The Ankle Pick: A Beginner-Friendly Guide

Introduction

The ankle pick is a wrestling takedown where you grab your opponent’s ankle and simultaneously push their upper body in the opposite direction (evolve-mma.com). It’s considered a low-risk, high-reward move – unlike a deep double-leg shot, an ankle pick usually won’t leave you sprawled underneath your opponent in a scramble (fanaticwrestling.com). This makes it especially useful for beginners. Even some of the best wrestlers in the world use ankle picks to score takedowns, showing how effective it can be at all levels (fanaticwrestling.com).

Why is the ankle pick great for new wrestlers? For one, it doesn’t rely on superior strength or explosive speed – it relies on timing, position, and technique. A young wrestler can learn to off-balance an opponent and take them down without having to shoot aggressively at the hips. The ankle pick is best used when you’ve engaged an opponent in an upper-body tie-up and catch them with weight on one foot (for example, after you make them step). It often comes from a collar tie (one hand on the back of the opponent’s head/neck) while controlling their arm. When executed properly, the ankle pick can dump an opponent to the mat quickly and safely. It’s a fundamental move that teaches beginners about level change, balance, and using leverage – all essential wrestling skills.

Step-by-Step Breakdown of the Ankle Pick

1. Starting Position and Setup

Begin in a good stance facing your opponent. Keep a staggered stance (one foot slightly forward), knees bent, and hips low so you’re ready to change levels. Your head should be up, and your back relatively straight – this athletic stance helps you react and drive when needed. From here, work for a tie-up that gives you control of the opponent’s upper body. A common setup is a collar tie with wrist control: with your lead hand, hold the back of your opponent’s neck (collar tie), and with your other hand, control their opposite wrist or elbow. This grip arrangement lets you direct their upper body. (Some wrestlers also set up an ankle pick using an underhook on one arm (scribd.com) or an overtie, but for most beginners the collar tie setup is simplest.) The key at this stage is to make solid contact and break your opponent’s posture/balance before shooting for the ankle. As emphasized in The United States Wrestling Syllabus, “by jerking, pulling, and pushing the opponent, a wrestler may succeed in breaking his adversary’s balance”, which makes the takedown attempt much easier. Use your tie-up to pull your opponent’s head and upper body slightly forward or to the side – this gets them off-balance and forces them to step, creating the opening for the ankle pick.

2. Timing, Level Change, and Penetration

Timing is critical for an ankle pick. You want to shoot for the ankle when the opponent’s weight is on that leg. Often, you can prompt this by moving or tugging them: for example, you might tug with your collar tie and circle a bit to your left, which encourages the opponent to step their right foot forward. The moment you feel or see that foot step and bear weight, that’s your cue. Change your level by dropping your hips and bending your knees (not by simply bending at the waist). Take a quick back-step to the side of the target leg as you drop. For instance, if you are attacking their right ankle with your left hand, you would step your left foot back and slightly outside to create an angle (scribd.com). This step-out does two things: it lowers your body and moves you to the side, aligning your attack-side hand with their foot. At the same time, pull the opponent’s upper body toward that foot. A classic teaching example from The Wrestling Drill Book describes the wrestler “circling to one side, then taking a deep circling step back with his lead foot, simultaneously pulling with the wrist-control hand to make the opponent’s foot step forward”. In practice, this looks like a swift dip and pivot: your body drops level as you tug the opponent’s head (or arm) toward their stepping foot.

By the end of this motion, you should be in a low, balanced stance with your attacking hand already reaching for the ankle. Your head should stay up at about the level of your opponent’s waist or chest (not below their hips) (scribd.com). Keeping your head up is important for two reasons: it maintains pressure into your opponent (making it harder for them to sprawl effectively) and keeps you aware of their upper body. Your trail leg should be planted to drive off of. At this moment, you’ve created an angle on your opponent – you’re not directly in front of them, but off to the side – and their head and upper body are being pulled over the foot you intend to attack.

