I get stopped by a double arm post and a sprawl so I do have to back away. Is there a way to counter it or do I have to set it up better. In the gi I get tied up with collar grips with so I have limited ways to set it up without making contact (I don't want to let opponents pull guard first).
You are just doing hail mary shots from far out. You need to make your opponents move or get an advantageous grip, or better yet both.
You're probably shooting too high or too straight. I usually get low/sweep singles when there in-between steps or shifting to face me ( not sure how to better describe it at the moment). I let them take 2 steps and shoot as they go for the 3rd. And when I shoot I shoot extra low and circle towards their back. The only thing you really need to grip onto is the ankle. From there you have a bunch of ways that you can finish the TD. Probably didn't explain that the best but hope it made a tiny bit of sense.
Once we both have grips they will pull guard. I can take down a lot of people once or twice but once they figure out what my offense they know what the will happen when the move into position.
Tap their head with your rear hand as a fake, you can also drag their wrists and things of that nature. Make sure you're creating angles and not just blindly shooting
If you're struggling with grip fighting or disengaging from grip battles you may want to start faking guard pulls into ankle picks or other quick TDs. If you can't beat the grips then you need to start using what you're given.
Sitting is just gonna happen most times. Just get ready to pass. If they try to pull guard proper then you have options. If you know they want to pull fast and you are in grip range, I would advise against a low single. I typically use those when I'm out of range or their grips. One option you have is establishing a collar grip and shooting for a quick fireman/dump before they pull. I get the from time to time.
In last comps I would just use my no grips low single setups but didn't take the shots and just pulled first when they where hesitant and/or squared up due to fakes. In the gym after getting low singled once or a few times it's harder people learn what's coming.
Try crossgripping the sleeve/wrist, behind elbow/armpit the other hand, pull like an armdrag. That could change the angle so he cannot pull guard while you shoot. Of course you have to prevent him from gripping that hand.
I suck at playing guard without grips. If we double pull I could end up on bottom with bad controls down an advantage.
With regards to the double pull situation, control of the legs is usually the more important part; you get your legs back, have a hold of one of his, and come up with the 'ankle pick'.
Woohoo, Low Singles ftw! I've used this as my go-to takedown for nearly 10 years gi and nogi The most successful setup i have is to feint high before they have grips, level change and tap the lead knee or fake going for it while staying down. If they sprawl fine you aren't under them so you just come back up but a good 90% of the time they will step that front leg back. The second they move that leg immediately shoot your Low Single from the low position you're already in attacking their other leg. You're guaranteed it will be planted at the time and this means you can attack either leg depending on what foot they lead with without changing stance. This is incredibly high percentage even against guys half my age as you're only going the distance from your initial level change to the leg they've left behind. I use the John Smith style finish and i think i originally learned this approach from one of his videos. Making them pull the leg back and stick the bum out rather than sprawl is the aim and it works best with quick feints so they flinch and hop their lead leg back. In the gi i try to use the setup above before they get grips obviously usually circling outside their lead leg first to help delay them getting a hold of my lapel. If they do get grips i'll grip fight and try to break the collar grip and drag that arm down as i level change purely to get them to plant their feet and try pull it up. The second i feel them try to resist i let go the sleeve and shoot from the low position i'm now in using the exact same lead leg/left behind leg setup. With the gi its often easier to just hit the Low Single on the initial leg after the sleeve pull so you can often just go for the lead leg and not need to switch to the other one if you're quick. In the gym working on mixing those feints up with stuff liking popping back up to collar drag, snap-downs, guillotine attempts or timing other takedowns off getting them just as they reset their feet and a looking to start from a neutral position again. You can shoot it from a little further than most shots just past arm length so they shouldn't be getting a hand on you ideally but they also can't sprawl on you so you should be free to reset or chain the next thing you're trying while they're off balance and out of a good standup stance.
That's my best setup too. But the posting blocks me once they know how it works. The problem is that once they learn it they just try to stiff arm be and even actually sprawl before the shot (got to learn to snap them down or counter preemptive sprawling).
Shooting is gonna be hard in the gi, just the way it is, the roldolfo collar grip swing/power single is a good one for gi As for no gi a low single is typically a timing and agility move, going to need good motion and feints on the feet, bait them to raise their hands somehow with hand fighting and then go for it, a cheeky method is just to shoot immediately at the start of the match as you are close enough then and won't give them a chance to pull guard or run away, if you got long arms or get good head control then ankle picking is a good way to for a low attack but not risk getting trapped underneath or kicked in the face
In the gi the trick is to suck them in to planting their feet heavy then they can't sprawl. Use things like the sleeve pull i mention or two hands on the same collar to snap them down with 2 or 3 hard jerky pulls. Every time they resist and plant their feet its time to shoot your Low Single as they can't sprawl at the same time as keeping weight on their feet and pulling back. Everyone knows i want the Low Single so i usually have to get them distracted with something else to open the window. Its really a case of mis-direction, feints and if they're insisting on collar ties nogi i pop it off and level change as i switch stance to snatch single their front leg. If they preemptively sprawl i usually am far enough out its not an issue or if i'm under them here's what i use (in the gi i'll also slide in to half and feed the lapel):
