Tips for rolling vs. Smaller People

Helping you be a better training partner

Here’s some tips for rolling with people smaller than you in BJJ.

Start slow

I usually let the person I am rolling with set the pace. That’s even more important when rolling with someone smaller so they don’t get overwhelmed. Slow down and stick to the techniques you already know. It’s not the time to try out new moves.

Play mostly from bottom

This helps in a few different ways. When the bigger person is on top there’s usually a higher risk of injury, just from falling body weight on top of another person. Second, bigger people usually need to work on their guards more. So, you are developing a weakness while also being safe with your training partner.

Make it easy for your smaller training partners, start the round playing from guard.

Don’t put all your weight on them

If it’s a competition, go for it. Crush! But in training, if you have more than 10-15 pounds over your opponent be respectful with your weight. You don’t need to hurt anyone in training. Against smaller people I usually avoid position like side control and mount in favor of back control or just playing guard.

Check your ego

BJJ is a lot more fun if you check your ego. I used to think I have to win every single roll no matter who it was against. It made BJJ training stressful and less fun. Now I really don’t care if I lose in training. I’m going to have a million sparring rounds, and I am bound to lose some of them.

Know that you are going to lose and that’s ok. Sometimes I will let people practice their offence on me. Why? It makes me better at defence and it gives my students more confidence when they are going for attacks. Everyone has an ego, and you will have to check it on occasion.

Practice defense/escapes

Defense is another major weakness for most grapplers. If you watch the greats in the sport like Roger Gracie or Gordon Ryan, they will start a lot of their sparring rounds in terrible positions like mount or back. They do that because it makes their defense and escapes sharp. The more you practice the better you will get.

I used to be terrible at escaping mount. At some point I realized it was because I never practiced escaping from mount. I would fight crazy hard to not let my guard get passed. My guard was pretty good, so I didn’t get mounted very often. But when I did get mounted it was very bad news. Now I have a lot more confidence escaping mount because sometimes in training I let people mount me just so I can escape and leg lock them.

Communication

“Hey, was that ok?’ A lot of times people don’t talk to each other. Just ask your training partner if you should up the intensity or ask if they could slow down. Talk before the roll and tell you’re your concerns ahead of time. “Hey, my left ankle is a little sore, I rolled it yesterday. Is it okay if we don’t go for leg locks this round?”  Communication is key!

Please follow the writer Josh Presley on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok & Facebook @PresleyBJJ for daily BJJ content, and tune into The Great Canadian BJJ Show Podcast on Spotify or the podcast app. PresleyBJJ.com