We don't drill enough in many schools.

[GoatArtemLobov]

I just realized that we should spend a lot more time drilling, especially and lower belt levels.
My class is built like that :
30 minutes of bullshit warmup (I'm ok with shrimping and bridging, but I don't come to class to do pushups, to run in circle and to do dynamic stretching)
30 minutes of technique where 3 moves are usually shown to us
30 minutes of sparring
I'm a blue belt and I'm starting to realize that I have already seen many moves, but there are not so many I trust and I can rely on, because usually, the instructor will show a move, we drill it for 5 minutes, and move on.
As a consequence, I realized that the only moves I'm confident in are 3 closed guard attacks, 2 closed guard sweeps, 1 half guard attack, 1 half guard sweep, 1 butterfly sweep, 1 closed guard pass, 1 open guard pass, 1 half guard pass, and a few basic side control, back and mount subs.
That's hardly 15 moves, which I don't consider to be enough since I have been training 5 times a week for 2 years. I also may have seen hundreds of move, but I have either forgotten them or am doing them in a very approximative way that doesn't allow me to hit them in sparring.
I'd rather have seen 50 moves, but know them very well.
I'm thinking about asking one of my buddies to stay 30 minutes after each class, so we can drill the same moves over and over again. For instance, for one week, we would just drill 3 half guard sweeps over and over again, and once this is done, move on to half guard attacks the week after, etc. etc.

 

[GoatArtemLobov]

And of course I'm not legitimate as a blue belt to tell black belt instructors how they should teach, but scheduling a 30 minute warmup where you barely do any bjj-related stuff is preposterous.
A 10th planet type of warmup where you drill over and over again would make more sense IMO, as it gives you a solid fundation of moves you can rely on for sure.

 

[nicknasty]

I like a 10 min light warm up and then 10 minutes of flow rolling. After that I want to drill for about 5-10 minutes per technique. Then maybe 15 minutes of situational sparring to further drill the techniques. Then open mat for another 30 with focus on the positions/technique learned.

Its hard though. Not everyone can do a full 1.5 hours or longer.

Lately I have been going 2 hours before class. There is a bb that is coming off of injury and is showing/rolling with people for about a hour. Then I hit up the beginners class (can always learn something) for a hour. Then the regular class for about 1.5 hours. Makes for a long day but progressively gets harder......plus almost private lessens with a BB for free is not a bad thing.

 

[Eagle1459]

Ben Askren has said the same thing on the JRE podcast, basically BJJ schools don’t drill enough and BJJ students would greatly served by drilling one move for longer periods of time. Also positional drilling is something that needs more focus on.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

30 minutes “warm up” is quite stupid, 5 mins tops to warm up, then 10-15 mins to warm up with technique, then 1-2 technque, then situational sparring then free sparring

running around and doing jumping jacks for 30 minutes straight will help your conditioning, but unless you are in the competition team, that should be done on your own

 

[yetanother]

running around and doing jumping jacks for 30 minutes straight will help your conditioning, but unless you are in the competition team, that should be done on your own

I doubt 30 minutes of warm ups will help your conditioning better than say 30 minutes of drilling takedowns or 30 minutes of position rolling.

 

[meauneau]

In my school you are supposed to come earlier and warm up yourself, unless we're preparing for a competition for then we would drill more stand up and takedowns/guard pulls as part of a general warm up with push ups, sprints, pull ups and so on for 20 min. Our coach will teach the technique of the week and some variation, transition and so on and we drill this for 20 min, then we do positional sparring from the same position we drilled with a bit or resistance but allowing your partner to perform the move, this for another 20 min, and finally we do a king of the hill format from same position but 100% resistance. After that we have open mat for as long as you want, usually 30 min.

 

[yetanother]

For instance, for one week, we would just drill 3 half guard sweeps over and over again, and once this is done, move on to half guard attacks the week after, etc. etc.

If you want to get a lot of reps into something it's sometimes better to drill it consistently for a longer periods than binge drill it a few times and move on.
Also do timed drilling rounds (like for like ~3-5 minutes each partner and switch) rather than for reps.

 

[Deleted member 405583]

I've sent this to a few guys at my academy and it's turned into Sunday sessions of just drilling for a few hours.

 

[CFGroup]

There is a bb that is coming off of injury and is showing/rolling with people for about a hour. Then I hit up the beginners class (can always learn something) for a hour. Then the regular class for about 1.5 hours. Makes for a long day but progressively gets harder......plus almost private lessens with a BB for free is not a bad thing.

If you stick with it long enough, you'll come to fully appreciate that as you reach that BB level technique.

The guy who took over as chief instructor would stay sometimes an hour and a half after class. I'd just ask him a question about a technique and he'd spend hours expanding on permutations. At first Kyu it all started to make sense in each of the Gokyo No Waza technique's subtle variations from different national instructors Chris traveled to train with.

Brings back the days of training camp 3hrs a day up to 14 days in a row a few times, mostly a week on a day off.

