weakling having problems w/ guard

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Sponger15aa

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So for background, I've been doing bjj for 9 months, I'm 5'9 145lbs and am probably the weakest person over 15 at my entire school.

I find when I get someone in my guard I can't sub, sweep, or do much besides wait until someone rips right through my guard and passes.

Can anyone recommend some high percentage subs or sweeps for weak people such as myself, or how I can better control people in my guard or give advice on what to do to stop this from happening?
 
Man, you're like my doppelganger! I'm 5'10", 150lbs and have been training for 8 months.

Don't know if this helps but lately I've been focusing on breaking a guy's posture and working armbars from the guard. This is a recent development so I haven't had much time to work it. Still experimenting.

Guys at my gym have been recommending I use spider guard since I have longer legs and less strength. It allows for sweeps and subs while keeping distance. This is also something I need to incorporate into what little game I have.

Work your escapes and re-composing guard from half guard, side control and escaping mount if your guard keeps getting passed.

Don't know if you have the same problem but my weakness seems to be escaping/avoiding kimuras and americanas from side control. I just don't have the muscle power to avoid these subs.

Nothing in BJJ is a guaranteed win but it beats letting guys pass your guard and just smash you with their weight. Hopefully a higher belt can give you some more solid info. :icon_chee
 
The sit up sweep is your best friend, especially against bigger guys, but the key is the set up. What I do, is I break down their posture, which works really well for me because I play a high guard, and when I'm ready I let them posture up and I follow them up for the sweep. If they post on their hand to stop the sweep, I switch to the triangle, there's a Ryan Hall video on youtube of this particular sequence.
 
i used to be weak when i started bjj i did weights and got in real good shape that helped alot but for a small guy sweeps are pretty hard when u dont have a weight or strength advantage i used rubber guard alot because i was very flexible u can learn alot from the eddie bravo dvd's
 
i aint really good at explaining it i just do it lol , but i have a good guard so never really had the problem i had big problems getting the takedown so i always pulled guard or if i was in the right position went for the flying armbar a little risky , but do u pose any threats from ur back? do u looks for kimura's , armbars , triangles anything? cause if im fighting a guy who doesent pose any threat to me from there back then its pretty easy to pass
 
its not the body that is weak. its the mind. push urself to win. no matter how many times you lose. each time you do this. you get better.
 
ohh i forgot this if u want to know how to use bjj against a bigger stronger guy watch the jeff curran vs Takeya Mizugaki fight good examples there
 
i'm a lanky light person too.

whenever you get guard, you should look for underhooks, overhooks or wristcontrol. you need something, otherwise they just crush you. also, when they force you to open up your guard, immediately go to heels on hips and get control on their wrists. if you have a semi-solid grip strength you'll be a bitch to pass. trust me, this opens up a lot of sweeps for you and makes it ten times as hard for them to do anything.

also, work triangles. as soon as you develop some sort of a wrist control habbit, the triangle is there. heels on hips with wrist control can give you nice high guard with armbars too. pull the wrists towards you, extend your legs - it stretches them out with their arms extended - just lockup the high guard and armbar all day long.

last but not least, work halfguard. most sweeps from halfguard require very little strength. it opens up a million possibilities and yet you still have control. it's problematic when the guy is bigger and knows his shit because they will flatten you out, but the same problem applies everywhere. bigger + better guys will beat you. still, focus on halfguard - getting the underhook, being on your side, preventing getting crossfaced. once you get that down you'll be a lot more dangerous with taking the back or sweeping them.

good luck.
 
randomg1t said:
last but not least, work halfguard. most sweeps from halfguard require very little strength. it opens up a million possibilities and yet you still have control. it's problematic when the guy is bigger and knows his shit because they will flatten you out, but the same problem applies everywhere. bigger + better guys will beat you. still, focus on halfguard - getting the underhook, being on your side, preventing getting crossfaced. once you get that down you'll be a lot more dangerous with taking the back or sweeping them.

good luck.
Click to expand...

This is actually best to work on with higher level guys, especially those with a wicked Darce. It'll tighten up your underhook and teach you how to defend the Darce. Once you understand that, your half-guard becomes really dangerous.
 
I'm a really small person, and I highly recommend going to the gym. Now I'm still small, but I'm incredibly strong, and I'm able to use top control and dominate from there.
 
like the guy before said use wrist control use ur length if u have long legs then u should be able to give them alot of trouble id work the high guard or rubber guard for sure just look for the omaplata which u can use to sweep them then take there back but work the triangles and armbars and u should watch eddie bravo mastering the rubber guard and u will become very dangerous
 
I'm 5'7 140lb, and not physically strong either.
However, my guard is my strongest point.

