Are You Playing Music In Your Wrestling Room? (Think Twice)
I have heard arguments about music in the wrestling room from across the spectrum. Gable once said, “A wrestling room without music is a wrestling room without life” yet if you walk into the Iowa wrestling room today, a Gable disciple Tom Brands rarely plays music. I even remember getting into debates with an assistant coach at my high school who used to scorn music as “Unrealistic”.
Now here is the reality: everyone is right…. And everyone is wrong.
Music is a tool. A tool to be used with a purpose in mind. Tools are neither good nor bad, their intention behind them determines that. There are reasons for and against. Here are some.
GOOD REASONS FOR MUSIC
1. Developing Cardiovascular Endurance
Music is distracting. But that can be a good thing. Music of certain genres and certain BPM (beats per minute) help motivate athletes and gives an extra boost of energy when an athlete doesn’t think it’s there thus allowing for cardiovascular growth. There is a reason the New York City Marathon banned using music during their competition- it helps. A study even showed that music can result in a 10% reduction in perceived exertion on a treadmill. (Karageorghis & Terry, 1999; Nethery, 2002; Szmedra & Bacharach, 1998).
STORY TIME: It was in high school during sprints at the end of a tough practice. Our 215 pounder thought he was going to die. He could barely pick up his feet- it literally looked like he was going to fall over. Then Let Me Clear My Throat by DJ Kool came on and 30 seconds in when the chorus hit he did a roundoff, backflip. Case in point.
2. Changing the Mood
Silence can pierce a wrestling room and make low energy levels even lower. When a team is going through a tough designed training period, morale and energy can be low. The right piece of music whether some hip-hop that bumps or something corny like Party in the USA can get people smiling, moving, or even just bobbing their head and bring up energy in a way nothing else can.
3. Emphasizing Flow
A flow state or “being in the zone” can be a powerful mental place to be in to help lock in skills just learned. The right music can help encourage that flow state allowing wrestlers to rep and rep without talking or really thinking much in order to get a technique down in their muscle memory. This is backed by SCIENCE (Pates, J., Karageorghis, C. I., Fryer, R., & Maynard, I. 2003).
REASONS FOR NO MUSIC
1. Competition Simulations
My HS coach was right- there is no music when you’re out there competing. This lack of music may affect the moods of athletes so we want them to be prepared for it. So if you want to accurately simulated matches, no music is most realistic. This should be combined with requiring singlets (or other competition uniforms), referees for matches, and realistic mat space for when you want to simulate a match day.
2. Hurts Skill Learning
Music is inherently a distraction. It's another thing that can catch the attention of an athlete when training. Sometimes this can be good like when we want to grow cardiovascular endurance but other times it is bad. A good example of this is when you’re supposed to be focusing on coach who is demoing a move and your favorite chorus comes on and you can’t help but think about the song. Turn off the music when athletes are learning and need to be deep in focus while digesting and troubleshooting new techniques.
3. A Different Kind of Challenge
Music makes hard things easier which is sometimes good. But sometimes, as a coach, you want hard things to be hard. Forcing your athletes to endure something difficult can increase resiliency and mental toughness. I’m reminded of a great quote: "Do something you hate every day, just for the practice" (John Maxwell).
MUSIC PICKING TIPS
Music needs to match what athletes are doing. Workouts are generally a gradual climb so if you’re using music it needs to match that intensity. A great way to measure intensity is the BPM of a song. In Spotify you can sort your playlist by BPM: http://sortyourmusic.playlistmachinery.com/
When thinking of what songs you want, think about these 6 criteria:
(1) strong, energizing rhythm
(2) lyrics that motivate (Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes)
(3) rhythmic pattern well matched to movement patterns of the athletic activity (toy around with BPM)
(4) uplifting melodies and harmonies
(5) associations with sport, exercise, triumph, or overcoming adversity (Till I Collapse by Eminem)
(6) a musical style that is suited to an athlete’s taste and cultural upbringing
Remember your audience, though. Just because you’re middle aged, like country, and dislike hip-hop doesn’t mean you should deprive your youthful team of their favorite genre. When in doubt, ASK. You don’t have to play the songs your athletes want but they will give you insight.
Sources
Pates, J., Karageorghis, C. I., Fryer, R., & Maynard, I. (2003). Effects of asynchronous music on flow states and shooting performance among netball players. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 4, 413–427.
Karageorghis, C. I., & Terry, P. C. (1999). Affective and psychophysical responses to asynchronous music during submaximal treadmill running. Proceedings of the 1999 European College of Sport Science Congress, Italy, 218.
Nethery, V. M. (2002). Competition between internal and external sources of information during exercise: Influence on RPE and the impact of the exercise load. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 42, 172–178.
Szmedra, L., & Bacharach, D. W. (1998). Effect of music on perceived exertion, plasma lactate, norepinephrine and cardiovascular hemodynamics during treadmill running. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 19, 32–37.