Flo Nationals
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Gonna change the conversation. I watched flo nationals and Team USA vs Pa. What was your opinion of the shirt tops and short pants? We have discussed before about maybe changing the dress wear for wrestling?
Discuss. ( I kinda liked them)
Discuss. ( I kinda liked them)
They're growing on me. I especially am warming up to them for youth and junior high cause I see kids with their "baby fat" shying away and there are others that are self conscious about their "maturity" showing or not showing that cause apprehension with the current attire.
I'm talking fringe kids...kids that give you depth and room numbers. We need these kids to stay out for the team and we need to remove barriers.
I really don't see what we loose going away from singlets.
I like them as well. I wished they'd go to these but the traditionalists out there will disagree. That's cool though, we all have our own likes and dislikes.
I agree and like dunke said especially for the younger programs myself even for college could come up with some cool uniforms.
I like them. I wish Flo would have done two different colors, like one green and one red. Or better yet, A white belt.
I am all-in on changing wrestling attire, and am more than a little annoyed at the grumps who refuse to change simply for the principle of not changing. I ran a youth program for ten years, and there were plenty of 3rd and 4th graders who were clearly top athletes, but who didn't want to have anything to do with wrestling specifically because of the singlets.
My own son couldn't care less, and didn't understand the problem. On the other hand, even the guys who were fine with singlets got pretty exciting when they got warmup that were more up-to-date, such as fight shorts. Kids care about this stuff, and we should do everything we can to make the sport more attractive to them. It's such a dumb thing for people to get stubborn about.
Is that "stubbornness" only reserved for those on the other side of your argument?
You can't have loose articles of clothing in close quarter combat sports. The tighter the better. Which ever "outfit" provides that, that's the one I'm for. The human finger, wrist, elbow, etc. says "Thank You".
And I'm glad the gorgeous ladies of the world don't have a problem wearing tight clothing, it would be a sad day if they all decided to gather and go "Middle Eastern" on us down the runways and beaches of the world.....................
Is that "stubbornness" only reserved for those on the other side of your argument?
You can't have loose articles of clothing in close quarter combat sports. The tighter the better. Which ever "outfit" provides that, that's the one I'm for. The human finger, wrist, elbow, etc. says "Thank You".
And I'm glad the gorgeous ladies of the world don't have a problem wearing tight clothing, it would be a sad day if they all decided to gather and go "Middle Eastern" on us down the runways and beaches of the world.....................
As a matter of fact, no, people advocating for change are not the stubborn ones -- the traditionalists who won't accept change, even for the better, are the ones who are being stubborn. I'm trying to grow the sport, traditionalists are simply refusing to allow change.
As for the lose clothing, the outfits we're talking about are not loose, so it's a mute point.
However, even if the clothing were loose, the argument has always seemed completely bogus to me. Go to any club, and you'll see kids with oversized shorts and baggy t-shirts wrestling live for hours on end. And I don't see kids getting injured because of it. Seems similar to the "don't eat before swimming" warnings our moms gave us.
I like the shorts and compression top look. We have enough factors going against us solely because of the nature of the sport, no need to steer more kids away with our competition uniforms.
I see your point but the no loose clothing is for Safety. Take a kid with a cutoff shirt on and get your fingers caught in there.
I hate the Flo fight shorts and shirts.
Looks too constrictive, and like Omaha said, too loose of clothing for catching fingers, limbs.
Just stick with the singlet and fix the buldge area. You can't tell me that the people at Nike couldn't come up with something cool yet classical for the wrestling singlet.
Flo sure as shit ain't gonna come up with it.
Looks too constrictive, and like Omaha said, too loose of clothing for catching fingers, limbs.
Just stick with the singlet and fix the buldge area. You can't tell me that the people at Nike couldn't come up with something cool yet classical for the wrestling singlet.
Flo sure as shit ain't gonna come up with it.
But that was my point -- people say it's for safety but kids spend most of their time wrestling with loose clothing, and I've never seen a kid injured because of it. If they can live wrestle for hours in the practice room in loose cloths, it makes me question whether there really is a safety issue.
But at any rate, the clothing alternatives most people advocate aren't loose. It's something like this:
If the uni is gonna be changed, fine, but don't give the "barrier to participation" excuse to do it. Kids don't wrestle because they don't like wrestling. Most of that is the hardwork, relatively no glory and no teammates to mask your flaws/failures. It's a lot easier to say you don't like the singlet than admit the other reasons. I know that there are some kids that legitimately don't wrestle because of the singlet but there are not enough of them that you'll notice a spike in numbers with a uniform change. Most of the kids that use or would use the singlet excuse still won't be wrestling when the singlet goes away.
I have kids that did other sports and I never seemed to hear about a kids not going out for track or swimming because of the uniforms
I have kids that did other sports and I never seemed to hear about a kids not going out for track or swimming because of the uniforms
Couldn't agree more, Papa. I've never given much credence to the singlet excuse. I'm not militantly opposed to changing the uniform, but it needs to be pretty much skin-tight, for reasons mentioned above. I've never run across anyone who avoided wrestling because of the singlet. That said, I've run across a whole lot of basketball players who didn't want to work that hard. Nothing against hoops -- great sport, and played a lot in my day -- but I think the singlet accounts for a very, very small minority of those who don't wrestle.
