Culture
Every program has a culture: how it trains, how hard it pushes and how it wrestles. You declare yours, and the season shows whether you live up to it. Recruits are drawn to it, wrestlers who share it develop faster, and wrestlers who don’t are more likely to leave.
The three axes
| Axis | Options |
|---|---|
| Training style | Balanced · Grind · Science |
| Aggression | Time & Place · Hard Core · Laid Back |
| Wrestling style | Balanced · Shot Artists · Throwers · Scramble · Defense |
The first option on each axis is the middle of the road. Every other option is a commitment to something.
Declaring a culture
- You declare in week 1 only, all three axes at once. It costs nothing, and you can change your mind as often as you like until week 1 advances.
- Each option shows the grade your program would have earned with it last season, so you can see what your room already does well.
- Declaring doesn’t change anyone’s match plan. Reassign plans yourself if you want the room to wrestle the new way (see the culture plans).
- Your declaration carries over to the next season until you change it.
How culture is graded
Declaring a culture is a promise. The grade shows whether you keep it. Each axis is graded A+ to F against every other program in the division, from what your program actually did:
- Training style comes from how you train. Lifting, cardio and a room that runs tired look like Grind. Drills and a fresh room look like Science. Full practice counts toward neither. Balanced wants an even mix.
- Aggression comes from how your wrestlers wrestle: how much they rest and defend compared with how much they attack. Hard Core wants to be among the most aggressive in the country, Laid Back among the most patient, and Time & Place in the middle.
- Wrestling style comes from what they actually attempt: shots, throws, defense, or baits and reversals. Balanced wants an even spread.
Grades update every week. Early in the season they lean on last season’s record and shift toward this season as it goes. By week 11 they are all this season. Before there is anything to grade, a grade shows as “—”, which is not an F.
Your grade can move even when you change nothing. It is graded on a curve, so other programs drifting changes where you stand.
What fit pays
A wrestler who wants the culture you run develops faster, in practice and in competition. Each axis where your declaration matches what he wants adds to it, and the better your grade on that axis, the more it adds. An axis you declare but grade poorly on pays little.
| Matched culture | Develops faster in |
|---|---|
| Grind | Grit, strength, endurance and quickness |
| Science | Technique and mat sense |
| Balanced training | A smaller boost across the board |
| Hard Core | Passion and aggression |
| Time & Place, Laid Back | Passion |
| Shot Artists | Shots and quickness |
| Throwers | Throws and upper-body strength |
| Defense | Neutral defense and riding |
| Scramble | Scramble and mat offense |
| Balanced wrestling style | All techniques, lightly |
- No penalty for a mismatch. A wrestler who wants something else simply misses the boost. He is a little less happy, though, and an unhappy wrestler is more likely to enter the portal.
- Fit doesn’t change how anyone wrestles. It only changes how fast they improve.
Culture and recruiting
Recruits care a great deal about culture. A match with what a recruit wants is the biggest single part of how well your program fits him. They go by the culture you declare, not your grades, so declaring something lets you recruit to it from week 1. See What a recruit is looking for.