How Old Should my Boy Be to Start Wrestling?

This is a question I get all the time and one that is really quite important.

I have seen 4 year olds that are ready to begin wrestling and I have seen 5 year olds that are not. I would say as a general rule of thumb, 5 years old is a good age to begin.

An important factor in the decision, though, is how much does the boy seek or avoid physical contact with others? Many times in a family where there are two young brothers relatively close in age, they are wrestling and tumbling with each other around the house as soon as they are old enough to walk. These are usually the boys that are ready to join a wrestling program at a younger age. Some families that have only one child, or maybe have mostly girls might have a boy who is not used to physical contact. He might require the added maturity of another year or two before he's ready.

In the IKWF, there are a couple of years that are more difficult than others. those years are 9 and 11. The difference between 8-U and 9-10 is pretty substantial. The 8-U group might have a few tough or experienced kids here and there, but for the most part it's made up of beginners. The 9-10 group has some beginners, but I would say the VAST majority of kids in this age group have over 2-3 years of experience. Some even have 4-5 years of experience. Imagine a beginning 9 year old facing a 10 year old who has to face a 10 year old who has been wrestling since he was 6. That's a tough task.

The only bigger change that that is the change to the 11-12 year old age group where some of the 12 year olds are attending wrestling schools in addition to their local clubs and some are even lifting weights. Once again, for a beginner 11 year old to face a 12 year old with 6 or 7 years of experience who is physically dominant as well, can be a disturbing experience for a kid - especially if he's used to being the best football or baseball player on his team. Being a good athlete is good enough at age 8 or 9, but by middle school, the experienced wrestlers almost always dominate even the best athletes who are just beginning the sport.

So - the best time to begin wrestling is 5 or 6 years old. If your kid is 7 or 8, that's a good age too. If he's 9 or 11, keep in mind that he will be having limited success for his first year and he might be best off trying an off-season club first.

Barrington Folkstyle Tournament

Today at the Barrington folkstyle tournament, Lenny took first beating the 2010 Greco State 85 lb. runner up 6-0 in the finals. Michael wrestled in the Freshman / Sophomore division against 3 high school varsity wrestlers. He won 1 match 6-5 and lost the other two by scores of 5-1 and 5-2. I couldn't be prouder of both of them.

Trevian Freestyle Clubs Cup

Today we're at New Trier High School for a unique event - a HS Freestyle dual tournament. 8 teams from the area - including one from Wisconsin. Michael won two wrestle-offs to make the varsity team as the 103 lber.

It's kind of fun to see him out there with the high schoolers.
Sent via BlackBerry - please excuse brevity.