Upper belts stay and throw 50 times and take Ukemi 50 times and then throw the new guys into rolls as many times as they can take safely. Drill some Breakfall basics to get them to the level that they can take 50 non stop throws.

Keep that schedule as long as you can. Even the beginners class is fundamentals you can always re visit.

I miss those days and stay after as long as I can at my new club. I don't have the status yet to form a organized training group.

Enjoy and appreciate what you have!

 

[tekkenfan]

I just realized that we should spend a lot more time drilling, especially and lower belt levels.
My class is built like that :
30 minutes of bullshit warmup (I'm ok with shrimping and bridging, but I don't come to class to do pushups, to run in circle and to do dynamic stretching)
30 minutes of technique where 3 moves are usually shown to us
30 minutes of sparring
I'm a blue belt and I'm starting to realize that I have already seen many moves, but there are not so many I trust and I can rely on, because usually, the instructor will show a move, we drill it for 5 minutes, and move on.
As a consequence, I realized that the only moves I'm confident in are 3 closed guard attacks, 2 closed guard sweeps, 1 half guard attack, 1 half guard sweep, 1 butterfly sweep, 1 closed guard pass, 1 open guard pass, 1 half guard pass, and a few basic side control, back and mount subs.
That's hardly 15 moves, which I don't consider to be enough since I have been training 5 times a week for 2 years. I also may have seen hundreds of move, but I have either forgotten them or am doing them in a very approximative way that doesn't allow me to hit them in sparring.
I'd rather have seen 50 moves, but know them very well.
I'm thinking about asking one of my buddies to stay 30 minutes after each class, so we can drill the same moves over and over again. For instance, for one week, we would just drill 3 half guard sweeps over and over again, and once this is done, move on to half guard attacks the week after, etc. etc.

thats bjj today it seems guys wana go upside down to attack heel hooks rolling all day u gotta understand bjj is a very laid back art it isnt like to her tried and true sports with a great system in place for training at top levels like wrestling and judo have thats why as a coach i love to come up with drills and certain methods of training to get my guys better faster tbh some hate it but it ell them do u wana get better?

 

[tekkenfan]

I've sent this to a few guys at my academy and it's turned into Sunday sessions of just drilling for a few hours.

the issue is 80% of guys in bjj gyms are lazy who only go 2 days a week and just wana go roll and have fun they arnt trying to take it serious to get in super good shape

 

[tekkenfan]

30 minutes “warm up” is quite stupid, 5 mins tops to warm up, then 10-15 mins to warm up with technique, then 1-2 technque, then situational sparring then free sparring

running around and doing jumping jacks for 30 minutes straight will help your conditioning, but unless you are in the competition team, that should be done on your own

fuk when i was traiing in texas one of the bbs there in 2010 when i was a purple he would ave a 45/1 hour warm up i swear to god it was the weirdest thing i went to only 2 of his classes and never again went during that time the class was only 90 minutes anyways so wede have 30 mins left for technique i feel 15 mins should be it and it should all be bjj drills a few solo drills to loosen hips legs and few partner drills like 10 betterfly sweep lifts ect

 

[mattemate]

Wow reading some of the complaints that people have here really makes me appreciate my coach.

Here's our typical class. Warm up and stretching is done in 10 minutes. Then we go back to the wall and he demonstrates a technique.

Then partner up and we all practice that technique for about four or five minutes and he might stop and go over some details that he sees because of mistakes he's seeing around the room.

Then I'll take us back to the wall and we'll do a variation off that technique or the same position.

So we'll usually do three no more than four techniques in a class.

Then we go back to the wall and do positional sparring. Two to five people will be in the middle and the line comes. You'll start in the position he calls. Usually Winner stays in the middle loser goes back to the wall,. But sometimes I'll just make you stay in the middle for a few minutes then send you back and put somebody else in the middle.

Point as we do a lot of drilling.

Sometimes they'll also have us just do passing drills. Like you standing someone's open guard and you just have to pass standing for 3 minutes. It's great cardio and it's sharpens your technique and makes you learn to be explosive.

Usually at the end of the class he'll haveus do one roll, generally with a partner you were working with during the class.

Then we bow out and it's sparring for an hour.

He also has the concepts done by week.

So all week we'll be working on back attacks attacking turtle defending turtle attacks from de la hiva attacks from reverse deleja deep half guard so on and so forth

 

[Quebec Nick]

As a consequence, I realized that the only moves I'm confident in are 3 closed guard attacks, 2 closed guard sweeps, 1 half guard attack, 1 half guard sweep, 1 butterfly sweep, 1 closed guard pass, 1 open guard pass, 1 half guard pass, and a few basic side control, back and mount subs.
That's hardly 15 moves, which I don't consider to be enough since I have been training 5 times a week for 2 years. I also may have seen hundreds of move, but I have either forgotten them or am doing them in a very approximative way that doesn't allow me to hit them in sparring.

