Your bottom game is your ability to attack from positions where your opponent is on top: guard, mount escape, bottom side control. A strong bottom game makes you dangerous even when behind.
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Control their sleeves, collar, or pants.
Use your feet and hips to create separation from their weight.
Break their posture and balance constantly.
From good guard, you're always one grip away from a sweep or submission.
Sweeps transition you to top position when your guard is being passed. Master the fundamental sweeps: scissor sweep, flower sweep, hip bump, and leg drag sweep.
Bottom positions require constant activity. Keep moving your hips, constantly threaten with sweeps/submissions, and never let them settle into heavy pressure.
A complete bottom game makes you unpassable and dangerous. Build it and you'll win matches from any position.
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Get Free Access βThis often happens when your hips are too close to your opponent's hips, preventing you from extending your legs to create leverage. To fix this, focus on actively shrimping your hips away from your opponent to create a pocket of space, then use the power generated by extending your legs against their hips or legs to initiate the sweep.
Against a heavier opponent, prioritize creating a strong frame with your forearms and elbows against their chest and shoulders to prevent them from collapsing your guard. Use your legs to establish a strong base, keeping your knees inside their hips and your feet on their hips or biceps, then actively shrimp and hip escape to re-establish your guard and off-balance them.
Your arms are likely too extended and not braced correctly. Instead of reaching with straight arms, keep your elbows tucked close to your body, creating a strong frame with your forearms and hands to block their hips and shoulders. Actively use your core and hip movement to create space and bring your knees back into a defensive guard position.
A complete bottom game system prioritizes control, submission threat, and positional advancement from the bottom. It emphasizes maintaining a strong base, creating off-balancing opportunities, and always looking to reverse or submit your opponent.
Effective transitions rely on understanding the relationships between guards and using hip movement, foot placement, and framing to create space and flow. Practicing seamless transitions from closed guard to open guards like butterfly or de la riva is crucial.
A strong bottom game opens up a variety of submissions, including triangles, armbars, omoplatas, and sweeps that can lead to dominant positions and subsequent submissions. The key is to attack opportunistically when your opponent makes a mistake or overcommits.