Finding partners who are interested in working on techniques?

[robyn.zarrien]

Hi everyone,

Everyone talks about the importance of drilling techniques. I've been training for a year and a half, and personally I've witnessed significant improvements in my technique and overall performance through consistent drilling.

However, since moving to my new gym, I've noticed that we don't have a culture of regular open mats. It's been a challenge to find a drilling partner who is equally interested in working on specific techniques outside of class. Unfortunately, my gym also doesn't have a group chat where I could easily connect with someone.

Any tips/advice on how to connect with like-minded practitioners for focused training sessions outside the regular classes?

 

[kintana]

Are you a bluebelt or a white belt?

I find that has you increase in skill and belt you can convince the more beginner level guys to train with you since they think you are better because of the belt.

When I became a blackbelt suddenly I noticed when I asked people if I could practice a move with them and they would jump at the chance.

Best thing is to ask the people after class if you can practice a technique with them. Usually they will want to try and then you build a training partner.

Now a less convention approach but it does work, is to submit them or pass their guard using mostly technique in practice. I found when I was a bluebelt my butterfly sweep was spot on. I was hitting in practice very easily then usually individuals that were shocked at how easy this was for me asked me how I did it.

Once of my main training partner kept asking me how can he avoid it. Then he showed me some wrestling moves and from there it developed into having a partner were we could train technique.

 

[kjg1672]

I used to practically beg people to drill techniques with me at open mats. People would look at me like I had two heads. I eventually gave up.

At my school, there's always been kind of a private club of guys who drill on their own. They don"t publicize it; if you compete a lot and do well, you will eventually get invited to drill with them.

 

[Banana Tree's Nemesis]

Yes. Talk to them.

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

Hi everyone,

Everyone talks about the importance of drilling techniques. I've been training for a year and a half, and personally I've witnessed significant improvements in my technique and overall performance through consistent drilling.

However, since moving to my new gym, I've noticed that we don't have a culture of regular open mats. It's been a challenge to find a drilling partner who is equally interested in working on specific techniques outside of class. Unfortunately, my gym also doesn't have a group chat where I could easily connect with someone.

Any tips/advice on how to connect with like-minded practitioners for focused training sessions outside the regular classes?

I've pretty much stopped training post covid.

But precovid I trained regularly and even travelled to train with jiu jitsu "stars" when I could

I'm not going to give out names but I went to an academy back in 2012 (A big name), I ended up staying at one of his students place (he had a large apartment with multiple rooms for rent), one of the guys living there, in addition to training the regular classes, would drill a technique like 100-200 times at night after training (time depending).

He ended up winning worlds a few years ago.

Not many people want to do drilling (I've found) as it tends to be monotonous and boring too many people.

after that I tried for years to find ones who'd just want to drill like that but everyone just wanted to role.

 

[Coconutwater]

I've pretty much stopped training post covid.

But precovid I trained regularly and even travelled to train with jiu jitsu "stars" when I could

I'm not going to give out names but I went to an academy back in 2012 (A big name), I ended up staying at one of his students place (he had a large apartment with multiple rooms for rent), one of the guys living there, in addition to training the regular classes, would drill a technique like 100-200 times at night after training (time depending).

He ended up winning worlds a few years ago.

Not many people want to do drilling (I've found) as it tends to be monotonous and boring too many people.

after that I tried for years to find ones who'd just want to drill like that but everyone just wanted to role.

I'd give anything to be able to drill over and over again with another person. All anyone really cares about is rolling and it sucks.

 

[Guest84]

More than drilling, I wish I could find partners with enough awareness to give tips during light rolls .

"A little more to the left and the pressure is much greater" etc...

 

[kjg1672]

More than drilling, I wish I could find partners with enough awareness to give tips during light rolls .

"A little more to the left and the pressure is much greater" etc...

Our lead instructor has been teaching for about 20 years, and he never does this. It's baffling to me. I mentioned it once in a respectful way to the owner of the school, but nothing came of it. A small tip during a roll is probably worth more to me than 30 minutes of class instruction.

