Working hard vs. working on the right things?

• Westie101

  

  On my way back to school today I was just thinking about my high school career and what I did to get better. Got me thinking about all the people who helped me and all of my friends. I specificly thought of a certain friend who started wrestling at the same time I did (both as freshman). Neither of us were very good when we started, I'm sure you all know of my legendary 2-19 freshman campaign. But over time we both improved. My friend was always looked at as a Rocky Balboa kinda guy. He trained relentlessly for 4 years. I worked out with him a couple of times and found it very hard to keep up with his level of intensity. Not to get too specific, but things like 6 miles runs, full body daily lifts, and 1000 crunches followed by leg lifts. Not to say that I didnt work hard, but my training never quite reached those levels. I spent more time in a practice breaking down what moves worked for me and what to imrpove on. I realized in the middle of my career that I just did not have a good shot nor an explosive finish, so i started working on being a great scrambler and finishing shots low on the ankles. All this helped me out greatly in my senior year. My friend however wasnt able to accomplish his goals, and I always felt bad knowing that he worked so much harder than I did and put himself through so much more only to come up short. Now obvioiusly there is a balance of being able to work hard, on the right things but which did you guys prefer during your times? Which one do you think leads to more success?
• queencitybuckeye

  Undirected work is largely a waste.
• cruiser_96

  

  queencitybuckeye;719616 wrote:Undirected work is largely a waste.

  
  I think Rex Holman would agree.
  
  I think a balance of time spent correcting mistakes along with good, solid hard work is excellent. Also, my guess is that you will find out that working on things right will be hard work.
  
  As I tell my team, "the attack of the elephant (sprints, push ups, sit ups, lunges, etc) is easy to prepare and execute. It's the attack of the mosquito ("No, don't put you foot THERE, put your foot HERE (2 inches away). Do it again... 50 more times!!!) that is the difference of making strides or quitting.
• lowsingle174

  U]Things to consider[/U]: Don't feel bad about your success. Weight classes are different, Opponents are different, Situations are different. In his position, in his weight class, you may have had LESS success than he did at that time, or more. No one will ever know. Everyone's journy is different.
  
  Everyone is different, and needs different things to become great. I believe that focusing on technique and competition for your sport will ultimately lead to becoming better at said sport. The more you do something correctly, the better you become at that activity.
• knightflyer150

  Well, also factor in that the wrestler you write about had a knee injury midway through the year. I think (and many would probably agree) that he would have probably qualified, too.
  
  HOWEVER, there is great value in what you ask. Now, I can only speak about me and I was pretty average in college. Two winning records and two losing records. My response to a loss or disappointment was always one way: run more, cut more, lift more, try harder. Well, that is why I stink in golf. Sometimes it is about refinement. I don't know that I did that to make adjustments in my game, and ultimately, I came up short at our qualifier. Now, I don't know that it would have made a difference based on my baseline ability, but maybe?
  
  I was a big Iowa fan. Sometimes, the Gable Way is mis interpreted as just more more more. I can't imagine that is the case, but when misapplied, it can limit a wrestler's progression or adjustment.
• Bitterrunner-up

  I've always believed that one-on-one drilling, lifting and intruction is the best way to improve your skills. There's something about working with the same person every day (or every other day) that allows you, and your training parner, to pick up on little things that you need to improve or change. Everything from large-scale positioning and tactical changes to fine-tuning head position and set-ups. The work isn't particularly "hard", but it can be tedious. The times that I've been able to work with a kid in the off-season like that, we've seen the best results.
• ohiowrestlingchamp

  I believe the amount of effort you are putting into a sport is what makes you good or bad, but if the effort you are putting in is training you to do bad habits and make mistakes then you are not going to improve. If you are drilling hard but sloppily you will perform that way in a match.
• Westie101

  

  Bitterrunner-up;719855 wrote: The times that I've been able to work with a kid in the off-season like that, we've seen the best results.

  
  I agree