3. Securing and Controlling the Ankle

Now comes the “pick” part of the ankle pick. With your free hand (the one not holding the collar tie), grab the opponent’s ankle just above the heel. It’s usually best to hook behind the Achilles/heel area rather than grabbing too high on the calf. Shoot your hand low and cup the back of their ankle/heel firmly. If you performed the level change correctly, you should be low enough that this grab doesn’t require an awkward reach – your shoulder might even end up near the opponent’s knee. Pull the ankle in toward you just slightly to secure it, keeping your elbow tight to your side. Think of it like hooking the leg, not just grabbing with your fingers; this makes it harder for them to kick free. All the while, maintain your grip on the opponent’s upper body with your other hand (e.g. keep that collar tie or underhook tight). This dual control – ankle in one hand, head/arm in the other – keeps their body like a foldable hinge, with you controlling both ends.

A critical point here is not to lift up on the ankle immediately. A common mistake is to snatch the ankle and try to lift it straight up off the mat. Coach Bobby Douglas emphasizes in Wrestling – The Takedown that once you reach the ankle, “do not attempt to pick it up. Instead, push the controlled part of your opponent’s body over his ankle.” (scribd.com) In other words, keep their foot on the mat for a moment and focus on driving them off-balance (you’ll lift the leg later, after they’re falling). For now, think of pinning their foot in place while you control their upper body. Your head and chest should stay upright and close to the opponent – imagine almost pushing into them under their armpit or chest with your head/shoulder as you hold the ankle. This keeps them from squaring up or sprawling away.

4. Finishing the Takedown with Control

To finish the ankle pick, drive through your opponent. Using the power from your legs and your grip on their upper body, push or pull their torso over the trapped ankle. A well-executed ankle pick feels like you’re tipping the opponent over a trip‐point. If you have a collar tie, you can pull their head down toward the ankle as you drive; if you have an underhook or other tie, you might be more “pushing” with your shoulder – either way, force their weight forward and over that foot. At the same time, continue to hold the ankle firmly. The opponent will lose balance since you’ve essentially taken away one leg of their base. As Coach Douglas’s manual notes, you want to place the opponent’s body at an angle over that foot so he cannot remove it, then drive him down (scribd.com).

As the opponent falls, you may then lift or “pick” the ankle up higher to ensure they can’t keep their foot on the mat. Often, wrestlers will lift the ankle and keep it against their hip or thigh (“tabling” the leg) as the opponent hits the ground. Follow all the way through the takedown – don’t stop on your knees just because you grabbed the leg. Drive forward and go down with your opponent, landing on top in a control position. In a drilling scenario, wrestlers sometimes practice ankle picks without a complete finish, but in a match you should absolutely finish all the way. One guide describes that in a live match, after securing the heel “the wrestler would drive the opponent toward his back” to complete the takedown.

When you land the opponent on the mat, maintain control. Ideally, you’ll end up in their guard or on top of their legs. Keep a hold of that ankle or transition to a better grip (such as around their knees or waist) until you’re sure they can’t scramble away. For example, many wrestlers will immediately cover the opponent’s hips after an ankle pick takedown – releasing the ankle only after establishing top position. If you keep the ankle elevated (“shelved” on your thigh) as you come up, it prevents the opponent from basing back up, and you can then move into a pinning combination if opportunity arises (fanaticwrestling.com). The ankle pick, when finished properly, should leave you in firm control, with your opponent flat or at least on their butt. Two important finishing details to remember: keep your head and chest up as you drive (to maintain pressure), and stay balanced – you don’t need to dive onto the mat; let the opponent trip and fall over your grip. By following through in this way, you ensure you not only get the takedown, but you also end up in a strong position to proceed offensively.

Coaching Cues and Parent Tips

• Level Change First: A great coaching cue is “bend your knees, not your back.” New wrestlers should focus on lowering their level with their hips under them. This helps them get low enough for the ankle. As a parent, watch for your wrestler dropping into a squat position when attempting the move. Praise them when they change levels properly – it’s a big milestone for executing moves safely and effectively.