 

[mattemate]

I'm not going to give out names but I went to an academy back in 2012 (A big name), I ended up staying at one of his students place (he had a large apartment with multiple rooms for rent), one of the guys living there, in addition to training the regular classes, would drill a technique like 100-200 times at night after training (time depending).

Nobody's mad that you trained with Lloyd Irvin. Nobody knew!

 

[Guest84]

Our lead instructor has been teaching for about 20 years, and he never does this. It's baffling to me. I mentioned it once in a respectful way to the owner of the school, but nothing came of it. A small tip during a roll is probably worth more to me than 30 minutes of class instruction.

I am a brown belt trying to earn my black belt. I do this as much as I can during light rolling, or when I'm rolling with someone that I outmatch by quite a bit. I don't know if I annoy people, I get a lot of thanks though. I wish someone did the same to me because I want to improve.
Got some guys that whoop me because they are young and athletic, gave them some tips, made my life even worse. To me what matters is bringing the quality of the group up.

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

Nobody's mad that you trained with Lloyd Irvin. Nobody knew!

Was not lloyd it was a guy based in L.A. and his pupil, the one I mentioned, recently won worlds after many short falls.

I just hate name dropping.

And I'd never train with Lloyd - I don't wanna get raped.

 

[robyn.zarrien]

I used to practically beg people to drill techniques with me at open mats. People would look at me like I had two heads. I eventually gave up.

At my school, there's always been kind of a private club of guys who drill on their own. They don"t publicize it; if you compete a lot and do well, you will eventually get invited to drill with them.

Are you a bluebelt or a white belt?

I find that has you increase in skill and belt you can convince the more beginner level guys to train with you since they think you are better because of the belt.

When I became a blackbelt suddenly I noticed when I asked people if I could practice a move with them and they would jump at the chance.

Best thing is to ask the people after class if you can practice a technique with them. Usually they will want to try and then you build a training partner.

Now a less convention approach but it does work, is to submit them or pass their guard using mostly technique in practice. I found when I was a bluebelt my butterfly sweep was spot on. I was hitting in practice very easily then usually individuals that were shocked at how easy this was for me asked me how I did it.

Once of my main training partner kept asking me how can he avoid it. Then he showed me some wrestling moves and from there it developed into having a partner were we could train technique.

Are you a bluebelt or a white belt?

I find that has you increase in skill and belt you can convince the more beginner level guys to train with you since they think you are better because of the belt.

When I became a blackbelt suddenly I noticed when I asked people if I could practice a move with them and they would jump at the chance.

Best thing is to ask the people after class if you can practice a technique with them. Usually they will want to try and then you build a training partner.

Now a less convention approach but it does work, is to submit them or pass their guard using mostly technique in practice. I found when I was a bluebelt my butterfly sweep was spot on. I was hitting in practice very easily then usually individuals that were shocked at how easy this was for me asked me how I did it.

Once of my main training partner kept asking me how can he avoid it. Then he showed me some wrestling moves and from there it developed into having a partner were we could train technique.

I used to practically beg people to drill techniques with me at open mats. People would look at me like I had two heads. I eventually gave up.

At my school, there's always been kind of a private club of guys who drill on their own. They don"t publicize it; if you compete a lot and do well, you will eventually get invited to drill with them.

Hi everyone,

Everyone talks about the importance of drilling techniques. I've been training for a year and a half, and personally I've witnessed significant improvements in my technique and overall performance through consistent drilling.

However, since moving to my new gym, I've noticed that we don't have a culture of regular open mats. It's been a challenge to find a drilling partner who is equally interested in working on specific techniques outside of class. Unfortunately, my gym also doesn't have a group chat where I could easily connect with someone.

Any tips/advice on how to connect with like-minded practitioners for focused training sessions outside the regular classes?

Are you a bluebelt or a white belt?

I find that has you increase in skill and belt you can convince the more beginner level guys to train with you since they think you are better because of the belt.

When I became a blackbelt suddenly I noticed when I asked people if I could practice a move with them and they would jump at the chance.

Best thing is to ask the people after class if you can practice a technique with them. Usually they will want to try and then you build a training partner.