I honestly don't think any guard-game in BJJ will improve by lifting weights or going to the gym.
In order to improve your guard, you're gonna need to recognize SPECIFICALLY why it's being broken and passed repeatedly. Then you need to talk to your instructor.
Consult with your instructor on how weak you feel your guard is, and he'll help you develop a guard game for your body type. You really need to get one-on-one attention from your instructor for this kind of stuff ;)
 
randomg1t said:
i'm a lanky light person too.

whenever you get guard, you should look for underhooks, overhooks or wristcontrol. you need something, otherwise they just crush you. also, when they force you to open up your guard, immediately go to heels on hips and get control on their wrists. if you have a semi-solid grip strength you'll be a bitch to pass. trust me, this opens up a lot of sweeps for you and makes it ten times as hard for them to do anything.

also, work triangles. as soon as you develop some sort of a wrist control habbit, the triangle is there. heels on hips with wrist control can give you nice high guard with armbars too. pull the wrists towards you, extend your legs - it stretches them out with their arms extended - just lockup the high guard and armbar all day long.

last but not least, work halfguard. most sweeps from halfguard require very little strength. it opens up a million possibilities and yet you still have control. it's problematic when the guy is bigger and knows his shit because they will flatten you out, but the same problem applies everywhere. bigger + better guys will beat you. still, focus on halfguard - getting the underhook, being on your side, preventing getting crossfaced. once you get that down you'll be a lot more dangerous with taking the back or sweeping them.

good luck.
Click to expand...

This is good advice.

I'm 5'9" and about 140 right now, though when I started I was about 120. The extra muscle from lifting is very helpful but finding the right tactics is probably more useful.

Being smaller and weaker we need to stay more mobile to try and even up the score. As such I tend to work an open guard more often, with feet on hips, and I use butterflies a lot for sweeps. The hip bump sweep is really good if your opponent tries to posture up and pass your closed guard (and if you don't get the sweep it sets up kimuras or triangles, a la Ryan Hall, pretty nicely) and the butterflies are good when their weight is further forward.
 
My little brother is 15, about 6ft and 125 lbs. He is pretty talented at it though since I've been showing him stuff I've learned over the past three years I've been taking classes.

He tends to use a rubber guard and will try and use his long legs to isolate an arm if they try and posture up. The key is using your hips right and controlling their posture. If you just hold on for dear life, they're gunna break through. If you threaten every pass attempt with a submission, they'll be more cautious about trying to pass. Wrist control is huge too. You need to grab on the inside of their wrist not the outside.

Also practice tucking your legs in and shrimping and being able to scrunch up tight and pivot your hips to block passes. My brother does this all the time and it pisses me off to no end when I calf sweep him into side mount or pass through to half guard and he still manages to easily get all his length in real tight and create space to get me back in guard.

Remember you have to let your opponent help set the submission up instead of overpowering them. Wrist control is probably the best thing followed by hip movement and flexibility.
 
Hip movement/mobility+Open guard

I'm 5'7 and 155, sure it's a lot heavier but I used to be (until my buddy who's 115 pounds joined us) one of the smallest guys in my gym and this is pretty much what put me on the same playing field as heavier and higher ranked guys.

Find someone who's good at it and ask for a few privates, you'll be glad you did
 
I'm 5'11" 145 and I'm one of the lightest at my gym. I love my arm drags, open guard (spider, DLR + variations), triangles, omoplatas, and overhead/tomoe nage sweeps.

Arm drags to the back along with the gift wrap sweep are two main parts of my closed guard game. If you don't get his back, he will either pressure in (giving you a good shot at the gift wrap), or fall to his butt and get swept. Watch Marcelo Garcia.

A lot of guys like to control your hips and post just below your belly (as they should), this is a pretty good time to drag his arm across. If they are keen on what I'm doing and keep their elbows tight and driving into my thighs (which doesn't work at a high level and can easily be stopped by keeping your guard tight), I pull out on their elbows and go for the kimura. For a little guy the kimura can be tough to finish, but that usually means they are doing it wrong. Proper technique rules all.

For lanky fellas; Ryan Hall, Roy Dean, Mendes brothers, Braulio Estima, Rommulo Barral, Marcelino Freitas, are great to watch and study. Of course there are others, but these are some of my favorites.

By the way...Marcelino is just insanely talented.

YouTube - Marcelino Freitas jiu jitsu HL
 
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