Pinning Drill – High Half Nelson

By: Bill Welker

Originally Published in: The Wrestling Drill Book - Human Kinetics

Setup
W2 is on his chest with W1 scissoring around the near leg. Also, W1 lifts W2's knees off the mat with forward pressure on W2 (a).

Action
W1 grabs W2's far wrist with his near hand. Simultaneously, W1 reaches under W2's far arm and grabs his own wrist with his far elbow under W2's far biceps (b). W1 then releases the grip he has on his own hand, shooting a deep half nelson. Immediately after applying the half nelson, W1 steps out to the side of the half nelson. W1 should be perpendicular to W2 as he begins to force him to his back (c). W1 finishes the drill with his chest on W2's, legs stretched and on his toes, pressing W2's shoulders to the mat for the pin.

Coaching Point
Although the high half nelson is considered intermediate in difficulty, finishing the drill should be stressed with novice wrestlers as well. This is another bread-and-butter maneuver that should never be overlooked in the practice room.

Common Error
A common mistake is that the offensive wrestler stays on his knees instead of keeping the pressure on by driving off his toes to force the defensive wrestler to his back.