Grappling sports are individual sports. Athletes step on the mat alone, perform alone and leave alone. The only help a grappler receives during his fight, comes from his coach and his supporting team, in the form of advices and cheering. And as such, the psychological pressure, durring a competition, falls on the shoulders of the athlete. His coach and team can do their best to prepare a grappler, but the success in a competition depends entirely on him.
And here lies the difference with the team torunaments.
Team tournaments are a test for the coach- to produce a winning team, is a lot harder, than producing a single champion. Team tournaments are a test for the team captain- to motivate his team and carry the responsibility of leading a team is not an easy task for an athlete, acustomed to individual combats. In the end, team tournaments are a test for the team it self. In a team tournament, one can advance towards the first place only if they work as a team- something rare in the individual sports.
First, the coach have to analize the rival teams and carefully pick his athletes, based on possible performance in several different scenarios. Sometimes, the order of team appearance on the mat cannot be changed, so the positions of a starting member, middle player and the captain (usually the final competitor), have a great importance, for the outcome of the tournament.
Psychologically, a team should start with a win. A team have to secure majority of victories in matches against another team, so the first win gives the mental leverage. For the team, who got served a loss in their first match, the pressure should be used as a motivation and they have to show a great strength of spirit, to reverse the score within the next fights.
The middle position carries the importance of the turn point into a tournament. Once the majority of wins are secured, the rest of the matches are a matter of team pride to win.
And last, the captain position. Usually a team captain should be elected an assistant coach or repeated champion. The captain cannot afford to lose a single combat in a tournament. More, if his team have scored only losses, it is a mental issue to regroup and secure a win, in order to leave a tournament with the satisfaction that a team’s champion is better than anyone else.
