United States Olympic Team Alternate (1996 and 2000); USA World Team member; 3x Big 8 Champion and 4x All American for Iowa State University; 3x Kansas High School State Champion
Four-time All American Eric Akin was a top level athlete at Iowa State University. Now as a youth coach he has developed a series of techniques that focuses on fundamentals that will train athletes at all levels to be successful.
Coach Akin starts with the stance - the most basic element to being successful on your feet. Akin provides a series of stance and motion drills all wrestlers need to become fluid and agile in any takedown attempt and help ingrain it into muscle memory.
He teaches setups that will work at any level to control the opponent and open attacks. His instruction covers elbow control, inside tie and collar tie, and telephone wrist tie to 2-on-1 control. From the set-up, Akin moves to three types of penetration steps (with drills to practice the steps) to get in deep on your attack. The steps include: the drop step/inside step, the punch-punch sweep single step, and the spring-load step for double legs and low singles.
All wrestlers, especially young wrestlers, commonly lack the ability to finish their leg attacks. To get those hard earned points, Akin demonstrates finishing drills for the "Big Three" (Single leg, double, leg, and Hi-Crotch). He also shows a slide-by - a technique that is really effective on an opponent that we cannot pass his leg defense.
Finally, Coach Akin covers basic leg attack defense from the most basic sprawl to the more advanced Wizzer. He discusses two types of level change skills, which is a fundamental component for good defense and blocking, as well as the key to effective leg attacks.
This video is packed with information from start to finish. It is ideal for any wrestler or coach who wants to learn sound and basic principles that are effective at all levels.
87 minutes. 2014.
YWD-04509B: with Eric Akin, East Kansas Wrestling Club Head Coach;
United States Olympic Team Alternate (1996 and 2000); USA World Team member; 3x Big 8 Champion and 4x All American for Iowa State University; 3x Kansas High School State Champion
Four-time All American Eric Akin has compiled a video full of essential techniques that wrestlers need to be tough on the mat.
Starting at square one, Coach Akin shows you stance and hand position skills in order to build a good stance on the bottom, which are essential to maintaining a base and defending attacks by the opponent. You'll learn how to be light on your hands to get hands and feet up quickly. The hip heist is a fundamental skill for escaping and reversing on bottom, and Akin demonstrates a hip heist drill series to learn how to feel comfortable executing the technique.
He then moves on to the fundamentals of a stand-up, switch, and finally the complex Granby Roll. The techniques you'll learn include:
- How to attack a hand and cut out for an escape. Hand control and cutting out to face the opponent are the foundation needed to finish to a stand up. No points are earned by the bottom man until he cuts out and faces the opponent.
- Sit out and head post. This is a great escape for developing wrestlers who struggle with stand up.
- A unique take on the switch. Coach Akin shows mistakes he believes are commonly taught on the switch and demonstrates a technique that may improve the switch from bottom.
- And much more!
He completes the DVD with several different counters to the highest used turns from the top position.
Coach Akin uses youth wrestlers of varying abilities to demonstrate the technique and drills that he uses in his own room. He has made this basic level series very easy to learn or teach.
54 minutes. 2014.
YWD-04509C: with Eric Akin, East Kansas Wrestling Club Head Coach;
United States Olympic Team Alternate (1996 and 2000); USA World Team member; 3x Big 8 Champion and 4x All American for Iowa State University; 3x Kansas High School State Champion
Coach Akin was a top level athlete at Iowa State University. Now as a youth coach he has developed a series of techniques that focuses on the fundamentals of turning and pinning your opponent.
Breakdowns:
Coach Akin does an excellent job demonstrating and explaining proper body position and pressure on your opponent. He gives constant reminders about "good" position on top. Akin teaches basic breakdowns including the 180 breakdown, the Spiral ride and the Tight Waist Ankle. He uses the 180 and Spiral ride to get into his Crossbody ride. Akin shows how he keeps himself in the "saddle" an effective method to stay top of an opponent to get into a variet of pinning combinations.
Pinning:
The former U.S. World Team member, Coach Akin demonstrates a ton of ways to get opponents on their backs and rack up team points. He covers six turns that are fundamental to having success at any level from the top position. You'll see everything from a half nelson and chicken wing to cheap tilts, turks, cradles and the dreaded spladle position. Akin sets up his spladle from a side headlock and single leg defense. He also shares unique details to his nearside and crossface cradles that will ensure a pin every time your opponent is on his back.
We often take minor details for granted, but Coach Akin covers those details as a part of his teaching so that it is easy to integrate into your practice. This is a great DVD for any wrestler or coach to learn sound and basic principles that are effective at all levels.
43 minutes. 2014.
