How to get better at jiu-jitsu with the time you have

What drilling, positional sparring and open rolling build

Apart from the warm-up and the technique demonstration, most mat time in Brazilian jiu-jitsu falls into three kinds of training. Drilling repeats a technique against a partner who resists little or not at all, until you can do the steps without thinking. Positional sparring starts both partners in one position with set goals, so you face one situation many times against resistance. Open rolling lets the round go anywhere, and tests whether you can reach and finish your techniques while your partner chooses how to respond.

Each one leaves a gap. A cooperative drilling partner cannot show you whether you recognize the moment to use a technique against someone trying to stop you. Positional rounds start you in the position, so they leave out the transitions that get you there. In open rolling, a failed technique is hard to diagnose, because the position, the grips and your partner’s reaction change from one attempt to the next.

Choose a focus position and build around it

Choose your focus from the positions your rolls reach most often, on top or on the bottom, so you get many attempts at it without forcing your way there. On top, your build plays a part: heavier grapplers often lean toward pressure passing, and lighter, more mobile ones toward faster passes that move around the legs, though many good passers do the opposite. Our guide to BJJ guards covers how leg length and flexibility affect the guards that come easily. Inverted guards put your weight on your neck and upper back, so check with your instructor before you build around them if your neck has given you trouble.

Then link your focus to the positions around it: one bottom guard, a sweep or two from it, your passing style on top, and the pin and submissions you finish from. Favor new techniques that end where your sequence already continues, such as a sweep that finishes in the top position you pass from. To train one link at a time, use the one-position block described in our guide to the BJJ plateau.

A starting plan for your training week

Select how many sessions you train a week. Each bar shows roughly how a session’s mat time could divide between the three, counting the drilling and sparring inside class. In most gyms the instructor sets the class plan, so you shift the balance with the time you control: open mats, time before or after class, and the rounds you ask partners for. Treat the splits as a suggested starting point, adjust them with your instructor, and move the days to fit your schedule.

Use partners of different sizes and styles

Roll with a wide range of partners rather than the same few every week. A bigger, stronger partner makes you rely on frames, angles and timing, because strength will not cover a mistake. With a smaller or less experienced partner, start in a bad position such as under side control, and keep the pace low enough that the round stays safe for them. Partners with a different style put you in positions your usual partners rarely do.

Against an upper belt, judge the round by how long they need to pass or submit you and which position it happens in. Be a partner people want to drill with: give the resistance they ask for, stay in the position while they repeat a step, and tell them when a grip feels loose. Partners who trust you are more likely to agree when you ask for extra drilling or positional rounds.

Train around small injuries

Jammed fingers and toes and sore elbows are common in regular training, and many of them let you keep training with changes. Taping a jammed finger or toe to the one beside it, called buddy taping, supports it while it heals. Before each round, tell your partner which side is hurt and which positions to avoid. Choose drills and positional rounds that keep the injured part out of play, and roll lighter until it takes normal pressure.

See a doctor or physical therapist before you roll again if a joint swells badly, looks out of shape, locks or gives way, if a finger will not fully bend or straighten, if you feel numbness or tingling, or if the pain does not ease with rest.

Learn from instructionals and from your instructor

Choose an instructional that covers your focus position and watch one chapter at a time. Drill each chapter at your next session before you watch the next, so you try every detail on a partner while you still remember it. Our guides cover studying BJJ matches and filming your own rolls. Footage of your rolls shows how often you reach your focus position and what happens there, and a verified black belt can break it down for you in a roll review.

Ask your instructor about one exact situation: the position, the grips each of you had, when you tried the technique and what your partner did to stop it. Ask when your instructor is free, such as during drilling or after class, and set up the position with a partner to show it. If an instructional teaches the position differently from your instructor, ask about that difference too. Try the answer in your next rounds and tell your instructor how it went.