Shadow Drilling

by Ken Chertow

Shadow Drilling is a great way to develop your skills, speed and conditioning. I was a boxing fan during elementary school, watching legends Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali on television. I learned that shadow boxing plays an integral role in the training regimen of every boxer. When I started wrestling in middle school, I quickly incorporated shadow drilling into my training program. I was slow and chubby so my shadow drilling was not very fluent, but I steadily improved every day. I would stay after practice and rehearse the moves that I knew until I felt like I could do them reasonably well. I had a mat in my house so I would also shadow drill my moves in the evenings after doing my homework and strength training. Shadow Drilling teaches you to control your body. Let's face it, until you have self control, how can you execute a move on a partner, especially if he is fighting back.

Shadow drilling is not just for beginners. It remained a significant part of my training regimen throughout my high school, college and international career. It can play an important role in the success of wrestlers of any skill level. If my memory serves me correctly, I remember reading an article in AWN a few years ago by John Smith and more recently an article by Dan Gable in USA Wrestler on the benefits of shadow drilling. However, I cannot recollect ever seeing an article outlining specific methods of shadow drilling. These aforementioned articles discuss the importance of shadow drilling but not actually how to go about it. Thus I will tackle this topic in the following paragraphs. Forgive me if this is elementary to some of my coaching peers. However, if you pick up a couple little things it will be worth the five minutes it takes to read.

Shadow drilling is an integral part of my Gold Medal Wrestling School Training Program. In a two hour practice, shadow drilling will typically encompass 5 - 12 minutes of the structured workout. Early in the season we do it at the beginning of practice for skill development and later in the year we do it at the end of practice to develop speed and conditioning. At my summer camps, I make my students shadow drill before and after sessions to review the techniques that have been taught. Shadow drilling not only helps your physical skills and conditioning, but it also enhances your retention of technique and gives you more confidence in your techniques. You can shadow drill just about any move, but the following is a list of the Top 10 Team Shadow Drills that I believe are the most practical and effective. Five of these drills are for takedowns and five are for bottom work. It is difficult to shadow drill pinning combinations, but you can use visualization and imagery skills to rehearse top techniques. It is amazing how much riding time you can accumulate if you put your "mind" to it.

1) Inside Step Attack Drill
2) Knee Spin Sweep Attack Drill
3) Back Arch/Back Step/Sag Drill
4) Sprawl Drill, Sprawl and Spin (on hands) Drill and Sprawl Re-shot Drill
5) Random Attack Drill
6) Stand Up Drill
7) 1 & 2 Drill
8) Hip Heist Drill
9) Granby’s
10) Combination Bottom Drilling

Remember, these are just examples. You can create your own sequences based on you or your team’s favorite techniques. For example, if you like carries, ducks and drags incorporate them into your shadow drilling routines. If you work the head often, incorporate snap downs, slide bys, shrugs, ankle picks and headlocks. The sky is the limit. However, keep it simple at first until your students get a hang of it and then make it interesting. Variety is important if you wish to keep your students intense and motivated.