Great at defending takedowns and submissions, bad at executing them myself?

[YoDaddy1]

Just what the title says.

I've been training at an MMA gym for over a year and been doing quite a bit of wrestling and BJJ. Never done any grappling prior. I've noticed I'm good at defending takedowns and subs, but on the contrary can't do them for the life of me on the same guys who I defend so well against.

Are some people just more naturally inclined to be better at one or the other? Is it better to be this way than vice versa? Will the natural timing and "defense IQ" eventually have some crossover to executing takedowns and subs myself in the future?

 

[shunyata]

It's normal to pick up defensive grappling first for someone who hasn't trained it that much (a year is not that much).

Mods should move this to f12 for you, not really a standup topic.

To improve your offense, focus on getting and keeping dominant positions like mount and back control.

For submissions, focus on getting RNCs from your back control and front headlock attacks off snapdowns (guilotine, anaconda, etc).

 

[maximus__]

Just what the title says.

I've been training at an MMA gym for over a year and been doing quite a bit of wrestling and BJJ. Never done any grappling prior. I've noticed I'm good at defending takedowns and subs, but on the contrary can't do them for the life of me on the same guys who I defend so well against.

Are some people just more naturally inclined to be better at one or the other? Is it better to be this way than vice versa? Will the natural timing and "defense IQ" eventually have some crossover to executing takedowns and subs myself in the future?

Do you ever actually shoot takedowns? I find people that never try to do this in training, never get better at it.
i have the opposite issue where I hit takedowns but never get to practice defending them because nobody shoots on me. I have done a little wrestling and usually just get back up, but I never get to work that defensive sprawl game as much as I like without it being specific drilling.