Here’s a question that people often ask me: what is more important, practice or matches? Both of course! However, while people know that matches are important if you want to win, few people actually put themselves in that situation. Why? Because it is scary! You wear a singlet, you have an opponent you don’t know. It’s not like practice. You could lose and have you ego hurt. And this is exactly why you should get lots of matches!
Putting yourself in the situation over and over again where you are scared and nervous is important. You want to be so comfortable that it stops being scary. Of course everyone is going to be nervous at Olympics or Finals match. But they will have excitement not fear of the opponent. The more you are in that situation, the more practiced you become at competing and the more comfortable you get at competing.
Remember, you practice so you can be a better wrestler. You don’t know if you’re a better wrestler until you pit yourself against another opponent. You want to be testing your wrestling, not your fear and discomfort. So get good at competing so that all you test is your wrestling, and not your fears.
So if you want to be a good wrestler and a good competitor, practice wrestling and practice competing. In both cases, practice makes perfect.
Henry-Wrestling 