• Break the Balance: Coaches often tell wrestlers to “set it up!” before shooting. Remind your wrestler to pull or push the opponent to get them off-balance before grabbing the leg. A tied-up opponent who is leaning forward or stepping heavy is a much easier target. (The USA Wrestling Syllabus stresses that breaking the opponent’s balance is fundamental – once the opponent’s balance is broken, their defense is weakened.) A simple cue is “snap the head” or “pull him forward” right before the ankle pick. Parents can listen for coaches yelling things like “set it up” or “snap first” – that’s all about creating the right conditions for the ankle pick.

• Head to the Knee: One specific cue for ankle picks is pulling the opponent’s head toward their knee as you shoot. In practice, this means if you’re attacking their right ankle, you try to tug their head toward their right knee. This action folds the opponent’s body and makes them very off-balanced. Coaches might say: “Head to knee!” to reinforce this. When your child does this, you’ll notice the opponent’s posture break – that’s a success even before the takedown lands.

• Push, Don’t Lift: A common mantra from coaches for ankle picks is “drive through, don’t lift up.” In other words, push the opponent over the ankle instead of immediately trying to hoist their leg. This ensures the opponent falls down. As mentioned in Bobby Douglas’s manual, the wrestler should use the opponent’s body as leverage to tip them, rather than dead-lifting the leg (scribd.com). If you’re matside, you might hear a coach yell “Drive, drive, drive!” – that’s encouragement for the wrestler to continue driving forward with their legs until the opponent is on the mat.

• Secure the Leg: Coaches will also emphasize holding onto that ankle until control is established. A good cue is: “Keep it!” – meaning don’t let go of the leg as the opponent goes down. For parents, this is something to watch for: if your wrestler lets go too early, the opponent might scramble up. Reinforce to your wrestler that once they grab an ankle, they should keep it tight and only release when the opponent is down and under control.

• Positive Reinforcement: For parents helping new wrestlers, recognize the small victories in each phase. For example, if your child wasn’t successful in finishing the move but did manage to lower their level or made their opponent step, point that out and celebrate it. “You made him step his leg—that was great setup!” This helps young wrestlers understand that the technique almost worked and which part they did correctly. Then you can remind them of the next step (“Now remember to grab that ankle tight next time!”). Breaking the move into these phases – setup, level change, grab, drive – and acknowledging success in each phase builds confidence and good habits.

Common Beginner Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

• Reaching Without a Setup: One big mistake is lunging for the ankle from too far away or without off-balancing the opponent. If a wrestler just reaches down randomly, a skilled opponent will simply pull their leg back or spin behind. Fix: Always set up the ankle pick with a tie-up and a tug or snap. Remember the importance of breaking the opponent’s balance first. Coaches should drill that concept repeatedly. If you find your wrestler bending at the waist reaching for feet, refocus them on hand-fighting and motion to create the opportunity. Patience and setup make all the difference.

• Not Lowering Level (Bending at the Waist): A common beginner error is to bend at the waist and reach down with the hand, instead of dropping their hips. This leads to poor posture (and often missing the ankle by a mile). It can also put the wrestler’s head in a dangerous position to be pushed down or countered. Fix: Drill level change and penetration step mechanics. Emphasize starting in a good stance and touching the knee to the mat when practicing shots. In an ankle pick, the wrestler’s hips should drop so their hand naturally reaches the ankle. If a wrestler’s backside is up in the air and head down, they’re doing it wrong – they need to get their hips under them. Sometimes practicing in front of a mirror or video can help them see this mistake.

• Grabbing Too High or Losing the Ankle: Some beginners grab around the opponent’s shin or calf instead of the ankle, or they don’t secure the foot well and the opponent slips away. Fix: Aim for just above the ankle bone or the heel. Coaches can mark a spot on a partner’s lower leg and have the wrestler touch that exact spot during drills. Also, stress keeping a firm grip and pulling the leg in. The wrestler’s attacking hand should be palm up behind the ankle and elbow in. If the opponent is consistently kicking free, the wrestler might be trying to grab with just their hand – instead, think of hooking the ankle and locking it by trapping it against your body.

