Best games for youth wrestling club

[Fletcher]

Below high school level, but there's no youth board anymore, so this is a close as I can get. Looking for ideas for warm-up games or games to end practice with. Based on your experience, what are the best ones?

[Formally140]

Laces

shirttails (one on one or free for all)

knee sumo free for all

Sharks and minnows but you have to put person on their back to be out, have them stay on knees

patty cake step game

push up position hand tag

 dodge ball

[nick]

We do a lot of toe tag (we do hands to the foot), sharks and minnows, bone fight, and king of the ring (decent amount of kids start in a circle, can't come out of a bear crawl, have to either get pushed out of the circle or turned)

[Formally140]

This goes without saying but if you can make sure you separate 5-8 year olds from 9-12 year olds. If you can 

[flyingcement]

My favorite way to end practice was King of the Mountain.  Everyone lines up by weight.  The two smallest guys face off until one gets the takedown.  You stay on the mat and face the next guy up (and so on) until you are taken down.  

Another one fun for kids is everyone has to crab walk and you try to break others down.  Last man standing.  

[PencilNeck]

26 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

My favorite way to end practice was King of the Mountain.  Everyone lines up by weight.  The two smallest guys face off until one gets the takedown.  You stay on the mat and face the next guy up (and so on) until you are taken down.  

My middle school coach used to do this. When starting from the heavy weights and going the other direction, he'd declare the smallest 70lber in the room as the toughest wrestler on the team once he finally scored a takedown on a tired lightweight guy.

[Paul158]

Sharks and minnows. When minnow is caught and turned he becomes a shark. We do it at the end of practice. Our rule was that everyone has to do a good job in practice in order to have sharks and minnows and the end of the practice. The wrestlers then self- police themselves. The kids really loved it.

[blawtty]

Wrestling Simon Says.  Use both wrestling tasks and other tasks.  Teaches listening and following directions.   Both of which are extremely important in wrestling and life.

[Truzzcat]

Knee tag (first to 3 don't let anyone drop to a knee)

Don't have a name but it's a hand fighting game you get a point for getting your hands locked around the body, a point for snapping a person down so both hands touch the mat, and a point for getting all the way behind someone so like off a slide by or a duck something of that nature.

[Scouts Honor]

On 11/11/2022 at 10:06 AM, Formally140 said:

Laces

shirttails (one on one or free for all)

knee sumo free for all

Sharks and minnows but you have to put person on their back to be out, have them stay on knees

patty cake step game

push up position hand tag

 dodge ball

what is patty cake step game?

[Paul158]

Sharks and minnows. Use it as a reward to be done at the end of practice. Reward the young wrestlers for working hard and doing well in practice. Teaches a lot of skills that are used in wrestling at the same time the kids have a blast doing it.