Now a less convention approach but it does work, is to submit them or pass their guard using mostly technique in practice. I found when I was a bluebelt my butterfly sweep was spot on. I was hitting in practice very easily then usually individuals that were shocked at how easy this was for me asked me how I did it.

Once of my main training partner kept asking me how can he avoid it. Then he showed me some wrestling moves and from there it developed into having a partner were we could train technique.

I am still a whitebelt. At my previous gym, I was able to find newer white belts who would be up for drilling. Unfortunately, at my current gym no one sticks around to work on something. I have pretty much asked everyone in the fundamentals class and still no luck.

I will definitely try your approach too.

 

[robyn.zarrien]

I used to practically beg people to drill techniques with me at open mats. People would look at me like I had two heads. I eventually gave up.

At my school, there's always been kind of a private club of guys who drill on their own. They don"t publicize it; if you compete a lot and do well, you will eventually get invited to drill with them.

I have literally had the same experience during open mats. I don't mind rolling at all. It's just that having a session that is dedicated to just drilling helps a) allows me to work on specific techniques outside the class and b) gives me a break from the hard rolling sessions during the week.

I will try to ask around and see if my gym also has some sort of a drilling club. If not, I guess I might start my own? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[robyn.zarrien]

I've pretty much stopped training post covid.

But precovid I trained regularly and even travelled to train with jiu jitsu "stars" when I could

I'm not going to give out names but I went to an academy back in 2012 (A big name), I ended up staying at one of his students place (he had a large apartment with multiple rooms for rent), one of the guys living there, in addition to training the regular classes, would drill a technique like 100-200 times at night after training (time depending).

He ended up winning worlds a few years ago.

Not many people want to do drilling (I've found) as it tends to be monotonous and boring too many people.

after that I tried for years to find ones who'd just want to drill like that but everyone just wanted to role.

Wow that's amazing!
That's basically what I had in mind when I like to think about drilling - getting good quality reps in.

The way I see it is. During a week you get to work on a technique. But what ends up happening is that after that week, we move on to a new technique. I might still remember parts of it but after a couple of weeks, I might forget it altogether. I might not get the chance to drill that technique until its we revisit that technique. I do do focused rolling where I set goals for myself : this week I will just work on technique X and that helps. But having sessions that are just focused on working on that specific technique over and over is something that has helped me a lot.

I do wish folks understood the value of drilling given how much it can help.

 

[robyn.zarrien]

I'd give anything to be able to drill over and over again with another person. All anyone really cares about is rolling and it sucks.

I agree. Almost everyone talks about 'drillers make killers/winners' but I am yet to find someone at my gym/in my area who is equally interested in doing that. Yes rolling is fun and you definitely learn a lot from each roll. But you know what's fun? Being able to hit a technique that you want to hit during the rolls and not having to think about them because they become ingrained in you. I have been seriously considering posting an advertisement on Craigslist for a sparring partner who is interested in working on techniques.

 

[yetanother]

I have literally had the same experience during open mats. I don't mind rolling at all. It's just that having a session that is dedicated to just drilling helps a) allows me to work on specific techniques outside the class and b) gives me a break from the hard rolling sessions during the week.

I will try to ask around and see if my gym also has some sort of a drilling club. If not, I guess I might start my own? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Doing the drilling session before the rolling is an insanely good setup, you improve your skill and can do 2-3x more hard rolls for the same about of wear and tear because you get an insanely good warm up.

 

[Foppa21]

Our lead instructor has been teaching for about 20 years, and he never does this. It's baffling to me. I mentioned it once in a respectful way to the owner of the school, but nothing came of it. A small tip during a roll is probably worth more to me than 30 minutes of class instruction.

Some people don't like that. They view it close to "coaching through a submission once they're caught" and prefer to discuss after

 

[Foppa21]

I have literally had the same experience during open mats. I don't mind rolling at all. It's just that having a session that is dedicated to just drilling helps a) allows me to work on specific techniques outside the class and b) gives me a break from the hard rolling sessions during the week.

I will try to ask around and see if my gym also has some sort of a drilling club. If not, I guess I might start my own? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Start with the person you usually partner with in class. Every person has them. Like minded individuals tend to migrate together