2001 World Championship Athlete Questionnaire

<< Back to Articles
Ted Witulski (USA Wrestling)
10/12/2001


Each American wrestler on the freestyle World Team comes to Colorado Springs to advance their training for the toughest wrestling tournament they'll ever face.  From Abas to McCoy the athletes have buried themselves into a daily training program that puts them on the mats twice a day, along with weight training and varied conditioning work.  As the wrestlers check in to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, they receive a handout that serves as the schedule and plan for the training camp.      Among the many pages of the manual for the last training camp before the athletes will wrestle in Bulgaria is the single page of the coaches questions to the athletes.  Kevin Jackson, 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist, turned National Freestyle coach for USA Wrestling takes the time to know the expectations and needs of the eight wrestlers on the team.  The goal of the eight questions in the Athlete Questionnaire is to foster the communication between the coaches and wrestlers.  According to Jackson, "We need to know what the wrestlers want and are thinking, so we can help put them in the best frame of mind to compete."      1. What do you want during the rest period?  2. What do you want during the match from the coaches?  3. What type of warm-up do you want and do you need assistance?  4. Who do you want in your corner?  5. Who is your second choice?  6. What type of warm down do you want?  7. How else can we assist you?  8. What are your goals for this tournament?    Every wrestler's routine is so unique that the coaches on the national staff will have to work hard to remember to help each athlete through the highs and lows of traveling to another country to compete through the pressure packed excitement of an international tournament.  Where Stephen Abas' warm up is relaxed and entertaining, Bill Zadick's warm up is intense and long in duration.  Each individual responds to coaching from the corner differently.  And, of course, each athlete will have different needs in just making weight for the tournament.      Coaches at all levels should learn from the example that national staff is setting in communicating with the freestyle team.  In preparing a set of questions that the starters are responsible for answering and then communicating their expectations and needs back to the coaching staff, better responsibility and channels of communication will be established between coach and athlete.      Too often coaches throw themselves into the drill sergeant role of leading the team through intense training, without truly listening to the needs of the wrestlers before entering competition.  Each athlete will answer the questions in varied ways and the answers handed to the coach can help the coach lead the team to more success on the mat.