Wrestling Struggles

I am finding myself shooting more and more sports which was not my intention, it's just accidentally happened. I think I am really struggling with wrestling. Some cc and pointers would go a long way!
I am shooting these with a 50D and 70-200 2.8 I was so close for these I found it to be too tight sometimes. Lesson learned there...

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I would use a 24 - 105 in thight space like you are working in.

Wish I had the 24-105!
My general forte has been weddings, so I have 17-55 then 70-200. The 17-55 wasn't proving to be tight enough for most tournaments, so I stared using the 70-200... I have a feeling that no matter which I choose I am screwed. I think the 24-105 would cover enough zoom and wide to work in most situations. Wonder if there will be any great deals at WPPI

maybe instead of the 25-105 look into the 24-70f/2.8 those extra stops may help with sports and I use it a lot shooting weddings

BrianMc3 wrote in post #9693962
maybe instead of the 25-105 look into the 24-70f/2.8 those extra stops may help with sports and I use it a lot shooting weddings

It's on my want list... NOT on my budget though. I have really been thinking the 28-70 f/2.8 tamron looks better and better... Definitely more doable than that awesome amazing L glass with the awesome amazing price tag.

1. shoot low.
2. make sure you have a high enough shutter speed to stop movement.
3. Dont crop off limbs
4. shoot tight.
5. if you dont have enough light, add light.

EDIT: Gear will not make you a better photographer, so forget that. You need to learn to shoot with what you have

They don't really look like the usual quality that comes out of a 70-200 2.8. I have a 24-105 and I would not want to use it inside with low light especially in a sport. F4 is just not fast enough for movement inside. It will do well with stationary objects since it has IS, but with kids jumping and throwing each other you would have to pump the ISO to stop motion. Can you use a flash? Other than that all I can say is to zoom with your feet. Either use the 17-55 and try to get close or get as far back with the 70-200.

I've used the 70-200 for wrestling, and when you are matside it can get too close. Moving back subjects you to people crossing your shooting path.

Light tends to be a problem in most gyms. Tournaments held during daylight hours often have better light if there are skylights to let in some natural light. Otherwise its usually dismal and requires at least 1200+ iso to get the shutter up around 250.

I've had some great results with the 85 1.8 lens. The extra light helps a lot with shutter speed and iso. The trade off is of course that you're more limited on field of view changes.

Wrestling is a very tough sport to shoot well. The action can revolve around 360 degrees, and you have no idea at what point to position yourself other than for the starts at the beginning of periods. I have lots of pictures of wrestlers backs and behinds. Add to that the fact that when they are on the mat instead of on their feet, most often their heads and faces are facing the mat, and not the walls. It all makes for a difficult sport to shoot well, especially with a single shooter. If you had three people working the same match from even increments of 120 degrees or so, you'd get a lot more good shots, but I haven't figured out a way to clone myself yet.

A perfect lens might be a 1.4 60-120 zoom, but I think there are cost and other physics optics problems with producing that lens.