How to go D1... and not quit... (my story)
I wrote this email that I got asked to send to a few wrestling coaches but I figured I would copy and paste it in here to show you guys the importance of film study in my story: This is not a spam email, my name is Briar Cochran. I was a state champ in Iowa in 2016 and went on to wrestle D1 at Iowa State University. Some of you might actually know me. Most of you won’t though haha. But what I realized when I got to Iowa State, was that I had missed out on DECADES of growing as a wrestler because I didn’t study the sport. I was severely underprepared for that level of competition. So, I partnered with a guy named Alonzo who runs a social media account with 50,000 followers called @earnyourgold where he surgically analyzes elite wrestlers to pull out the key details that make their technique so great. Together, we are trying to equip people like you with resources (relax, I am not selling you anything) to raise you and your athletes’ mat IQ so that they can climb the podium and… earn their gold medal. So let me ask you this question… The question that used to eat me alive in my dorm after getting destroyed at practice… Where would you be if you had started a year ago? 2 years ago? 5 years ago? I was a good wrestler. It wasn’t that I wish I had started wrestling earlier. It was that I had wished I had taken the sport more seriously earlier. More professional. Like an NFL quarterback. Less distractions, embracing hard work, and most importantly, becoming an obsessive student of the game. NFL quarterbacks watch about 20 hours of film a week. I hadn’t studied wrestling for 20 hours in my entire life. So where would you be if you had started studying the sport of wrestling a year ago? And I mean studying, like a student again. Not just being a fan. Like with a notepad and pen. I bet you have no idea how valuable it could have been. We often think we know enough already, but you have no idea how much you don't know. Some kid from Michigan would probably laugh at the way you finish your double leg because he knows it will never work against good opponents… speaking from experience here.