Looking Back on Off-Season 2013

"Tomorrow is promised to no one." - Walter Payton [photo from www.beargoggleson.com

Well, it's been just over a year since I started coaching here in Ohio, and it's been quite a ride, especially this off-season.  Although I still coached wrestlers from ages 5 to 50, I dedicated a good chunk of my time to advancing my own wrestling.  When I was in high school I was very active in wrestling during the off-season, wrestling at different camps, clubs, clinics, and tournaments.  I usually was on the mat about 5 times a week in the spring and about 2-3 times per week in the summer.  Once I was in college and was working full time during summers, it became harder to stay involved during the off-season due to the limited amount of open mats for my age group that fit my schedule.

Despite how busy I've been, I think I managed to make this my best off-season since as long ago as 2007.  Since mid-March, I've wrestled anywhere from 1-6 days per week each week, with the exception of a vacation week in June.  I worked out with some high school wrestlers that I coach, and I attended open mats at two different area colleges.  I practiced with a Division I All-American without even realizing it.  I competed in the University Nationals/World Team Trials and got my weight down to the lowest it's been since college in the process.  I helped coach a wrestler to 4th place at the FILA Cadet Nationals.  I assisted a college professor as he wrestled for an academic research project and helped train him to winning a gold medal at the World Police and Fire Olympics.  And last but not least, I finally got cauliflower ear (more on that later).

I had already been planning on wrestling in the University Nationals for about a year, but the IOC's recommendation back in February to cut wrestling from the Olympics really set me in action.  Although the Olympics isn't a realistic goal for me (I know, I know, I should be preaching to you all that anything's possible if you set your mind on it), I decided to start somewhat of an experiment.  I wanted to see just how much I could improve if I tried to train as if I was preparing for the Olympics.  Due to untimely injuries in college, I hadn't had more than a couple uninterrupted months of training since 2009, and so I feel I didn't come close to reaching my potential.

The next summer Olympiad is still three years away, but that's precisely the point.  If I continue what I've done this off-season - walking the fine line between working hard and overtraining, while trying to maintain balance, consistency, fun - for three years, imagine how much progress I could make.  As Ohio State University head coach Tom Ryan says in the book Elite Wrestling, "wrestling is a marathon, not a sprint."  I can't go all out each day and burn myself out.  I need to train both hard and smart, get plenty of rest, and take care of my body so that I don't fall prey to some of the most common career enders for wrestlers - knee and shoulder injuries (more on that in future posts!).

As I said before, my chances of making it to the Olympics would be slim to none, but with the predicament wrestling is in, 2016 may be the last chance for any of us to make an Olympic team.  If wrestling does end up getting axed in September, people will be coming out of the woodworks to make the 2016 team.  We need to keep in mind a line from football great Walter Payton: "Tomorrow is promised to no one."  Live each day like it's your last, and wrestle at each practice as if it's your last.  You don't want to have any regrets.  I can tell you from experience that when I thought my career had ended two and a half years ago, I most definitely had some regrets.  Don't let it happen to you.

What did you do this off-season?
Jeff