Drilling this way helped me win no gi Pans 3 times

/in , , , /by

Well I’m back from sunny Costa Rica and enjoying the snowy Kentucky.

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Figured we’d start the week off with a little Q&A from our friend Cole. Here’s his question.

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Hey chewy got a question for you. As a new white belt when you’re drilling would you recommend training both sides equally or do you think it’s better to learn a particular move on your strong side and then on your weaker side?

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Thank you so much.

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Good question! And I think this one could have applications for higher belts as well.

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Personally, having options from both sides has been one of the most useful changes that’s made my BJJ more effective over the years. In fact, all 3 of my No Gi Pans championship medals are, at least in part, a result of this.

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Let’s jump into it.

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When I first started training BJJ wayyy back in 2003 (before YouTube or Facebook) my coach told us all to train to 1 side only. To develop 1 side 100% rather than both sides and being 50/50.

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And I followed this focus for years and developed techniques to my dominant side only.

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It worked really well. . . until it didn’t.
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Eventually I started struggling to pass and attack to my strong side. I also had a guy crush me in a match by forcing half guard to my weak side.
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So I started dabbling with my non-dominant side, and after a couple of years it became my best side.

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I’m right handed, as are most people.

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This means most people have the same dominant side. In the gym they use techniques to the same side. This develops the sensitivity and muscle memory to 1 side.

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By building up my weak side I was able to take advantage of other people’s weaknesses. I was attacking the side that most people didn’t.

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And even if the technique didn’t work it would help set up my strong side attacks.

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So here’s my advice.
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Long term I’d encourage you to drill to both sides.

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That said, in the beginning when you’re learning a technique I’d stick to 1 side first. Get the feel for the technique. This way when you switch to the other side you’ll be able to know what the technique should feel like.
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Start with one side and once you are able to do the technique smoothly without much thought, then start drilling to the other side.

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Hope that helps!

-Chewy