Dealing with younger opponents in jiu-jitsu

Dealing with younger opponents in jiu-jitsu

Dealing with younger opponents in jiu-jitsu is one of the hardest things for older BJJ practitioners to overcome. Father time catches up with all of us at some point. We become less athletic, are dealing with more injuries and don’t have to strength or endurance we used to. Older practitioners can’t deal with the physical attriubutes of their younger opponents like flexibilty, endurance and their speed and athleticism.

What do I do?  

Do not try to keep up with their speed or athelticism. That is where they are comforatble. That the match into your realm. SLOW THINGS DOWN. Use your positions wisely. If on bottom, play guards that slow the actions down like closed guard. Attack the neck. Remain calm. Slowing down the pace of the match is essential for you to have the advantage and take away their strengths.

Other options

If you are playing the top game, using pressure passing will bring you the same benfits as a closed guard from the bottom. Pressure passing can be slow and methodical  and will forces your opponent into mistakes. Futhermore, taking them out of their comfort zone will cause them to lose some of their technique. Get yourself into positions where you can use your best submissions.

Antoher thing to learn to combat the younger opponet is stopping inverted guards. We suggest learning Estima locks to make them wary of putting that foot they need in your hip to go inverted.

Finally, these are just some simple tips to help our older pracitioners based on questions I receive the most. We need to keep our elder teammates up to speed. Like the old saying goes “Beware of the old guy in a sport where the majority of young guys quit in the first 6 months of training”