Any tips for us little fellas trying to play spider? Really gotten into it lately 
TTT
As a short guy wth strong legs I love spider guard against bigger guys but all body types as well.
Its such a versatile and complex guard I can't really give you much "advice" other than certain go-to moves I have based on your opponents positioning. If they put one knee on the ground the basic spider-scissor sweep is money. If they stand up I like to deep-step through their legs, rock them forward, and hit like a basic table-top sweep or whatever you call it when you grab both ankles.
Overall I would say put lots of emphasis on the strength and security of your grips, including when you lasso. You have to push with your foot and pull with your hand at the same time to make your grip secure.
Spider guard takes a lot of fine tuning but Is outstanding if you dedicate time to it
Look into Andre Motta from Nova Uniao. He is a light guy who is short and does not have extreme flexibility along with having short legs. He doesn't just use spider guard, it is basically his "A" game. Different than Michael Langhi style spider guard for sure due to his limb length
Robson Moura plays it and he's like 5'5
Anytime you say "I'm too short to do that", Google Robson and you'll find tape on him hitting it
If they are on their knees or if you have strong control of their posture.... Otherwise generally look to transition to sitting or dlr guard. Be very aware of getting your feet too far over yourself. It happens more quickly as your height disadvantage increases
I like to come in and out of spider a lot. I want to use my feet on their hips and legs like a jab to keep them off balance so that they never settle into a good base stance.
variation of the overhead sweep, that is particularly good if you are smaller and lighter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsLaIxqbQms
with foot on bicep, I think of 3 points projected down onto 2 dim plane of the mat....
1.his center of mass
2.your hips
3.where your foot is in his bicep.
You need to keep your hips in the middle. If your hip gets outside of either of those other two, then you are giving the pass. This is not specific to short guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9hKUjXkCq4
In for knowledge.
OhhhhMyPlata - Robson Moura plays it and he's like 5'5Thats a lie.
Anytime you say "I'm too short to do that", Google Robson and you'll find tape on him hitting it
mideastgrappler - Look into Andre Motta from Nova Uniao. He is a light guy who is short and does not have extreme flexibility along with having short legs. He doesn't just use spider guard, it is basically his "A" game. Different than Michael Langhi style spider guard for sure due to his limb lengthIsnt Langhi not very tall? Like 5'8"?
What's a lie? Are you saying Robson can't play spider guard?
OhhhhMyPlata - What's a lie? Are you saying Robson can't play spider guard?Im joking, and I voted you up
in
Meatgrinder -You dont like playing spider against bigger guys, create distance?
If they are on their knees or if you have strong control of their posture.... Otherwise generally look to transition to sitting or dlr guard. Be very aware of getting your feet too far over yourself. It happens more quickly as your height disadvantage increases
I like to come in and out of spider a lot. I want to use my feet on their hips and legs like a jab to keep them off balance so that they never settle into a good base stance.
variation of the overhead sweep, that is particularly good if you are smaller and lighter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsLaIxqbQms
with foot on bicep, I think of 3 points projected down onto 2 dim plane of the mat....
1.his center of mass
2.your hips
3.where your foot is in his bicep.
You need to keep your hips in the middle. If your hip gets outside of either of those other two, then you are giving the pass. This is not specific to short guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9hKUjXkCq4
Rock the Gaspare -Meatgrinder -You dont like playing spider against bigger guys, create distance?
If they are on their knees or if you have strong control of their posture.... Otherwise generally look to transition to sitting or dlr guard. Be very aware of getting your feet too far over yourself. It happens more quickly as your height disadvantage increases
I like to come in and out of spider a lot. I want to use my feet on their hips and legs like a jab to keep them off balance so that they never settle into a good base stance.
variation of the overhead sweep, that is particularly good if you are smaller and lighter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsLaIxqbQms
with foot on bicep, I think of 3 points projected down onto 2 dim plane of the mat....
1.his center of mass
2.your hips
3.where your foot is in his bicep.
You need to keep your hips in the middle. If your hip gets outside of either of those other two, then you are giving the pass. This is not specific to short guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9hKUjXkCq4
I play it all the time against big guys...constantly moving and changing the position to off balance them. If I have some variation where I have their collar and control their posture, I'll stay with it.
However, with something like double sleeve where there isn't good posture control, I will try to never let them get good enough balance to stand (push out a knee, etc).. but if they do, then I am ready to move into a sitting guard or dlr usually. I don't want to hold spider against a standing tall person. My window of opportunity is when they are attempting to stand otherwise I'm transitioning out.
Meatgrinder -Gotcha, I also like playing Lasso with same side lapel against bigger guys. I feel like it helps me control them.Rock the Gaspare -Meatgrinder -You dont like playing spider against bigger guys, create distance?
If they are on their knees or if you have strong control of their posture.... Otherwise generally look to transition to sitting or dlr guard. Be very aware of getting your feet too far over yourself. It happens more quickly as your height disadvantage increases
I like to come in and out of spider a lot. I want to use my feet on their hips and legs like a jab to keep them off balance so that they never settle into a good base stance.
variation of the overhead sweep, that is particularly good if you are smaller and lighter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsLaIxqbQms
with foot on bicep, I think of 3 points projected down onto 2 dim plane of the mat....
1.his center of mass
2.your hips
3.where your foot is in his bicep.
You need to keep your hips in the middle. If your hip gets outside of either of those other two, then you are giving the pass. This is not specific to short guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9hKUjXkCq4
I play it all the time against big guys...constantly moving and changing the position to off balance them. If I have some variation where I have their collar and control their posture, I'll stay with it.
However, with something like double sleeve where there isn't good posture control, I will try to never let them get good enough balance to stand (push out a knee, etc).. but if they do, then I am ready to move into a sitting guard or dlr usually. I don't want to hold spider against a standing tall person. My window of opportunity is when they are attempting to stand otherwise I'm transitioning out.
Rock the Gaspare -mideastgrappler - Look into Andre Motta from Nova Uniao. He is a light guy who is short and does not have extreme flexibility along with having short legs. He doesn't just use spider guard, it is basically his "A" game. Different than Michael Langhi style spider guard for sure due to his limb lengthIsnt Langhi not very tall? Like 5'8"?
Langhi isn't that tall but his legs in proportion to his torso makes him just about average/little bit longer than average.
Compared to Andre Motta who has short legs in comparison to his body and isn't very tall to begin with, about 5'5/5'6
Here's a nice bailout that I got from a saulo video years ago, if you're too late against a taller person (he's managing to stand tall and your legs are struggling with reach and getting too high over you)...
Cross grip, under hook his leg on that side and almost go into oma plata against a standing opponent. However, drive your oma plata foot into his arm pit. You can place your other foot on top of his shoulder to hold it secure, or you can use it to do off balancing pendulum movment.... At this point you can go into oma, roll to turtle and sweep, drop into knee bars or single leg x, etc. I find that securing this position is much more effective that attempting to go directly into oma plata.