Wrestling Flexibility & Mobility Practice Plan for 11 and 12 Year Olds
At 11 and 12, mobility meets STRENGTH: ranges loaded gently (the deep squat with reaches, lunges with rotations), hip mobility aimed at SHOTS (the penetration's depths visited on purpose), shoulder resilience built for the tie battles ahead, and the growth-spurt clause activated: tightening weeks are normal chapters, met with patience and doubled gentleness.
This session runs about an hour on carpet. The routine's spine survives (hips, shoulders, spine, in order), active shapes join the held ones (the mat rewards ranges you can move through), and the framing sharpens: flexibility is escape-ability: the wrestler who bends survives positions that pin the stiff one.
This plan was written for every 11 and 12 year old. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.
What is "range with strength" and why now?
Mobility the body can USE: deep positions visited with movement and light load (squat reaches, lunge rotations) so the ranges hold up in scrambles. At 11 and 12 the sport starts spending flexibility violently, and passive-only ranges tear where active ones bend. The moving cousins are the insurance.
How does the growth spurt change mobility work?
Tightening weeks arrive as bones outpace muscles: normal, temporary, and met with doubled gentleness (longer easy holds, no range-chasing, patience narrated). The routine continues through the spurt as maintenance; the ranges return with interest when the catching-up completes.
Why so much shoulder work for wrestling?
The tie battles ahead: hand-fighting, whizzers, and mat returns all spend shoulder rotation, and the resilient shoulder survives what the stiff one injures. Towel pass-throughs and swimmers build the rotation cheaply now, before the sport starts billing for it.