Editor’s Note: Many college teams are beset with injuries this year. Dan Gable, the former Iowa State national champion, Olympic gold medalist and longtime successful coach at Iowa, recently spoke to WIN editor Mike Finn about this problem and what coaches can do to correct it.

            WIN: The numbers of teams with key injuries seem more than ever. Do you agree with it and why do you think that is?

            GABLE: It’s a culture thing for good and for bad. It’s the sign of the times. How many of on injured reserve athletes are their in professional sports? We’re smarter. We’re better in learning about injuries and how we diagnose them and how we treat them. The 1970s is when that culture changed in that coaches are more careful with the athletes.

            It might have to do with a lot of things. It might have to do with science, a better understanding of injuries. It might have to do with more lawsuits. It might have to do with relationships, whereas before when I was in high school and college in the late 1960s the training room was off-limits. You didn’t want to go there. It’s a sign of weakness, even from the trainers. We weren’t drinking water in practices. We were putting heat on injuries. It’s a whole different attitude right now.

            WIN: Are you saying today’s wrestlers and coaches are softer on injuries issues?

            GABLE: We’re more educated and because we are more educated, we’re less hard on the guys now than back then. What I remember when I finally went to a trainer’s room in 1969 after about my 20th injury that I had, boy did they do wonders.

            In the long run, you need to be more educated to do the right thing. I never thought there wasn’t any injury that couldn’t heal itself. That was my mentality. Wrestlers aren’t raised like that any more because there is a lot more evidence out there.

            WIN: Do today’s coaches over train wrestlers, which lead to injuries?

            GABLE: I don’t think they have the reason to over train them today like they used to. It’s human nature that you over train when your back is to the wall and think I really need to put these hours in. There is some science to your scheduling and people need to focus on it. The coach needs to be sensitive and make good decisions.

            WIN: Do coaches give wrestlers enough recovery time?

            GABLE: If wrestlers are going to work year-round, that means there’s going to be some freestyle. And if you are going to go year-round, you need a little bit of a break between the two styles. You need to have down time every day. And even when someone takes time off, there is still training going on. It’s just a less evasive training.  An athlete and coach should allow individual time for that team and if there’s not, an athlete has to work it in.

            WIN: What about the way the sport is wrestled today where wrestlers dive to the legs to defend a takedown? Are those moves leading to injuries?

            GABLE: That particular scenario does put torque on shoulders and usually ends up in a situation where someone’s leg or knee is going to get tweaked. But you know what. That position should never happen. When you are hitting an offensive move and you hit it correctly, your opponent doesn’t get any space to dive. The only guy who would get hurt is the guy who dives. What’s happening is a wrestler is hesitating to the finish and that allows the other guy reaction time. There should be no reaction time when you are doing an offensive move. Technique had been broken down in parts and easier said than done.

            WIN: Let’s talk about the wrestling season. If the season were shorter, which the NWCA and NCAA is considering, would there be less injuries?

            GABLE: I really can’t answer that question because I don’t think wrestlers are not going to be stop training. There are things during that time that are crucial to the development of a person.

            The biggest reason for a season change is to promote the sport and we’re also trying to help kids coming into college to not have to go into the grind right away. A few years ago, wrestling was the worst sport academically. Our wrestlers were not the worst students coming into college, but wrestlers turned in the worst academic  numbers after the first semester.

            There also is the nutrition aspect. Changing the season would give wrestlers a couple months of adjusting to college without having to worry about cutting weight.

            WIN: Regarding the National Duals, whether the NCAA takes over of not, and the injury question, would coaches hold out wrestlers for a duals championship to save them for the individual tournament?

            GABLE: That’s possible. I always think the emphasis would be on the individual tournament because that’s what it’s all about, but a higher priority should be put on team championships. If you are a good coach, you should understand where your peaking points are and when you need to be healthy. I think wrestlers usually get injured when you are not in control and get a little lazy. But that doesn’t always happen. There are injuries that happen freakishly.

            There is a system for not getting hurt. You have to be in shape. You’ve got to know you positions. You have to know how to land. You need to know when to go hard and not to go hard. That’s all part of the peaking part of wrestling. Coaches have got to know their teams.

            WIN: With injuries being a concern in a duals championship, do you think this will force coaches to develop more depth so the reserves are nearly as capable of succeeding as the starters?

            GABLE: It’s a team. If you have 30 athletes on your team, why would you only want 10 good athletes and 20 bad athletes?

            WIN: Is the current system set up to develop depth on a team?

            GABLE: The system is set up mostly for the 10 guys, but you make adjustments to that system so the other 20 are on the same game plan so you can develop them more. When the first 10 walk out the door, your job as a coach may not be done yet. In a combative sport, you don’t always have the same starters so reserves should be on a similar schedule and that’s what makes a team.

            WIN: Let’s change the subject and look at the importance of succeeding in third periods of matches. What is the most important thing a wrestlers to have to be good in the third period? Is it mental or physical?

            GABLE: Mental. What should you be thinking: how you are wrestling or are you tired? That’s the bottom line. Your most successful wrestlers in the third period are tired but they don’t know it.

            There are certain factors that you can eliminate and are not part of the match. Genetics you can. Conditioning you can. You can have these not become a factor. You can control the mental factor by focusing on your wrestling but you can only do it because you eliminated the factor of conditioning.

            WIN: Of the wrestlers who are more successful in the third period, do they simply have more confidence than their opponent or less doubt?

            GABLE: I think they have more focus on the right thing. It’s not easy what I’m saying. Even though it is so simple in words, it’s very hard to get what I’m saying. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it. For example in MMA, everyone who does the wrestling part agrees that the wrestling part is the hardest to stay focused the longest.

            WIN: What’s the most important thing a coach should say to his wrestler in the third period.

            GABLE:  You have to know the individual and you will know what to say. If you don’t say the right thing, you can distract him. Anything can be broken down into simplicity. During the match, you want it as simple as possible. You want the wrestler to hear what you say and quickly absorb it and put it to use.