• Trying to Lift Instead of Drive: As mentioned earlier, a rookie mistake is yanking up on the opponent’s foot as if trying to pick them up. This often results in losing balance or simply not knocking the opponent over. The opponent might stay hopping on one foot or have time to counter. Fix: Drill the concept of driving through the opponent. One way to ingrain this is to finish every ankle pick in practice by driving the partner to the mat (even exaggerate pushing them forward). The idea is to push them over the leg, not to curl the leg up. Remember the advice from the Douglas manual: don’t lift the ankle until the opponent is already falling (scribd.com). A helpful image is to imagine the opponent as a table – you’re pulling one table leg (ankle) and pushing the top of the table (upper body) so it tips. If a wrestler hears themselves grunting trying to lift the leg, they’re doing it wrong; they should be driving forward with their legs instead.

• Letting Go Too Early / Not Following Through: Some beginners are so excited to grab the ankle that once they grab it, they pause or let go, thinking the move is done. In reality, if you stop mid-move, the opponent will regain balance or sprawl. Another scenario is a wrestler grabs the ankle, the opponent starts to fall, and the wrestler immediately lets go to try to come up – occasionally the opponent might scramble out. Fix: Finish the move completely. Coaches should encourage kids to “run their feet” after grabbing the ankle – meaning keep driving until the opponent hits the mat. Only let go of the leg when you’ve established control on top. A good habit is to climb up the body while still holding the ankle or leg. For example, go from ankle to knee, then to hip as you secure the takedown. This ensures there’s no gap where the opponent can escape. If your wrestler has a habit of stopping, practice the ankle pick against a dummy or partner where the goal is to continue into a dominant position after the fall. Emphasize maintaining control: the takedown isn’t complete until you’re on top of the opponent.

Common Counters to the Ankle Pick and How to Address Them

Even at beginner levels, opponents will attempt to counter your wrestler’s ankle pick. Here are a few common counters and ways to deal with them:

• Opponent Steps the Leg Back: The moment your wrestler reaches for the ankle, the opponent might reflexively step that foot back to avoid the grab. This is the most common defense. If this happens, your wrestler has a couple of options. One is to quickly switch to a “cross-ankle pick” – meaning, if the first ankle (say the opponent’s right) is yanked away, immediately reach across and grab the other ankle (the left) if it’s available (evolve-mma.com). Essentially, you attack the leg they didn’t pull back. This requires presence of mind and is a bit advanced, but it’s a viable follow-up taught in many wrestling rooms. The other, safer option is to let go and reset. If the ankle pick attempt misses, it’s usually better for a beginner to abandon it and return to stance than to reach desperately and get out of position. Stress to your wrestler: don’t get discouraged if the first attempt fails. Stay in good position and try again after setting it up better. Sometimes just the threat of an ankle pick will make an opponent move a certain way – be ready to chain into a different takedown if that happens. (For instance, if they over-react by pulling their leg back, they might lean forward, exposing them to a snap-down or front headlock by your wrestler.) The key coaching point: if the ankle isn’t there, don’t force it – move on to the next plan so you don’t get caught out of position.

• Opponent Tries to Sprawl: In traditional shots (like a double leg), the counter is often a sprawl – throwing the legs back and pancaking on the shooter. In an ankle pick, a full sprawl is less effective because the attacker isn’t underneath the opponent’s hips in the same way. As John Danaher points out, if you perform an ankle pick from a collar tie, even if the opponent sprawls, you aren’t stuck under their weight (evolve-mma.com). What does this mean for your wrestler? If they maintain good form, an opponent sprawling might simply end up with their hands on the mat while you still have their foot. How to respond: If your wrestler still has a hold of the ankle, they should keep driving forward – the opponent has no leg to base with, so they can still be taken down. If the sprawl broke the grip or your wrestler lost the ankle, they should immediately recover back to a solid stance (or to their feet) and not linger underneath. One advantage of the ankle pick’s low level attack is that if it fails, your wrestler can usually back out without being in a terrible position – they won’t have a body on top of them. Encourage them to stay alert after a missed attempt; the opponent might try to snap them down or spin behind, so quick recovery is important. In summary, a sprawl isn’t a disaster for an ankle pick if your wrestler keeps good position – they can often shrug it off and either finish the drive or restart the attack (evolve-mma.com).

