UWW Technical Courses for Coaches

- Introduction & Outline -

Introduction Coach Pathway:
The Development Department’s goal is to help National Federations further the development of wrestling within their country. While wrestling has many different areas of focus, one of the most important is the role of the coach. Coaches directly work with athletes and their job can have a profound impact.
A coach’s role is to help develop the athlete to be the best that they can be and to be successful on and off the mat. As a result, the Development team has created coaching courses to better help prepare coaches. These courses are not a part of a coaching licensing program for UWW. Only a certificate of completion will be issued to coaches that successfully complete the course.

Goal:
To equip coaches with the skills and knowledge to improve their competency as a coach. This will be done through courses that provide interactive learning. All courses will be coach-centred where all coaches will practice their skills directly and then allow them to discus, share, evaluate and reflect.

Course Overview

Level 1 – Introduction to Coaching and Safety

For coaches to be successful, they must have good foundation skills. This course is designed to help the participants improve these basic and important coaching skills. Topics will include best practices for introducing skills, breaking down those skills into teachable learning points, and providing feedback and reinforcement when coaching athletes. The course will also focus on improving communication skills and how to reach a better comprehension through questioning. Another important topic discussed and practiced will be how to implement discovery games, based on the approach of Teaching Games for Understanding, in training. This concept along with others will be practiced by the coach through interactive activities.

This course will also cover the concept of risk assessment. The coach’s prime responsibility is to ensure the safety of the athletes. Participants will learn how to identify, assess, and manage risk before, during, and after training. The course will help them to provide strategies on how to reduce risk and help maintain a safe and healthy environment.

Level 2 – Introduction to Practice Planning

Coaches often have limited time with their athletes, and it is important to maximize their training. An important skill for coaches is the ability to plan effective practices. This course will provide a foundation for how to create practice plans. Topics will include the theoretical framework needed for all plans, different activities that can be used at practice, and how to reduce risk with proper planning. This course will allow the participants to plan actual practices and implement them through microteaching sessions.

Participants will not only learn how to plan out wrestling training but will also develop plans for strength and conditioning. This course will also discuss and provide examples of the 7 basic skills of wrestling and how those may be implemented into training sessions.
This course will also look at other training topics. One area discussed will be weight management, the correct process for weight reduction, and the importance of a proper diet. Another topic will include an introduction to the mental training of the athletes. For wrestlers to flourish and develop as individuals, coaches must provide proper training of the growth mindset.

Level 3 – Periodization and Coaching Philosophies

This course is more advanced and will focus on two main areas, the first of which is the implementation of periodization in training. The course will look at the different training phases that occur during a training cycle. The participants will learn the different ways in which periodization can be implemented into training and will work on training sessions that meet the goals of each training phase. Coaches will not only plan but also implement these training plans during microteaching sessions.

The second focus of the course will be on developing a coaching philosophy statement. The participants will examine how their core values, purpose, and coaching style can be integrated into their written statements. The coaching philosophy they develop during the course will help guide them in their conducting and planning of practices and the development of leadership skills.

Also, this course will investigate how video analysis can be used to establish goals and integrate them into practice plans. The participants will also learn strategies for coaching at a competition. This will include tactics to use before, during, and after the bouts. This course will also examine the ways to get athletes to believe in the overall training program.

Level 4 – Program and Athlete Development

This a more advanced course that will be divided into two parts. The first part and first half of the week will be spent on developing a Wrestling Training Plan (WTP). This will be a printed document that will be completed by the end of the course. The participants will be setting goals, developing a competition profile, developing a wrestler/team profile, competition calendar, determine the phases and subphases in the plan, type of periodization model, and how to monitor and evaluate the plan. The participants will also learn how to develop a training camp.

The second part will focus on developing different areas of their programme and athletes. These topics will include developing a budget and understanding financial basics, embracing social media, athlete mental preparation, leadership skills, improving communication, competition manipulation, athlete safeguarding, and sustainability. These topics will have specific activities that will help them learn and implement the skills.

During the course, the participants will be leading practical sessions on developing chain wrestling techniques. These are advanced technical combinations that wrestlers could use to be successful. The participants will be delivering sessions to the other participants. They will also be physically active during this part of the course as they will be actively practicing these new skills.

A 3-day Introduction to Refereeing (non-certification) course is also available for experienced coaches at national level to further advancing their understanding of the latest wrestling rules.

This brochure provides detailed information about the United World Wrestling Technical Course for Coaches.

Organization of the Technical Courses for Coaches

Technical Courses for Coaches in Wrestling can be organized upon request by a National Federation or financially supported by Olympic Solidarity via our National Olympic Committee.

Please refer to Olympic Solidarity's Technical Course for Coaches for more information on how to access this fund or contact the Regional Development Officer of your continent or email development@uww.org for more information.