Motor Development and Body Awareness:

  • Length of mat bear crawl and crab walk (basic strength and core stability)
  • Proficiency at forward and backward rolls – proper body mechanics, especially neck
  • Proficiency at dive forward roll to feet– kinesthetic awareness
  • Front and Back Bridging (without hands) – for time
    • Clock walking and hip heist mechanics 
  • Forward and backward lunge – length of mat
    • Basic proficiency in knee over toe penetration step
    • Ability to move from knee on mat to feet (and opposite) without using hands
  • Cartwheel and round offs (agility and kinesthetic awareness)
  • Defensive “Cat Reactions” – proper falling and landing mechanics (toward belly with intent to land on arms and hands).
  • Defensive head and neck bracing when landing on mat in multiple positions

Technical Proficiency:

  • Demonstrate proper starting positions for all three options without coaching.
  • Proficiency in leg tackle 
    • Offensive landing mechanics – head on one side / body on other / hand contact on mat
    • Defensive landing mechanics – cat reactions / head and neck bracing
  • Proficiency in sprawl and go behind
  • Proficiency in stand up and escape from bottom
  • Proficiency in top breakdown and simple half from the top position
  • Proficiency in basic rules and scoring 

Other Factors:

  • Maturity  
    • How will winning and losing effect athlete (and often parents)?
    • Can athlete demonstrate skills while others watch (in circle)? 
    • Can athlete demonstrate fundamental “partner drilling” proficiencies and etiquette? 
  • Aggressiveness – does the athlete make contact or shy away from contact?
  • Competitive desire – intrinsic or extrinsic?
  • Personal bias toward 80 hours of instruction before competition
    • Mandatory attendance at 2 events before competing.