Drilling for Success

The great Bruce Lee once said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” The same can be applied to jiu-jitsu. The more you drill the same move (correctly), the more you build it into your muscle memory which will allow you to be able to execute it to perfection in a live situation without having to think about it beforehand.

While this may seem like common sense to most of us – the intricacies of drilling are not so much. What I mean by this is, as an upper belt that teaches at least one class or more per week, I encounter the same issues with my students’ drilling – skipping necessary steps (which are key details to the move), drilling the move too quickly (hence skipping steps), and the inability to fix mistakes after it has been pointed out to them. I always tell them at the end of class: Drilling with bad technique will only make you good at a bad technique.

The top jiu-jitsu athletes such as the Mendes brothers and Andre Galvao, all spend hundreds or even thousands of hours of drilling and practicing techniques outside of class. You never see them live spar and try to figure out key details mid roll. The same goes for other professional athletes. In order to perfect their craft, they drill, drill, drill.

They key to drilling, however, lies in your ability to drill with intent and to perfection. Here are some details to keep in mind when drilling:

  • Count the steps for the technique and repeat it in your head (or out loud) when drilling. Your instructor should do a pretty good job breaking down the technique into steps already so this shouldn’t be too difficult. By repeating it to yourself, you are less likely to forget key details such as where your hand placement should be or what you should be grabbing when transitioning between steps.

  • Go S-L-O-W. If you are unfamiliar with a technique and are doing it for the first time, remember that it is NOT A RACE to see who gets it done the fastest. Often times we get excited to drill and forget small details that make the biggest difference. Once you get the technique down (and you remember ALL the steps), pick up the pace.

  • Ask questions. If you get stuck and forget what to do, ASK your instructor for help. Ignorance is not bliss. At least not with BJJ. By showing your instructor what you understand of the drill, they are better to help show you what you are missing and explain where you went wrong.

  • Consistency is key. Just because you drill it once during class for 15 minutes does not mean you are a pro at it. Drill it during open mat, after live rolling, at home, etc. Aim to get 10,000 reps in. That may sound ridiculous but if you are consistent in going to class, you can be consistent in drilling as well.

Drilling has many benefits. Not only does it consistently keep you goal oriented, it is also there for you when you are injured and cannot give 100% to your training. Each time you drill, have it revolve around one position with 2 to 3 variations. Visualize what you want to accomplish or what submission or sweep you want to land. This should carry well into competition, as you have gone over each aspect of a match and you should have the confidence that you can attain your goals during that match. With hours of organized (and consistent) drilling sessions of specific techniques, your game WILL improve.