Short Offense: Techniques to Score!

with Lennie Zalesky,
Cal Baptist University Head Coach from 2011 to 2022;
has coached wrestlers to 30 All-American awards and seven individual national championships;
2013 NCWA National Champions;
former UC Davis Head Coach;
2007 Pac-10 Coach of the Year;
2018 Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee;
2018 California Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee;
2010 Alaska Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee;
as an athlete, was a 3x All-American at the University of Iowa

Short offense is a position that isn't often taken advantage of by wrestlers, because most coaches don't focus on it nearly as much as they do on leg attacks, hand fighting and mat work. This is a shame because being good in the short offense position is an opportunity to score easy points off your opponent's shots, whilst expending minimal energy.

The short offense position commonly occurs after you have nullified your opponent's leg attacks and they are down on their knees. Most of the offensive techniques on this instructional video from Lennie Zalesky are shown from this scenario, but you will also learn a couple of ways to get to the short offense position from your feet.

Coach Zalesky begins by showing a few situations that commonly lead to the short offense position, and how to recognize it is an opportune time to score easy points for a take down, or a potential pin.

After an Opponent's Shot

The first offensive move Zalesky shows is how to block your opponent's shot with your hands, snap them down and get your takedown points with a go-behind. During this section, he explains the intricacies of how to place all your weight onto your opponent, making them feel uncomfortable and hindering them from being able to amount any sort of counterattack. It's an easy move to learn that is helpful for the beginner or advanced wrestler, and to reinforce it, Zalesky shows a couple of ways to drill and practice it so your technique becomes perfect.

After your opponent has shot in on you and they're on their knees, the most common thing they will do is grab one of your elbows and hope for a stalemate. Coach Zalesky shows several ways to score when your opponent has grabbed your elbow. You will learn how to:

• Pull your elbow out and snap them back down and get your go-behind points
• Turn the elbow hold into a pin with two different techniques called the "pancake" and the "drop, slide and catch"
• Get to an ankle pick when they try to stand up

On The Elbows

If your opponent doesn't grab one of your elbows, Coach Zalesky shows how to properly cup your opponent's chin and drag them down so both their elbows are on the mat. Once your opponent is on their elbows, Zalesky shows a series of techniques:

• How to execute a conventional go-behind, emphasizing the importance of putting all your weight on the opponent with your hips and legs
• Use a shoulder-to-shoulder pull to get a go-behind
• Pin your opponent with a chest throw from the double over position

If your opponent happens to get to one of your legs, Zalesky also shows how to get a pin with a front quarter nelson.

From the Feet

Getting to the short offense position after your opponent has shot on you is by far the most common way to get there. However, for the more aggressive wrestler who wants to be the one to initiate the move, Coach Zalesky shows how to bring your opponent down to the mat from the standing position. Whilst on your feet, you can drag your opponent down to the mat either by faking an ankle pick to a front headlock, or using an underhook to circle your opponent into the front headlock position.

Overall, this is an excellent video that shows coaches and wrestlers multiple scoring opportunities from the short offense position. Short offense gives wrestlers an easy way to score points off of opponents' failed leg attacks, whilst expending minimal energy. If the short offense position gives you problems, or you want to become more offensive from it, this instruction you need!

51 minutes. 2020.