Stance and Motion
Ages 7 and up · A few square yards of open floor; a mirror or phone camera helps
Stance and motion is wrestling's first drill and its forever drill: the athletic stance (knees bent, hips down, back flat-ish, elbows in, hands leading) moved around the mat in every direction without ever crossing feet or standing up. Every takedown, defense, and scramble a wrestler ever hits starts from this position; coaches grade it before anything else because everything else depends on it.
It is perfect home training: no partner, no mat required (any open floor), and the standards are visible to any parent (level head, feet apart, elbows tight). Ten minutes of quality stance-and-motion is the single best solo wrestling practice a young athlete can do.
How to run it
- Build the stance: feet staggered or square (coach's preference; staggered is common), knees bent deep, hips DOWN, back flat with chest up, elbows tucked to the ribs, hands in front at thigh-to-waist height, head up.
- Hold and check: 20 seconds, a parent grading the checklist (hips low? elbows in? head up?). Two holds.
- Motion: move in the stance: steps forward, back, and circling both directions, feet never crossing, never clicking together, level head (no bobbing). 30-second rounds.
- Add direction calls: a parent calls "LEFT! BACK! CIRCLE!" and the kid moves on command, stance intact. Three rounds.
- Finish with sprawl integration: mid-motion, on "SPRAWL!", hips shoot back and down (see the sprawl page), then back to stance and motion. Two rounds. Daily total: eight to ten minutes.
What to say
Common faults and fixes
The rising stance (starting low, drifting tall within seconds).
The level-head standard watched from the side: a parent holds a hand at stance height and the head stays under it through whole rounds. Shorter rounds at true depth beat long rounds standing up.
Elbows floating away from the body (the underhook invitation).
The elbows-in check: a rolled sock held gently in each armpit through a motion round makes tightness physical. Elbows tight is defense before defense.
Crossing feet on circles.
Slow the circle to steps ("step-together-step" never "step-cross") and grade it aloud. Balance dies at the cross; the habit must be absolute.
Make it easier, make it harder
Shorter holds and rounds, higher stance for the youngest, games (stance tag: a parent tries to tap shoulders while both stay in stance, touch-only).
Longer rounds with direction calls; stance-and-motion with level changes sprinkled in; mirror rounds copying a parent's movement; eyes-closed holds for balance; the full solo circuit (motion, level change, sprawl, shot: this page plus its siblings chained).
This page teaches the drill. ParentEdge builds it into a plan for your kid.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.