To be fair, swimming is a brutal sport. Swam a couple of years in high school and hated every second. Practice was torture. Granted, I was easily the worst guy on the team and could barely finish the workouts, but still, I have enormous respect for swimmers. Only sport that has 2-a-days all season long. . . and one of THE LAST things you want to do in the middle of winter, at 6:00 a.m., half asleep, is dive into a cold pool and half-drown for an hour. I readily admit I stopped swimming after two years because it was was just flat-out brutal -- had nothing to do with the Speedos.
To be fair, swimming is a brutal sport. Swam a couple of years in high school and hated every second. Practice was torture. Granted, I was easily the worst guy on the team and could barely finish the workouts, but still, I have enormous respect for swimmers. Only sport that has 2-a-days all season long. . . and one of THE LAST things you want to do in the middle of winter, at 6:00 a.m., half asleep, is dive into a cold pool and half-drown for an hour. I readily admit I stopped swimming after two years because it was was just flat-out brutal -- had nothing to do with the Speedos.
I swam all the way up through high school and we usually trained with double suits with one being looser. The girls team would put up signs for upcoming meets using the speedo as a way to entice girls to watch our meets - a little nerve wracking at that age when, as Eddie Murphy said, sometimes you had to "take the zero" when the teacher called on you to go up to the blackboard and you were thinking about the girl in front of you.If the uni is gonna be changed, fine, but don't give the "barrier to participation" excuse to do it. Kids don't wrestle because they don't like wrestling. Most of that is the hardwork, relatively no glory and no teammates to mask your flaws/failures. It's a lot easier to say you don't like the singlet than admit the other reasons. I know that there are some kids that legitimately don't wrestle because of the singlet but there are not enough of them that you'll notice a spike in numbers with a uniform change. Most of the kids that use or would use the singlet excuse still won't be wrestling when the singlet goes away.
I have kids that did other sports and I never seemed to hear about a kids not going out for track or swimming because of the uniforms
I actually had to false start one meet because my friend's girlfriend leaned over the railing in her revealing sweater and my mind turned to other things. The sudden jolt of cold water was the only cure - my teammates were laughing their asses off.
Ha. Nothing worse than getting lost in your thoughts about last night's conquest and forgetting you're in a locker room.
That would be brutal. That went for the annual physical as well where they lined everyone up.
But we digress ...
I don't know why people don't believe kids who say they don't want to wear a singlet. Even some guys who DO wrestle, do it in spite of the singlet. It matters, and I don't understand the purpose of denying this and trying to say that all these 3rd and 4th grade kids are lying. Heck, these kids have no idea how hard practices are, or how difficult it is to lose a wrestling match -- so those can't be the reason. When they tell me they don't want to wear a singlet, I don't see any reason not to take it at face value.
I would also argue that the majority of wrestlers themselves would prefer clothing that is more modern.
Regarding the need for skin-tight unis - again, how can loose cloths be dangerous when wrestlers spend 90% of their time wrestling in loose cloths in the practice room? It just doesn't add up.
Not liking or having a preference to wear something else is usually not the same as the reason they are not wrestling. Wrestling isn't fun to most people.
Again, these are little kids who haven't wrestled, so they don't know if it's going to be hard. They say they don't want to wear singlets. Their parents tell me their son is interested, but can't get past the singlets. Recruiting kids for our junior program is something I spent a lot of years doing, and I had this conversation a lot. For most boys, wrestling is what they do at home anyway; so doing it as an official sport should be, and often is, a pretty easy sell. But I hear the issue with the singlet over and over again. And it's not like these are wimpy, unathletic kids. Often it's good athletes who I'm trying to steer towards wrestling.
This really isn't an opinion, it's a fact.
Started wrestling in the first grade, don't remember having those issues or hearing them. I have four nephews who wrestle. One has has quite the collection of singlets. The only thing I really worry about taking them away from the sport is football or baseball.
Wrestling around the house is not the sport of wrestling. The sport does not appeal to everyone... even litte kids. The singlet is an easily made excuse to say it's not for you. Most that use or would use that excuse will have another one if/when the singlet goes away. There won't be a swell in youth and high school participarion numbers coinciding with the singlet going away.
I also coach(ed)/recruited kids to the sport at the youth levels.
Agree to disagree.
I'm not a fan of the the fight shorts. I just don't think I could do it. We always wore short shorts or spandies.
I have a few friends that fight and some wore board shorts and some wore spandies. Once one if them tried the spandex they never went back to the long shorts.
I've also noticed some people wearing them in the cage are constantly messing with them and pulling them up. You don't have to worry about that with a singlet.
I have a few friends that fight and some wore board shorts and some wore spandies. Once one if them tried the spandex they never went back to the long shorts.
I've also noticed some people wearing them in the cage are constantly messing with them and pulling them up. You don't have to worry about that with a singlet.
Just keep your inner circle tight. Something like that. Go the gladiator way. What do I know, I fly a starship. I did get an e-mail from Eric Juergens today?
While the singlet doesn't keep kids from wrestling, it does seem to keep casual fans from watching. I've heard many a people comment about watching men roll around in tights. I do think the shorts and rash guard would help in that aspect.
You just made me laugh sooo hard!
Your comment reminds me of some friends that I give lots of grief to, that actually like to go clothes shopping in malls.
It's not like these guys are wearing loincloths. This whole thing is much ado about nothing. How long have singlets been around and "outdated"? 50 years? 70 years?
I personally loved the "old" Iowa State singlets with the leggings, and the robes and the whole nine yards. Go back to those and that should take some angst away............
