If you have ever had to face a tall opponent on the mat, you undoubtedly felt intimidated. The opponent towers over you, you feel dwarfed in comparison and those long legs make it hard for you to pass guard. So what on earth can you do about that?
Far from being a disadvantage, being tall and lanky gives you plenty of advantages over your opponent. It’s hard for the shorter rival to pass guard, maneuver around you, or make a sudden move. From your vantage point, you have a clear view of the field, and can predict the next move of the opponent as they stare at your belt and figure out what to do next.
But since BJJ is not about fighting a smaller opponent, rather fighting a taller one and coming out victorious, we’ll look at things from both sides. From the little person’s view as well as the taller guy just to give you a clear picture. And we’re being literal here when we say little person. You can be small in size facing a larger opponent, yet BJJ teaches you techniques to control that opponent’s movement and render them harmless. So how about if you’re grappling with a tall opponent on the map? Do you need to change your strategy? You bet.
Overarching Strategy
Let’s keep in mind that once you get the opponent off their feet, that advantage becomes diminished. On the floor, you’re both equal. It’s true, their long legs are still a fortress that you will need to work around to conquer. But you just need to focus on bringing the game down to the mat if you want to increase your chances of getting a submission.
Whether you’re the taller player on the mat or the shorter one, you can benefit from the overarching strategy and take full advantage of it. It involves three aspects.
Top or Bottom
Being the tall guy in the room means you have great advantage when it comes to grappling. Unless your height doesn’t come buttressed with equal width, your shorter opponent will not have any trouble lifting you off your feet and slamming you on the floor like a WWE stunt. But if you have the bulk, then you can make grappling a nightmare for the short guy.
Another advantage to being tall in grappling is that you attack from the top not from the bottom. Your arms are your best weapons both for attack and defense. Coincidently your arms are what you use and rely most on in grappling. So in a way you have a great advantage here attacking from the top. But what about the other guy?
If you are the shorter opponent then you need to reverse that strategy and attack from the bottom. This means paradoxically that you try to get into a top position. I’m thinking a scarf hold, or a side control. Why? Because then the tall guy’s advantage evaporates once you pin them in either of those positions. Neither their long arms nor tree-trunk legs will be of use to them anymore.
Submission or Position
As the tall player, your goal is to get to submission straight away. Not as easy as it sounds, I know, but remember that you have great advantage on your feet on the mat facing a shorter player. The longer you delay your move toward submission, the more time you give the opponent to work out a strategy to topple you off your high advantage and level the playing field, so to speak.
So what if you are the short player? In that case, you need to opt for the other strategy. Work to gain a position advantage first and then use that advantage to get a submission. Again, it’s important to take the game to the ground as quickly as you can and from there decide the best way to get into a top position that takes the opponent’s height out of the equation.
Pin or Spin
The tall guy has long legs. Those legs make it hard for the other player to try to pass guard. So while the opponent is busy finding an opening, you can use that advantage to get a submission and win the game right then and there. Meanwhile you need to watch out for what the shorter player might come up with. Namely, the pin or spin tactics.
Pin or spin are the tactics you can use to neutralize the tall player’s height advantage. Pin here refers to pinning their legs. The idea is by pinning the long legs, you’re using the opponent’s height against them. Think of the long distance between the feet and the hips. It makes it easy for you to force them off balance and take the game to a new level on the ground. When those heavy legs crumble to the floor, you not only bring the opponent down to your level, you actually open up an opportunity for a good follow up. A grip of the knees and spinning puts you exactly where you want to be. On top.
Hips and Toes
The idea that tall players have long legs can work both ways. They can use it to their advantage to keep attacking from the top and only go to the floor when they see their way clear to submission and the door is open. But then again it can be used to their disadvantage. That’s when the short player uses the pin and spin tactic to sweep the tall player off their feet.
That’s where the hips and toes theory comes in. Here both BJJ players can benefit from this concept widely used and practiced in wrestling. If you noticed, wrestlers like to keep their hips low while their toes do most of the work. Keeping your hips low allows you to have more stability on your feet and as the opponent uses their grappling skills and body weight to force you down, your well-grounded hips keep you steady and balanced.
The toes on the other hand, or rather feet, are the main contact point with the floor. The tall player avoids letting their shins, knees, or thighs touch the floor. Because in that case, all that heigh advantage is gone and the other player starts to build momentum. So while the short player does everything they can to turn it into a ground game, the tall player stubbornly stays on their feet.
Knee Action
Knees are important in MMA in general and BJJ in particular. How to use them or fend yourself against them depends on whether you’re the tall or short guy. The tall player is definitely on the defensive side against the knees. The space between the shoulders are hips is fair game for the short player to use their knees to pin down and control the tall opponent. If done correctly, the short player can end up with a huge positional advantage.
Which is exactly what every short player should aim for. That advantage doesn’t come easy. And of course you’ll have to take the lanky guy off their feet first. How else are you going to bring your knees up to their waist or back? But once you send them tumbling to the mat, you can follow up with your knees. In many cases, this can be a turning point in the game and the tall guy will remain on the defensive until you score a win.
Bottom Moves
Now comes the interesting part. You’re tall and lanky. You have been keeping the shorter player busy and with your grappling techniques and height advantage you finally went to the floor with a huge advantage both positionally and tactically. Now you can use your weight to control the opponent, frustrate them, and bring this game to its logical conclusion with a resounding submission. What could go wrong, right? Well, as it turns out, the short guy might have a few tricks up their sleeve.
Even from a huge disadvantage as being at the bottom pinned under a hulking tall player, the short guy isn’t exactly defenseless. Not by a long chance. Otherwise, what’s the point of being a BJJ player if you can’t defend yourself even against a larger opponent. So it’s time to make some bottom moves to turn the tables on the taller player.
The first thing you need to do is create some space between you and the opponent. This space will become valuable as you work out a strategy to wriggle out of the tight spot you find yourself in. While the opponent will try to keep you close to control your movement, you’ll need to give yourself room. Use your legs and hips to push yourself off the mat. This will make it harder for the tall player to maintain their advantage. From there you can launch an attack for submission from the bottom. Now the path to victory is clear and near.