corollary to the other thread. Please list any setups for the top wrist lock
Best one for me is to drive point of elbow into their face which brings up the hand, grab that hand then drive the elbow into the ribs to get under to frame up. Most of the time, the elbow to the face alone gets the job done without the rib dig.
I do what psychoslasher does, and also the move Cecchine shows where the opponent has his arms tucked into his chest and instead of trying to push his arms straight down the mat, you push it up towards his head and when he resists you redirect it down. That's more of a sporting, friendly way of getting it. In competition or a real fight, go with with the elbow to the face then the prying against the rib cage (i.e. ripping him). It hurts and if you do it right, you've got a really good shot of getting the lock.
Also be sure to pull YOUR elbows in tight once you get it framed up, that takes away all the slack gives you so much more power and then you can use your body to wrench his arm: I find this necessary against guys who are really strong.
Easy to snatch it from north/south (he's face up) when the bottom man pushes to escape the smother, then grab his wrist and transition to head & arm or crossbody and finish it v1 style.
In my opinion, keeping the elbows tight is the key to making the TWL a high percentage hold. If you pinch the elbows once you have it framed up, their chances of escaping have just been decreased significantly.
You may want to do (if you use the frame-up version) exactly what Josh does and scissor (or otherwise incapicitate by laying on it, etc.) the opponent's other arm as well.
Removing the other arm from play, as Jake suggests, is especially easy if you transition from the head-and-arm (scarfhold) position. As you switch your hips and return to cross body, his other arm be stretched up around his head, giving you a window during which it's your two arms vs. his one arm.
Here's one Michael Jenn teaches: from the crossbody, when he pushes up in your face, grab the wrist as normal, but then instead of framing up immediately, use your other hand to grab his bicep, near the elbow. So, if you're attacking his left arm, you have your left hand on his wrist and your right arm cupping the top of his bicep. Now you push down on his wrist WHILE pulling his bicep towards his waist. The idea is that the man cannot resist against two different directions at once, and - ultimately - neither one. This will get his arm down to the mat in the correct, bent position. It's pretty smooth, I must say. If you mix this set up with rips, and the circling motion Cecchine shows, then you're going to get that arm down unless he's just a lot better than you.
Hmmmmm?
That sounds interesting. I'll have to give that one a try and see how it works.