The Rubber Knee Position Should be Illegal

[BaldAt23]

Wrestlers constantly put themselves in the rubber knee position and then get a potentially dangerous call. This should be a penalty point in my opinion. First of all, the position is dangerous and I’m sure many knee injuries have happened there. But many times wrestlers do this to prevent the takedown and get the PD call. Ban the position and penalize the defensive wrestler for using it as a stall tactic. Agree? 

[Hammerlock3]

Silly idea. 

You could actually do something about when someone is in deep on a shot and defensive guy grabs a foot and twists it against the knee and the ref calls it potentially dangerous. I've confronted D1 refs about this, they always claim they'd hit the defensive guy, and then they don't (only two specific examples so i'm being generous saying "they").

[Caveira]

All defense and scrambling should be eliminated.  We should go back to 1950s wrestling lol 

 

 

[Caveira]

All defense and scrambling should be eliminated.  We should go back to 1950s wrestling lol 

 

Even though stalling rules exist we should continue to not call it.  We should change the rules Every week of every season to test the wrestlers mentally to see who can adapt to rules changes the fastest.   The rules should be a 72 sided dice 5 minutes before every match so you don't know what set of rules you will wrestle under.    One set of rules in the 72 should be a staring match with mandatory ball grabs and stalling alternating every 39 seconds.    Don’t lose to the rounding time error of 39.  Last one in may win.   Think of the drama.  

Edited May 31 by Caveira

[cobra rider]

Rubber knee has nothing to do with the knee joint; its hip rotation.  Ball & socket joint vs a hinge joint.  I agree though; its a defensive cop out but refs fall for it every time.  Same with the bow and arrow turn in FS.  Just yell out and the ref will instantly stop the match.

[MoveCountermove]

12 hours ago, cobra rider said:

Rubber knee has nothing to do with the knee joint; its hip rotation.  Ball & socket joint vs a hinge joint.  I agree though; its a defensive cop out but refs fall for it every time.  Same with the bow and arrow turn in FS.  Just yell out and the ref will instantly stop the match.

Hammerlock/Chicken wings used to get this treatment as well, just claim strain on your shoulder joint and reset.

[Coldy Squares]

Lee vs Knox WTT (1:45)

If the wrestler puts himself there he has to deal with someone wrestling through it. I squirmed for Spencer here but Knox did the right thing.

 

 

Edited May 31 by Coldy Squares

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

Repeatedly causing PD is stalling, according to the NFHS rulebook.  I haven't checked NCAA in a bit. IN HS, I'd probably allow it to happen twice and then hit the person who created the position for a stall.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

On 5/30/2026 at 10:33 PM, cobra rider said:

Rubber knee has nothing to do with the knee joint; its hip rotation.  Ball & socket joint vs a hinge joint.  I agree though; its a defensive cop out but refs fall for it every time.  Same with the bow and arrow turn in FS.  Just yell out and the ref will instantly stop the match.

When the hip is reaching the limits of it's rotation, there is considerable pressure on knee ligaments as well.  

[BruceyB]

On 5/31/2026 at 11:34 AM, Coldy Squares said:

Lee vs Knox WTT (1:45)

If the wrestler puts himself there he has to deal with someone wrestling through it. I squirmed for Spencer here but Knox did the right thing.

 

 

IMO this is more of a situation where I actually think PD should be called. It happened too fast in this one to call it, but if it happened slower, then I would have expected/liked a stoppage. Spencer was whizzering and circling, not looking to go rubber knee like a lot of guys who dive around the body and reach for the opponent's far ankle despite their knee being anchored in another direction by their opponent. I don't fault either guy in this situation. Sometimes wrestling creates dangerous positions without any harmful intention and this looks like one to me.

[juniorvarsity]

I don't think it should be a  potentially dangerous position. It is self imposed. It is not forced by the opponent. Rubber knee is definitely putting a "limb to the limit of the normal range of motion"

"Any hold that forces a limb to the limit of the normal range of motion, and other holds or situations that may cause injury"

Rubber knee is definitely putting a "limb to the limit of the normal range of motion," but it's self inflicted. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

14 minutes ago, juniorvarsity said:

I don't think it should be a  potentially dangerous position. It is self imposed. It is not forced by the opponent. Rubber knee is definitely putting a "limb to the limit of the normal range of motion"

"Any hold that forces a limb to the limit of the normal range of motion, and other holds or situations that may cause injury"

Rubber knee is definitely putting a "limb to the limit of the normal range of motion," but it's self inflicted. 

You can't let guys get gruesome injuries, even if self-inflicted.  Just call it stalling if it happens more than once, as per the high school rules.  Of course this requires a ref that knows what he's seeing...

[jdw21]

I appreciate the opinions but I just don't believe this is stalling.  Wrestlers are going to do whatever necessary to not get taken down.  Assuming it's not illegal/an attempt to injure, it's defense.  I'd contend that the offensive wrestler should attempt to finish quicker and/or be in better position.  As much as I can't stand watching someone like Vega wrestle, he wrestles within the rules.  I think the defensive type wrestler is stalling in general.  It's not because of the way he/she defends.  It's more about the lack of offense.  No offense equals boring.  It can certainly be effective under the current rules though.

[boconnell]

44 minutes ago, jdw21 said:

I appreciate the opinions but I just don't believe this is stalling.  Wrestlers are going to do whatever necessary to not get taken down.  Assuming it's not illegal/an attempt to injure, it's defense.  I'd contend that the offensive wrestler should attempt to finish quicker and/or be in better position.  As much as I can't stand watching someone like Vega wrestle, he wrestles within the rules.  I think the defensive type wrestler is stalling in general.  It's not because of the way he/she defends.  It's more about the lack of offense.  No offense equals boring.  It can certainly be effective under the current rules though.

Turning your back and running out of bounds is the most effective defense there is.  You will never get scored on when you defend like that.  And it is also stalling.  Defense can absolutely be stalling.  

[juniorvarsity]

On 6/5/2026 at 7:39 AM, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

You can't let guys get gruesome injuries, even if self-inflicted.  Just call it stalling if it happens more than once, as per the high school rules.  Of course this requires a ref that knows what he's seeing...

I semi agree. Why would someone purposefully put themselves into a potentially dangerous position? It's stalling. Maybe it's not actually that dangerous. I don't know. I don't have a rubber knee. Anyone out there have a rubber knee? Is it as uncomfortable as it looks?

[BigRedFan]

Gabe Dean used the rubber knee defense on the few occasions that someone got to his leg.  One of the (many) reasons he was rarely taken down.

It certainly wasn't stalling.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

52 minutes ago, BigRedFan said:

Gabe Dean used the rubber knee defense on the few occasions that someone got to his leg.  One of the (many) reasons he was rarely taken down.

It certainly wasn't stalling.

The stalling happens when a person repeatedly creates a PD to get the ref to break the position.  If the defensive man is scoring then it isn't an attempt to get the ref to break the position.