If There Was A Formula for Success in Wrestling, It Would Be This

If There Was A Formula for Success in Wrestling, It Would Be This

In my work, I constantly use the research from the Clifton StrengthsFinder by Gallup. Some time ago I used their research to translate the formula for success defined by physicist Albert-László Barabási.

Today I’m going to use that formula as the starting point for a new formula that defines success in the sport of wrestling. This is very theoretical. However, if applied thoughtfully I do believe this is a good starting point for any wrestler to find their unique path to success in the sport.

With this in mind, the formula is as follows:

Success = 2 * (# of Hours Per Week Spent Working on Strengths )
+
# of Hours Per Week Spent Managing Weaknesses
+
# of Hours Per Week Spent on Positive Training Pain

To break this formula down in simple terms, success is wrestling is dependent on a combination of how much time spent on three things.

  1. Developing your strengths
  2. Managing your weaknesses, and
  3. Building your pain tolerance.

Developing Your Strengths

Using the logic from the Clifton StrengthsFinder, you should spend at least twice as much time developing your strengths than on the other two areas. This is because strengths are found in what you truly love to do, your areas of natural talents and passions. When you have self-motivation because you love to do something, it’s by far easier to grind.

In the context of success in wrestling, when you find moves and techniques that you naturally gravitate towards and enjoy doing, these are your strengths. Therefore, you are far more likely to maintain focus when working and perfecting these moves and techniques and will get the most out of this work.

Managing Your Weaknesses

Many people are raised to believe that the best way to handle a weakness is to work on it until you turn it into a strength. I don’t agree with this. Again, following the logic from the Clifton StrengthsFinder, research shows that most people can’t turn weaknesses into strengths.

As a result, it’s best to invest the minimum amount of time needed in managing the weakness so it doesn’t get in the way of goals. In the context of wrestling, if getting off bottom is a weakness then you have to work on this skill enough so it doesn’t cause you to lose matches. But you don’t have to become a beast on bottom to the point where you can do a standing granby and peterson with you eyes closed.

Building Your Pain Tolerance

Building pain tolerance requires incorporating positive training pain into your training regimen. Positive training pain is training to intentionally create non-threatening pain. The goal is to have coaches push wrestlers beyond fatigue while keeping the pain threshold under the wrestlers control. In other words, the conditioning is not punishment and it does not risk injury.

What’s more, pain tolerance requires both mental and physical conditioning. As a result, the amount of time spent in this area should be split between the two.

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