How does height affect grappling?

[Roid Rodent]

Talking from a david vs golliath perspective on both takedowns and groundwork , what advantages and disavantages does a short person have agaisnt a taller opponent?

 

[Rod1]

Short person has advantage when it comes to shoulder throws and shooting, larger person has an advantage on trips and clinching.

When it comes to the ground, the tallest man will probably have a better guard and better triangles, while the smaller guy will be stronger at positional control.

 

[James Fuller]

agree with alot of what rod said. to add I think longer guys have a harder time pulling out of armbars (longer arm equals more danger area to have to clear) and other joint locks while short, muscular guys are alot harder to catch with those subs.

 

[An end for]

Short person has advantage when it comes to shoulder throws and shooting, larger person has an advantage on trips and clinching.

When it comes to the ground, the tallest man will probably have a better guard and better triangles, while the smaller guy will be stronger at positional control.

Good post. That's what I have seen from the little experience I have. Big legs are pretty much necessary to triangle people around. For some reason, the smaller guys seem to have a better top game than the tall ones, almost like if it's tighter.

 

[Rws177die]

I wish I was as tall as Roger or Royce when it comes to submissions.....

 

[Gambolls]

I'm short and stubbly and i cant even put a triangle on my gf, (shes 155 lbs). I literally can not even lock it up using my arms to help me. I have no guard, it is completely worthless.

 

[Dake]

I've got short thighs and long-ass shins. I'm weird. I'm 5'10is and my hips are lower than my 5'2 girlfriends when you're both on our knees.

 

[newerest]

I'm short and stubbly and i cant even put a triangle on my gf, (shes 155 lbs). I literally can not even lock it up using my arms to help me. I have no guard, it is completely worthless.

dude you need to work on your angle

I'm 5'7 180 lbs and my best submission is the triangle choke. it's all about the angle.

 

[platfox]

dude you need to work on your angle

I'm 5'7 180 lbs and my best submission is the triangle choke. it's all about the angle.

Do you compete at that current size? I'm of similar stats. I've only competed at 140-170. I have to admit I really don't want to go up against guys over 6' tall. It would seem very difficult to pass their guard and once they take your back, its very difficult to escape. I'm in th eprocess of cutting back down to 150 but might try a few tournies at 181.

 

[johnnyvtx]

I'm 5'7 and the knee through pass works very well for me. Hip toss and shoulder throws are also my bread and butter, you have to be very good at it before using it at competitions so they dont take you back. Also the triangle is very easy if you get the right angle.

 

[Alaskantkdkid]

Being somewhat tall myself, and extremely so for my weight (6ft 140lbs) I think I should put in my info.

I have only once competed against someone taller(Judo) and I had a harder time throwing him because he was just soo much taller then me. I also roll with a guy at the gym who is 6'6", he has some long legs so you have to watch for triangles all the time.

 

[ShindoNinja]

I'm 6'1" 180 and I'd have to say that the triangle in my go to sub. The guys I train with are all 225 and up so I end up on the bottom alot.

The only short guy we have at our club is 225 and has a good wrestling style shot. I never go for doubles or singles at my hieght. I'll stick to leg trips and more judo type take downs.

 

[MUFC]

I'm 6'1 and 175lbs. I like half guard.

Not everything needs to fit the stereotypical game for your body type (having said that, I play a lot of spider guard and DLR).

Anything I'm not good at, i'm not good at because I have not put time into developing it. It has nothing to do with stature.

 

[JNick]

I am 5'7 I think and it seems a guard like spider or dlr wouldn't work for me. But I use it all the time.

 

[newerest]

Do you compete at that current size? I'm of similar stats. I've only competed at 140-170. I have to admit I really don't want to go up against guys over 6' tall. It would seem very difficult to pass their guard and once they take your back, its very difficult to escape. I'm in th eprocess of cutting back down to 150 but might try a few tournies at 181.

i cut 7 pounds of water to get into the 173.9 weight class. it's really not that hard to pass a tall guys guard. but at any rate i'm a guard player myself. I like rubber guard and half guard sweeps.

my whole body screams wrestler - which I like. throws them off of their game.

It's damn near impossible to triangle me too, sometimes I'll even bait triangles if I'm having trouble breaking their guard (bad habit I know, but I have only tapped 1 time from a baited triangle...)

honestly the only reason I wish I had long legs was so I could put people in the anaconda body triangle from back mount. i can still put it on but i need to use a hand to adjust my feet. I suppose that's a flexibility thing to an extent.

 

[ozyabbas]

Its much harder to armbar a shorter guy. I would say that some of the best open guard guys who use guards like the DLR and spider guard generally have long legs (Braulio and Barral come to mind).

I find smaller short guys harder to deal with than larger short guys. Its very difficult to pass their guards, they retain guard more easily and they can escape easier if you give them any space. A small guy using half guard can be very frustrating. Going to the turtle position is more dangerous as they find it easier to get the hooks in.

 

[underwater]

right now I'm 5'10" and 155lbs. Gonna bulk up when I'm older (still growing, you see) so preferrably I'll be about 6'1" and 240-260. Right now my size helps with jiu-jitsu, but wrestling's my thing, so being thicker will aid that.

 

[Lug's Spear]

I'm 5'6, 145 lbs and I find it easier to threat with the triangle, but just transition to the omoplata instead since it's usually a hard fight to lock it up. I'm sure with more training I'll be better at it, but I think the omoplata is a nice option.

 

[The Alpha Male]

I'm 5'9" myself. I feel like my base is pretty good so it's hard to sweep me. Also, I always roll with taller guys and usually clinch with them and take them down from there. I find it hard to double leg a taller guy but it doesn't make sense as I have read that shorter stockier guys are better at wrestling.

Can anyone clarify that for me?

 

[206warrior]

I'm 6'1 and 175lbs. I like half guard.

Not everything needs to fit the stereotypical game for your body type (having said that, I play a lot of spider guard and DLR).

Anything I'm not good at, i'm not good at because I have not put time into developing it. It has nothing to do with stature.

I am exactly your build haha! I always play spider guard, and I work mainly for the uchi mata on the feet.