Single Leg vs. Double Leg

[td82394]

Okay coolio. I like your enthusiasm for wrestling and hope you go out there and kick ass for years to come, representing our sport to the fullest.

Thanks. I kind of am on a tear right now. 5 matches in a row, and before that 2nd place at a 3 round tournament.

as stated above, neither are better then the other, its a matter of preference, personally im much more comfortable taking the double leg over the single leg, which is what i tend to go for, if i get a single i will transition to the double most of the time

Pretty much this. I will say, though, I personally prefer single legs because I think they're harder to defend.

 

[rms6000]

It's best to be proficient in both. I often set up my double leg by getting a high-crotch first. Or sometimes I'll come in for a double, get sprawled on, pivot to the side and finish with a single. One way or the other if I get a hold of your legs/leg, you're going down.

 

[Zankou]

Double is awesome, but much harder to get, needs a stronger setup or tremendous speed.

Single is far easier to get, and for that reason more practical in BJJ. Usually you hit the double when your opponent is flailing trying to get away from something.

 

[Senshi]

I like to use single legs a lot becuase of the options it gives me.

I prefer singles too. I love tree trunking guys. When I was in HS we went to a Cornell wrestling camp and Del Porto showed us some great variations off the single.

also it's *asinine

 

[highcshot]

I wrestled for 6 years and was very successful in HS and I have now switched to BJJ. In wrestling, the double leg is the toughest and hardest thing to funk out of and defend. In BJJ if you shoot a standard double leg you are open for guillotines. In wrestling, if i were to get a double leg, i'd finish almost every time. The same was not true for single legs. Singles are much tougher to finish with on a quality opponent, and in BJJ standard single leaves you open for guillotines as well.
This is way i have modified my double leg into a "spear" double where my head goes to the center of the body (sternum area), making it much easier to finish and the guillotine not even an option for the opponent if done explosively. The blast double is hands down the best takedown for wrestling and bjj, imo.

 

[Zankou]

I wrestled for 6 years and was very successful in HS and I have now switched to BJJ. In wrestling, the double leg is the toughest and hardest thing to funk out of and defend. In BJJ if you shoot a standard double leg you are open for guillotines. In wrestling, if i were to get a double leg, i'd finish almost every time. The same was not true for single legs. Singles are much tougher to finish with on a quality opponent, and in BJJ standard single leaves you open for guillotines as well.
This is way i have modified my double leg into a "spear" double where my head goes to the center of the body (sternum area), making it much easier to finish and the guillotine not even an option for the opponent if done explosively. The blast double is hands down the best takedown for wrestling and bjj, imo.

Can you describe how you setup the blast double? I love to hit it from butterfly guard because it's unexpected from there, but on the feet I have a hard time getting enough penetration.

 

[rms6000]

I wrestled for 6 years and was very successful in HS and I have now switched to BJJ. In wrestling, the double leg is the toughest and hardest thing to funk out of and defend. In BJJ if you shoot a standard double leg you are open for guillotines. In wrestling, if i were to get a double leg, i'd finish almost every time. The same was not true for single legs. Singles are much tougher to finish with on a quality opponent, and in BJJ standard single leaves you open for guillotines as well.
This is way i have modified my double leg into a "spear" double where my head goes to the center of the body (sternum area), making it much easier to finish and the guillotine not even an option for the opponent if done explosively. The blast double is hands down the best takedown for wrestling and bjj, imo.

I also modified my double for BJJ, except I'll shoot in with my head on the opposite side of my opponent's body. This not only prevents the guillotine, but it also allows you to end up in side control once you finish the takedown. With this method, guys might still lock onto your head like a guillotine, but it's nearly impossible to finish someone if they have you side mounted and you have no guard or half guard.

 

[fourfif**]

Can you describe how you setup the blast double? I love to hit it from butterfly guard because it's unexpected from there, but on the feet I have a hard time getting enough penetration.

Dollars to donuts the answer to your question is in his username.

So besides that, I like the Russian tie.

This video really shows you how to set up the double from a counter to a russian tie, but the tie itself will give you the angle for a blast double if he doesn't defend properly.

 

[Aussido]

Seriously single leg beats double leg for bjj. There are a number of sweeps from the x-guard, seated guard, half guard, de-la riva, reverse de-la riva, that all involve finishing a single leg takedown. As far as the shot is concerned I can't really stress one over the other - a wrestler's opinion is probably better than my own. But the single leg is equally a shot as it is a sweep, making it better to master for bjj than the double leg.

