Most wrestlers spend 90% of their practice time drilling shots and finishes. Almost nobody drills their stance.

Here's the problem: if your base is off, none of it matters. I've watched wrestlers hit a beautiful double-leg in practice and then get sprawled on instantly in a live match — because their stance under pressure looked nothing like their stance in drilling.

A few things that actually move the needle, in order of what I'd fix first:

1. Stance before shots. Weight slightly forward, knees bent, hands active. Drill just standing in it while a partner pushes/pulls you off balance. Boring, but it's the foundation everything else sits on.

1. Win the scramble, not just the shot. Most matches aren't decided by who shoots first — they're decided by who wins the 2 seconds after the shot when everything falls apart. If you only drill clean finishes, you're not ready for the scramble.

1. Mat control beats mat time. Riding well is a skill people neglect because it's not flashy. But tilts and back exposure points add up fast, and they're some of the easiest points on the scoreboard if you actually drill them.

If you're newer and want a structured way to build the fundamentals (stance, motion, core takedowns, escapes), we put together a free course — no charge, just trying to get more people wrestling correctly from day one. Once you've got that down, we go deeper into scrambles, mat control, and match strategy for competitive wrestlers.

Question for the room: what's one habit you had to break to actually improve on the mat?

Most matches are won or lost before the first shot is even taken.

Here's what I see over and over again at every level:

1. Standing straight up. If you're upright and stiff, you're slow. Your level change starts before you move — stay athletic, stay low.

2. Ignoring the collar tie battle. Whoever controls the tie controls the pace. Most wrestlers just reach and react instead of being intentional about where their hands are.

3. Shooting from too far away. If you can't touch your opponent's shoulder from your stance, you're not close enough to score. You have to earn your range first.

The good news: all three are fixable with focused drilling.

We just launched Mat Mastery — wrestling coaching and courses for all levels. If you want to sharpen your fundamentals and stop losing matches you should be winning, come train with us at whop.com/mat-mastery.