Protege--New Comers

[Keith Michel]

Where does it all start?
And with whom?
Judge potential on what bases.

What do you look for in new the generation of pullers?
How will they be guided?

[Scott Latella]

I voted for workouts. When I first started I had NO idea what I was doing and it showed. 0- 16 until Ray Darling put the invite out and I showed up to a practice and the workout allmost killed me. ( I was a track and field guy). IMHO you can teach all the tech in the world but you will need some real power and endurance to go to that next level ( States, Nationals or world's), you can't fake that. It's all in the reps and sets.

[Steven Lareau]

I think its good to learn positions and hand placements before everything else. From these bits of knowledge come defense and offense at the same time.

The biggest rules are obvious (elbow must stay on the pad, etc...) And you learn all the technical rules as time goes by.

Workouts is a good thing to learn initially, but the best workout is the most obvious- - armwrestle.

Hook and toproll I think come later after the person gets a good feel for hand placements and setting up well.

So I don't know what to vote for. I say hand placement and position setting up is the first key to learning how to armwrestle effectively. But I don't see this option listed.

[Michael Griffin]

I gotta go with Steven on this. You gotta learn the rules and then go from there. Start at the beginning.
I voted rules.

[enginterzi]

i vote for work outs.

[josephsirois]

Does table-time count as part of the work-out? I remember seeing something on Brzenk, and for the longest time he just primarily spent his time armwrestling, not weight training. I think the info was from Brzenk Sr., one of Jr's tournaments in the mid 80s.

[Jacob Abbott]

I voted Rule's. I also think you should learn how to set up at the table first like Steven said. When I teach a new comer how to Armwrestle the first thing I show them is how to set up & the rule's. Then I tell them to pull like they normally do, then I go from there on what style they pull.

I also would like to know what you guy's & gal's do at pratice. Do you just pull like you would at a tournament, do you start out with a slow pull, do you do rep's with toproll,hook & shoulder roll. How do you get stronger at practice if you can't beat the guy you training with?

[Michael Griffin]

Jacob, I'm the biggest guy at practice , so everyone lines up and pull me over and over. I pull slow and let them wear me down, in the process they det stronger and I get wore down and get stronger , too. We practice one night a week for abot 2-3 hours or until everyone leaves. I'm hoping when we get the side pressure machine in, we'll go back to pulling 2 nights a week again.
Something else to remember is never be afraid to lose. Sometimes you have to lose to learn. I'd like to think that over the last 3 years I've gotten a lot stronger and become a lot better armwrestler. Just some food for thought. ;D
Michael "Animal" Griffin

[enginterzi]

Michael,

its not my business n u didnt ask me advise about it,but i felt bad about it when i read your post.

why dont you let them hold you with both arms when you are fresh?so you can armwrestle with your max capacity.then after you get tired now u can armwrestle them without their other arms.i believe that we must push our limits to get stronger,but without getting injured.any of those light guys cant make you feel what a man(who s in ur class)will make u feel at the tournament.armwrestling with light guys who are weaker than you can only train your arm like light weight curling with so many reps.but armwrestling is an explosive power sport.

i hope that you will excuse my opinions about it.again,its not my business but i just wanted to share my thoughts with you.

i have same problem that you have.im not the biggest but strongest in my team.i first armwrestle them with one arm with ready go.then i let them hold with both hands but i tell them to not beat me,so i can make my pressure work.then they armwrestle eachother,then i start armwrestling them with only one hand but i dontbeat them,just control them without losing my angles,which s the most important thing to train forme.

i wish you thebest of luck at your trainings and tournaments.once again sorry for sharingmy thoughts without u asking me about.

[Michael Griffin]

Engin, I actually did'nt go into details about how we pull at practice, but we do do that sometimes and also, when he comes to practice I pull Chad Efird and he gives me a good pull. The guys on our team have really gotten a lot stronger and better armwrestlers over these last 2 years. I think that we have helped eath other out and made us all (on our team) better pullers.
I appreciate your thoughts , as you are one of the best in the world. I only hope to get to that level one day.
You did not offend me in any way.
Michael "Animal" Griffin

[enginterzi]

thanks a lot for taking my thoughts in a friendly way,as i only had a good purpose.thx again..

[Andrew Fournier]

Mike, I thought I gave you a good pull! j/k. next time at practice I'll do what engin said and use both of my arms against your one, aight!? I let my little brother (130 lbs. 18yrs) pull with both of his arms against my one on the table I built in the basement, and it certainly increases the intensity of the battle! I make him start out slow though, and then I slowly start out into the pulling so it's more of a workout for my arm than a real match....hopefully he will want to be an armwrestler soon. I think he has potential!

[Mike West]

Hey Mike,
I agree also with Engin about the 2 hands, and something that we do ( when I can get someone to practice ) is use a bike inner tube attached to the peg, ( make sure it tight enough that you have some pressure from it in center of table ) you would slip it over your hand then they grip up with you, so your pulling against them and the tube, plus with the tube, the closer you get to pin pad the tougher the tube gets......just something to try

Mike West

[Michael Griffin]

Hey Mike West, I've went through 2 inner tubes in the last 8 months. I use them to work on my hit. I also have some big bungee cords I use to pull with. It works pretty good.
Andrew, you are a nut!!!! Are you gonna make it to "Get a Grip"?
MIchael "Animal" Griffin
ps... Mike, how is my friend Billy Kirk doing? Tell him and Matt I said Hey!!