Drilling for me as not that much consequence on my game and what I learn. Drilling in class helped me to find my game but once I decided on what guard I'm gonna play and what type of guard passing I'm gonna focus on, I relied on instructionnals to complete my game. You can't ask of your instructor to show you exactly what you need to know.

For an exemple, we drilled the basic butterfly hook sweep and I liked it a lot, we still drill it every 2 or three months and I still love it. But when I decided that it's gonna be my main guard I got myself some instructionnal on the subject, I scanned youtube for free stuff on it, I watched BJJ scout on Wardzinski... I didn't asked of my instructor to show me every grip figthing strategies, every counters to the common guard passes, every entry to SLX and X guard... I took the matter on my own and tested it in sparring. then I was able to ask specific questions on the subject and my coach was happy to help me.

For me drilling in class gives me better coordination, gives me some new ideas and helps me correct some movements. But I don't wait on it to try new stuff or to better my game.

 

[Deleted member 405583]

the issue is 80% of guys in bjj gyms are lazy who only go 2 days a week and just wana go roll and have fun they arnt trying to take it serious to get in super good shape

Yeah. They generally haven't been invited because of that. I'm not much of a competitor anymore but I'll be damned if I dont love setting a timer for 8 minutes a d try to see how many reps of "x position" I can do.

 

[GoodbyeBlueSky82]

I just realized that we should spend a lot more time drilling, especially and lower belt levels.
My class is built like that :
30 minutes of bullshit warmup (I'm ok with shrimping and bridging, but I don't come to class to do pushups, to run in circle and to do dynamic stretching)
30 minutes of technique where 3 moves are usually shown to us
30 minutes of sparring
I'm a blue belt and I'm starting to realize that I have already seen many moves, but there are not so many I trust and I can rely on, because usually, the instructor will show a move, we drill it for 5 minutes, and move on.
As a consequence, I realized that the only moves I'm confident in are 3 closed guard attacks, 2 closed guard sweeps, 1 half guard attack, 1 half guard sweep, 1 butterfly sweep, 1 closed guard pass, 1 open guard pass, 1 half guard pass, and a few basic side control, back and mount subs.
That's hardly 15 moves, which I don't consider to be enough since I have been training 5 times a week for 2 years. I also may have seen hundreds of move, but I have either forgotten them or am doing them in a very approximative way that doesn't allow me to hit them in sparring.
I'd rather have seen 50 moves, but know them very well.
I'm thinking about asking one of my buddies to stay 30 minutes after each class, so we can drill the same moves over and over again. For instance, for one week, we would just drill 3 half guard sweeps over and over again, and once this is done, move on to half guard attacks the week after, etc. etc.

I'm a blue belt and one who could use more conditioning, but even I agree with you. Life is busy, I have a job and kids, I come to BJJ to do BJJ and I can squeeze push ups and similar in elsewhere on my own. My personal fitness is up to me, not my instructor. Our "competition" type class warm ups tend to always be 10-15 minutes at most, and are very grappling specific like bridging, shrimping, breakfall to sprawl, forward rolls, etc. If we go longer than that, its because the instructor is adding grip fighting or a little bit of 1 for 1 partner takedowns as warm up. That leaves 30 minutes for 2 techniques, some positional sparring, and then several rounds of regular rolling from the feet. Positional sparring has been huge for me, since it forces you to focus on very specific positions and reactions / transitions from there. Regular rolling too easily becomes a free for all where you revert to the same 3 moves.
You can't change how your instructor formats the class, but you can use open mat time to drill specific things with a partner you work well with, or ask them to stay after class.

 

[Espurgote]

When the teacher isnt as tecnical or profecient he usually enforce the physical part more, this is why your warmup is so hard while drilling is a bit off.
Nothing new.

 

[EndlessCritic]

I'm thinking about asking one of my buddies to stay 30 minutes after each class, so we can drill the same moves over and over again. For instance, for one week, we would just drill 3 half guard sweeps over and over again, and once this is done, move on to half guard attacks the week after, etc. etc.

I think this is the wrong approach.

When you are first learning a technique, yes, repeat the technique until it feels comfortable. I don't believe this should ever be more than 10 reps for the vast majority of ground techiques.

Once you are at a basic level of comfort, repping the technique more is not going to make you any better at it. You have to actually attempt to apply it in a roll.

Drilling is not endlessly repeating movements. Drilling is focusing on a single position, and working with resistance from that position. Your technique has to be fine tuned. And this fine tuning will not occur if all you are doing is repetition without resistance.

(Spoiler alert: How many people do you think have repped o soto gari 100x yet couldn't hit it live to save their life?)

 

[Russky]

"To every problem there is a solution that is simple, obvious, and wrong"
Drilling to perfection is not effective training method. Here's a good read from @Aesopian :
http://aesopian.com/blog/2015/06/04/your-practice-should-be-as-ugly-as-your-face/