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

Singles are (alot) easier to counter than a good, hard double leg.

If submissions are involved (and sort of even if they aren't) I'm with you 100%. But it's harder to land a clean double. I kind of like it when people go for singles on me in BJJ because the more things you give me (like if I'm allowed to use submissions, the gi) the more nifty counters I have. Sometimes I bait the single for just that reason. See John Cholish's recent UFC fight.

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

Seriously single leg beats double leg for bjj. There are a number of sweeps from the x-guard, seated guard, half guard, de-la riva, reverse de-la riva, that all involve finishing a single leg takedown. As far as the shot is concerned I can't really stress one over the other - a wrestler's opinion is probably better than my own. But the single leg is equally a shot as it is a sweep, making it better to master for bjj than the double leg.

Even if you're starting from the feet?

 

[Aussido]

Even if you're starting from the feet?

No. I mean single legs are better than doubles in the form of sweeps. So basically: on the ground, single legs are better. Standing, don't know. So I tend to think that overall single leg mastery is better than double leg mastery, in bjj.

 

[highcshot]

Can you describe how you setup the blast double? I love to hit it from butterfly guard because it's unexpected from there, but on the feet I have a hard time getting enough penetration.

My favorite set up for the blast double is basically just a fake and go. Fake like I'm shooting while i throw my hand in their face to distract them as i follow it up by firing in on the shot. Basically from my feet when I'm doing BJJ, i just try to get a lot of motion and head pulls and fakes to set them up for my takedown. I try to avoid tying up with my opponents at all costs simply because most BJJ guys (who have only ever trained BJJ) just want to pull guard and not give up the 2 points for the takedown. In wrestling i would set up many shots from the tie ups but just try to avoid them all together no for that reason.

Watch this guy, Jordan Burroughs. 2 time ncaa champ and World Champion wrestler. He's a master at what i described above.
US OPEN FS - Jordan Burroughs dec. Kirk White, 74 kg freestyle semis - YouTube

I also modified my double for BJJ, except I'll shoot in with my head on the opposite side of my opponent's body. This not only prevents the guillotine, but it also allows you to end up in side control once you finish the takedown. With this method, guys might still lock onto your head like a guillotine, but it's nearly impossible to finish someone if they have you side mounted and you have no guard or half guard.

I think i understand what you are saying and this is a really good idea. Thanks for bringing it up. I always remembered seeing guys like Sean Sherk shoot double legs like this and always wondered why. Now I'm thinking its because it makes it much easier to avoid guillotines and being wrapped up in guard, as you can pass much easier with the head on the opposite side. I may start working this because it is valuable in different scenarios, although i always find it awkward shooting the double with my head on the opposite side of what I'm used too :icon_sad:

 

[Shogunfan1979]

Both are good. If you can switch from one to the other, then you're really set.

This.... and you have an excellent avatar bro! Frank Dux !!

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

No. I mean single legs are better than doubles in the form of sweeps. So basically: on the ground, single legs are better. Standing, don't know. So I tend to think that overall single leg mastery is better than double leg mastery, in bjj.

Gotcha. I agree, getting good at a single leg might be better for BJJ because a lot of sweeps will finish with a modified single. But I was under the impression that he was asking which one (if any) was better as far as getting the takedown.

 

[10thplanetbjj]

if you are looking for the spear type takedown, check out how ryan bader does it.

 

[buhriyon]

I disagree with some of your statements. A good double leg in MMA should be set up with strikes, so in effect the shot is not taken from outside. You are right that unless you are an unbelievable high caliber wrestler you will not get a double from the outside, you really should be close enough that you can touch him. Finishing a double is not about strength anymore than finishing a single is not about strength. Actually a double with a really good deep penetration step where you turn the corner should feel effortless when executed perfectly. Most of the time when you grab a single the guy will push down on your head, put the foot on the outside or try for a whizzer which I feel turns into much more of a fight than a well executed double. I will agree that singles are a lot easier to grab.

 

[Bobbybackpack]

Singles are (alot) easier to counter than a good, hard double leg.

But a regular single leg is better than a regular double leg isn't it?

 

[MaxMMA]

I can't remember who said it but you need to think of a lot of your basic takedowns as your "wrestling jab."

Unless you're going against someone inexperienced it's unlikely that you'll finish a plain ol vanilla double leg, but you don't need too. You just need to get in on them so you can switch to something else, and shooting a double is great for doing just that. Same for the single, knee block, ankle pick, high crotch etc.