YWD-04509D: with Eric Akin, East Kansas Wrestling Club Head Coach;
United States Olympic Team Alternate (1996 and 2000); USA World Team member; 3x Big 8 Champion and 4x All American for Iowa State University; 3x Kansas High School State Champion
A solid attack from the neutral position is the key to confidence needed to be a champion. Eric Akin has found success at every level - 3-time high school champ, four-time All American, and World Cup Silver medalist. In this detailed DVD, Coach Akin give you a blueprint of drills to create effective wrestlers that can score takedowns from any position.
Coach Akin teaches a series of drills from the feet to teach wrestlers how to move, and create common reactions to generate scoring opportunities. He demonstrates different types of drills that wrestlers can do with or without a partner. These drills cover:
- Stance - Coach Akin dedicates a large segment on stance and motion, and the techniques to make wrestlers better both offensively and defensively.
- Set-ups - Coach Akin shows a variety of set-ups and which ones are most effective for each takedown.
- Penetration (spring load) - Learn Coach Akin's spring loaded approach to penetration and how it works from the outside or when a guy puts his hands on you.
- Finishes - Coach Akin goes through a variety of finishes to sweep single, double leg and high C from common scrambling positions. He includes several drills for each takedown finish.
Coach Akin does a great job in this video using his wrestlers to demonstrate drills and how to use them effectively. His in-depth instruction will help you take both youth and high school wrestlers through many advanced level takedowns.
Once the basic skills are mastered these techniques will guide you and your athletes to the next level. A great addition to any youth or high school coach's collection.
81 minutes. 2014.
YWD-04509E: with Eric Akin, East Kansas Wrestling Club Head Coach;
United States Olympic Team Alternate (1996 and 2000); USA World Team member; 3x Big 8 Champion and 4x All American for Iowa State University; 3x Kansas High School State Champion
Eric Akin is a wealth of wrestling knowledge. In this video, he gives you a blueprint of bottom techniques to create effective wrestlers that can escape from any position. Learn how to take already sound fundamentals and take them to a completely different level.
Developing proper stance and position improve your ability to dominate from any position. Coach Akin focuses on the important points of the stance and motion that will allow you to use basic escape skills in variety common positions. A main focus of instruction covers the proper way to hip heist and why it is important in all positions. Akin shows a variety of ways for wrestlers not to get broken down or get their hands tied up. He gives several drills to develop the finer points of the hip heist and getting hand control.
Coach Akin addresses the high percentage scoring techniques used by quality athletes around the nation. These include:
- Stand-up - Coach Akin's approach to the stand-up and how a wrestler can escape from all the most common defenses to a stand-up.
- Sit Outs - Coach Akin goes through his favorite sit out, which is actually a sit back, and how to use your opponent's reactions to score from the bottom position.
- Escapes from Common Riding Positions - Learn how to escape from several common rides including spiral ride, chop, tight waist ankle and the most feared leg ride. Coach explains each defense of these rides and how to use them to score.
Coach Akin uses young wrestlers to demonstrate the techniques and drills, which allows you to see how to teach them effectively. This video will be a great addition to any youth or high school coach's collection to improve scoring opportunities from the bottom position.
Although this video outlines the skills of the advanced youth wrestler, all ages will benefit from the wisdom of Eric Akin to escape quicker from the bottom and then attack from a dominant position.
47 minutes. 2014.
YWD-04509F: with Eric Akin, East Kansas Wrestling Club Head Coach;
United States Olympic Team Alternate (1996 and 2000); USA World Team member; 3x Big 8 Champion and 4x All American for Iowa State University; 3x Kansas High School State Champion
Ideally we work to dominate and pin all of our opponents. In this video, Eric Akin teaches how to breakdown, ride, turn and pin that can make an average wrestler a killer from the top position.
In this fast pace video, you will learn the techniques of advanced youth wrestler to become a dominate wrestler in the top position, including:
- Breakdowns - Stop your opponents' first move and break them down. Coach Akin spends a great deal of time working on break downs wrestlers can use to ride their opponent and set up pin holds. He covers five different breakdowns, including the spiral ride, cross body ride and shallow legs.
- Tilts - Coach Akin shows a variety of ways for wrestlers to score from cheap tilts to build a comfortable lead. He explains all the finer points to scoring using a 2-on-1 tilt, a chicken wing tilt and a spiral ride tilt.
- Pinning Combinations - Secure more pins while you dominate your opponents. See Coach Akin's approach to the half nelson, a bar arm and chicken wing series, as well as several turks and cradles, and how a wrestler can use all of them from many different common rides to pin their opponent. He does a great job pointing out all the small details that will help wrestlers use these techniques in an effective fashion.
- Legs and spladle - Coach spends a great deal of time showing how wrestlers can perform a multitude of pinning combinations using legs, and a spladle from different positions that make it a match ender from anywhere.
Coach Akin gives you a wealth of scoring opportunities for wrestlers from the top position that can be tailored to fit any size or shape wrestler. This video will be a great addition to any youth or high school coach's collection.
47 minutes. 2014.