in 1988. Bishop said nine members of Esperanza’s team attended camps last summer, but Langenwalter stayed home to work.

“It’s a good chance for you to get down your technique,” Langenwalter said of the camps. “You get to see a variety of new moves and try them out.

“During the wrestling season, you spend all of your time training and you don’t have any time to work on new moves. The summer gives you time to reflect on technique.”

A typical camp day begins with a two-mile run at 7 a.m., Langenwalter said. Wrestlers spend four hours studying moves and then practicing them. After a two-hour break, they’re back for two more hours of wrestling, and later, an hour-long lecture.

“Sometimes there’s even a third session (of wrestling),” Langenwalter said. “Then you go to bed.”

Bishop said the rest is well-earned.

“Some of these camps give kids up to seven, eight or even nine hours of instruction each day,” Bishop said. “They spend as many as 45 hours a week working out.”

Many wrestlers don’t retain what they’ve learned at the camps, Bishop said. Some either don’t take notes on what they’ve learned or keep poor notes, he said.

“I asked one of my wrestlers for notes after he got back and they were so bad you couldn’t even read them,” Bishop said. “Some of the better camps supply them with handouts.”

Langenwalter said he kept notes from both camps he attended. He said he reviews the notes frequently.

“I think you can gain a lot from the camps,” he said. “It’s a positive experience. There’s not a great deal of risk as far as injury because everything is done in a controlled environment. The staffs are top-notch.”

Bishop said coaches have started using videotapes to help wrestlers study moves. Matches are taped and played back so wrestlers can review their technique.

Gable, the coach at Iowa, which is a perennial wrestling power, and several other top coaches and wrestlers have marketed videotapes teaching moves. Wrestlers also can buy tapes of state championship matches, Bishop said.

“Since the videos have been introduced, we’ve seen a new dimension in the marketing of wrestling,” Bishop said. “Instead of spending $60 for a camp, they can buy a tape for about $15 and watch it a thousand times if they want.”

Langenwalter has a wrestling tape made by Carl Adams, the coach at Boston University.

“It’s good to have so I can go back and review moves,” Langenwalter said. “It’s pretty basic, but it’s a good thing to have if I decide to coach myself.”

WHAT THEY MEAN WHEN THEY SAY...

A sampling of wrestling terminology:

Ball and chain: A combination move that pushes an opponent’s head onto the mat, bringing down his shoulder blades, forcing the pin.

Banana splits: A painful, but effective move using the legs to hold an opponent and set him up for a pin.

Blue-lipped: When wrestler becomes so exhausted and oxygen deficient, his lips turn blue. Also known as gassed.

E-ride: Being thrown to the mat from standing position. (One knee must hit first or the move is defined as a slam, which is illegal.) Also known as a launch.

Fish: also known as a squid, it refers to an incompetent wrestler, one who just flops around. (El Dorado’s tournament was once referred to as the Lake tournament. “Because there were so many fish there,” former Loara Coach John Dahlem said.)

Guillotine: A firm hold on an opponent’s upper body.

Leg ride: Using a leg to bring down an opponent; can work into banana splits.

Nelson: Holding one hand around an opponent’s neck for control. A full nelson involves two hands and is illegal.

Shark: A very tough, proficient wrestler, also known as a stallion .

Stick: Same as a pin. To be pinned, wrestler must have both shoulder blades on the mat.

Sucking weight: Losing weight to meet a particular weight class, as in He really had to suck weight this week. Also, cutting weight.

Source: Area wrestlers and coaches.