The Best Wrestling Takedowns to Teach Beginners: A Coach's Progression

Ask ten coaches which takedown to teach first and you'll get ten answers. But almost all of them agree on one thing: beginners lose takedowns not because they lack a fancy shot, but because they shoot from a bad position, forget to set up, and never finish. This progression fixes that. It builds the platform first, then layers on the highest-percentage attacks in an order that lets each move reinforce the last.

Before Any Shot: Stance, Level Change, and Setups

You cannot teach a takedown to an athlete who cannot hold a stance. Spend real time here. A good staggered stance keeps the head up, back straight, knees bent, elbows in, and weight on the balls of the feet. The lead leg is forward, hips loaded like a coiled spring. Teach motion in that stance, forward, back, and circling, without ever crossing the feet or standing tall.

Next comes the level change. This is the single most under-coached skill in youth wrestling. Beginners bend at the waist and reach with their hands; you want them to drop their hips by bending the knees, keeping the chest up and eyes forward. Cue it as "sit into a squat," not "bow down." A clean level change is what separates a shot that finishes from a shot that gets sprawled on.

Finally, setups. A shot without a setup is a guess. The simplest and most reliable setups for beginners are collar ties, wrist ties, and snaps that break the opponent's posture, plus a hard step or fake to change tempo. The rule: touch, react, then shoot.

Takedown 1: The Double Leg

Start here. The double is the most natural, highest-percentage attack for a new wrestler and it teaches the core mechanics every other shot borrows. Mechanics: from a setup, level change and penetration-step the lead foot deep between the opponent's feet, dropping to the lead knee (a knee slide, not a crash). The head is up and to the outside, chest against the opponent, shoulders driving. Both arms wrap behind the knees or thighs, elbows squeezing in. Come up to the trail foot and drive through at an angle, turning the corner. Coaching points: penetrate deep enough that your hips get under theirs; keep the head up. Common mistake: reaching for the legs with the hands before the hips arrive.

Takedown 2: The Single Leg

Once the double is solid, the single is a small adjustment with a huge payoff, because it works when the opponent staggers their stance. Mechanics: level change and penetrate to the lead leg, capturing it with both arms, one behind the knee, one high on the thigh, and pulling it tight to your chest ("head up, knee up"). Keep your head on the inside or against the body, not buried. Finish by running the pipe, sweeping the far ankle, or driving to a corner. Coaching points: get the captured leg off the ground and squeeze it to your sternum; keep your own head up. Common mistake: stalling on a single with no plan to finish, teach a finish the same day as the entry.

Takedown 3: The High Crotch

The high crotch is the natural bridge between the double and single, and it's a workhorse at every level. It attacks the same lead leg but higher, into the hip. Mechanics: penetrate to the lead leg, but instead of grabbing low, drive your inside arm up between the legs and lock hands around the thigh, head on the inside pressed to the hip. Elevate the leg and come up, then finish by turning the corner, running the pipe, or transitioning to a double. Coaching point: head position is everything, inside and tight, ear on the hip, so you can rotate rather than get flattened. Common mistake: staying square in front of the opponent instead of getting to an angle.

Takedown 4: The Ankle Pick

The ankle pick rewards good hand fighting and gives smaller or less explosive kids a shot that doesn't require deep penetration. Mechanics: using a collar tie or wrist control, snap and steer the opponent so weight loads onto one leg, then level change and cup that ankle with the same-side hand while your other hand drives their head and shoulders down and away. Pull the ankle up as you press them down. Coaching point: the pull-and-push must happen together. Common mistake: grabbing the ankle without first getting weight onto that foot.

Takedown 5: The Snap-Down to Go-Behind

Round out the beginner arsenal with an attack that punishes bad posture, perfect for the opponent who bends over and reaches. Mechanics: from a collar tie or two-on-one, snap the opponent's head and shoulder sharply down and to the side while circling toward their back. As their hand posts to the mat, get to the angle, secure a tight waist and near-ankle, and take the go-behind. Coaching point: snap on an angle, not straight down. Common mistake: snapping and then standing there, teach them to move to the back immediately.

Finishing and Chain Wrestling

A takedown is not the entry, it is the finish. From day one, pair every attack with at least one finish, and teach that attacks connect: a stuffed high crotch becomes a double; a blocked double becomes a single; a defended single becomes an ankle pick or a go-behind. This is chain wrestling, and it's why beginners who learn five connected moves beat beginners who learn twenty isolated ones.

How to Drill It

Use part-whole teaching: break each takedown into stance, setup, penetration, and finish; drill each piece, then reassemble the whole movement. Start with cooperative reps on a stationary partner, add light motion, then add a setup requirement. Then move to situational drilling, start wrestlers in a specific position (single leg captured, opponent bent over) and let them work the finish against graded resistance: cooperative, then 50 percent, then live. Keep the menu small, drill it daily, and demand a setup and a finish on every single attempt.