• Opponent Kicks Their Leg Free: Sometimes the opponent won’t fully sprawl but will kick their captured leg out to break your wrestler’s grip. They might also push on your wrestler’s head or shoulders at the same time. If the opponent succeeds in kicking loose, your wrestler should not stay extended after it. How to respond: If the leg slips out, your wrestler should quickly pull their arm back (so they don’t overextend) and come back to stance facing the opponent. It’s essentially a reset. However, advanced wrestlers often anticipate the kick-out and will switch to another move (for example, if the opponent kicks out and turns, a savvy wrestler might immediately do a go-behind or re-shot). For beginners, the best advice is: don’t get caught chasing. If you lose the ankle, circle back out and square up so you don’t get outflanked. Coaches can also teach them to keep their grip tight and elbow in to reduce the chance of a successful kick-out in the first place – if your elbow is glued to your side when you hold the ankle, the opponent’s leg is trapped against your body and much harder to kick away. So preventing this counter is part of proper technique.

• Opponent Counters with a Front Headlock/Spin Behind: If a wrestler’s head position is poor (for instance, if they dive with their head down), a quick opponent might snap on a front headlock as a counter or spin around behind the attacker. These are less common against a well-executed ankle pick (because you should be at the side of your opponent, not directly underneath), but it can happen if the shot was from too far away. How to respond: The best remedy is prevention: keep that head up and close to the opponent’s body when shooting, and don’t reach from a distance. If your wrestler does end up caught in a front headlock, they should immediately keep a hold of the opponent’s leg if they have it and work to drive up or pull their head out. If they lost the leg and the opponent is sprawling on the head/arm, they need to quickly bell out (go flat to avoid being flipped) or stand up if possible. This is a tougher situation, so the real fix is to emphasize proper head position during the ankle pick to avoid it altogether. Likewise, to counter the spin-behind, the moment the wrestler realizes they missed, they should pivot to face the opponent and not stay on hands and knees reaching. Quick recovery will negate most spin-behind attempts.

Overall, remember that the ankle pick is relatively safe. If a counter succeeds and your wrestler isn’t able to finish the takedown, they will usually still be in front of their opponent, not under them. That means they can regroup and try again. Encourage them to maintain good fundamentals – stance, head up, hand control – even when the first attack doesn’t work. With practice, they’ll learn to chain the ankle pick with other moves (for example, an opponent who keeps stepping a leg back might be vulnerable to a snap-down, or a double-leg attack to the other side). But as a beginner, mastering the ankle pick itself is a fantastic step. It teaches young wrestlers how to use setup and timing to take advantage of an opponent’s balance (evolve-mma.com), which is a lesson that will pay off across all their wrestling moves. With the guidance in this guide and plenty of mat time, wrestlers and supportive parents can work together to add this effective takedown to the wrestler’s arsenal. Good luck, and happy wrestling!

Sources:

• Bobby Douglas, Wrestling – The Making of a Champion: The Takedown, 1972 (Cornell University Press)(scribd.com).

• Stan Dziedzic, The United States Wrestling Syllabus, 1983 (Leisure Press).

• Dennis A. Johnson, The Wrestling Drill Book, 1991 (Leisure Press/Human Kinetics).

• Fanatic Wrestling, “Three Ankle Picks Every Wrestler Should Know”(fanaticwrestling.com)

• Evolve MMA, “Here’s How To Utilize Ankle Picks for BJJ”(evolve-mma.comevolve-mma.comevolve-mma.com.)