Sprawl prevention drills for doub?

Underground
1

Hi. My double leg takedowns (in submission wrestling, actually) are getting stopped too often by sprawls for my liking. I know that you guys don't train with me so you can't see what I might be doing wrong, but off the top of your heads, do you have any ideas or know any drills that might help me?

Regards,

jonpall.

2

Also, is the answer different if I'm always being sprawled upon BEFORE I even get a good grip on my opponents' legs, than if it happens AFTER?

A related question: Chip once wrote this about sprawling:

"Keep in mind, a sprawl isn't something you just hit once then relax. If he's anything other than a total pansy, he will continue to drive into you, try to get angles on you, and try to get you down. You need to constantly keep fighting here! "

How does I continue to drive into my opponent and try to get angles? Especially if I don't have great pulling power in my arms and lats?

3

Well the answer to the first part of your question, i.e. why they are able to sprawl on you even before you get a good grip on their legs is that you are probably doing one of two things wrong: 1) Not clearing their hands before you shoot, or 2) You are shooting from too far away. In order to remedy the above, set up your opponent with a tie of your liking and don't shoot from far away. About the only shot I like to shoot without a tie up as a set up is my low (SUPER LOW) single leg.

With regard to your second question about how to continue to drive into an opponent once he sprawls, the best thing to do is to simply repenetrate while down on the ground. Do not think of pulling his legs in with your hands (or more correctly, your biceps and lats), but, rather, think of holding his legs where they are with your hands and getting in deeper and deeper under your opponent before pulling his legs in with arm and lat strength.

In case you are wondering, what I mean by penetrating while on the ground can be seen in the following example.

Let's say you shoot, he sprawls, and you find yourself beneath your opponent on your knees (his chest is probably on your back). Your head is to his right side.. Now you pull his legs in (but you are actually not pulling them in per se, you are trying to simply keep them in place, but sometimes you may have to pull with all your might to make that happen) and take your right knee off the ground, step your right foot forward under your opponent between his legs. Now, take a penetration step much like you would while on the feet while lifting up/straightening your back and pulling his legs in hard with your hands (truly your arms and back muscles). YOu will be able to do this now since when you took that "repenetration step" you got in deeper under your opponent and made his sprawl less effective.

I am sorry if my description is confusing, but perhaps someone who is better at explaining wrestling in text can translate what I've said above into intelligible Wrestler's English?

But if you ask me, I think you should also learn what a "peak out" is. For me it has proven much more successful than what I've described ahove. You simply peak out to a side. If you wanna know what I am talking about (if the terminology is unfamiliar), think of what Minotauro pulled off on Sapp in their fight when he shot in, Sapp sprawled, and he ended up taking his back. I'll see if I can find an online photo of video as well.

Hope this helps.

4

Excellent post by FS. Mino is the king of the peak out, by the way.

5

Good post by FS.

Every shot is a battle of posture - you trying to keep it and finish, him trying to break you down. If you start to get sprawled on, you need to continually try to recover posture, get your hips under your head, peek your head out, etc. Don't let him control your head.

Another option is to immediately switch your takedown. A good drill is to shoot a double, he sprawls, you automatically swing around for a single (head inside) - he counters that, swing back outside for a double. Keep going till that sonavabitch goes down!

6

Another good thing to consider is what are you shooting with? What is the first part of your body to make contact with your opponent? Shoot with your chest not with your hands, and you will find it a lot easier to avoid a good sprawl.

7

Very true Poz and JRockwell.

8

Should my shoulder make contact with his hips just before I grab his legs?

And if he still manages to move his legs back, after I've grabbed them, should I keep a hold of them or should I move my arms higher so I'm grabbing his thighs or even waist, i.e. "climb up his body"?

9

In the following I will be referring to a standard headoutside double leg takedown.

Assuming a left foot lead.

  1. Drop your level. This is arguably the MOST important part. If you do not change your level you will probably fail in your takedown attempt.
  2. Take your penetration step. Step between your opponents legs with your left leg, most people will do this by sliding on their knee but you certainly do not have to depending on knee health. At this point your trailing leg will still be trailing behind you.
  3. Square up. Right now you look like you are proposing your your opponent. Your left knee is on the ground (or just above) between your opponents legs, your back is perfectly straight, head upright and outside your opponents body line. Your trailing leg has come around, is outside your opponents body line and your foot is on the ground, with the leg bent 90 degrees. Your chest is in physical contact with your opponents leg.

At this point you could actually just stand up and your opponent will be lifted off the ground.

10

if you get stuck underneath, heres a peek out:

notice how he slides his hips back underneath him while executing the technique, going from bad position (head in front of hips) to good position (hips under him)

Try using a better setup, like a russian 2 on 1, to clear the arms of the defender: