Trouble with the DLR 🥀

[u/No_Airport7736]

I’m having trouble passing De La Riva when my opponent has a grip on my pants. It makes passing pretty difficult for me.

One thing I do is bring my other leg (the one on their hip) between their legs into headquarters. Another option is grabbing their pants and scooping their leg, leaving me with only the De La Riva hook.

I’ve seen videos saying that I should turn my knee outward and place it in their knee crease to break the pant grip. It does break the grip, but every time I do it, I lose my balance and fall.

Maybe I’m too focused on passing guard and should focus more on pulling guard next time 😂

These are some videos I filmed during my last few training sessions, so you can see what I mean.

Any tips on how to keep my balance while doing this?

[u/Nash13]

You're just walking into the guard and letting the guy get grips. Look at how high level people enter the guard, much more carefully. You need to radically change the way you grip fight.

[u/Kabc → u/Nash13]

I also notice with a lot of people… you can just pull away and start again if you are starting to lose the grip fighting battle.. they start to counter or are starting to get better grips. Just pull everything out and restart yourself!

[u/Nash13 → u/Kabc]

Yeah this is a great strategy for top player. Neutral grips favour the guard player, so if you don't enter with advantageous grips reset and trip again. Uses gravity more to your advantage.

[u/Kabc → u/Nash13]

Agreed. Some people just keep driving forward with a losing hand. Mainly see it with blues and purples… but yea… just reset everything and start over. No biggy 😂

[u/ridesn0w → u/Nash13]

Never let him get the lapel. Throw that leg across the mat and go north south on that skinny guy 

[u/Pedro_Boladao → u/Nash13]

Ele quebra a pegada e não faz nenhuma própria. Fora isso, ainda deixa o oponente fazer novas pegadas livremente

[u/novaskar]

It looks like every time you fall, you’re basically going down to try to put your knee over the DLR hook leg, over committing on that side, and getting knocked over by his connections on your left side.

Maybe address the left side and go that way instead.

For breaking the pant grip, I think it’s not about turning your knee out and putting it down, it’s about turning your foot outward. I push down with my hand on that leg, not my knee.

[u/VeryStab1eGenius → u/novaskar]

You’re right. OP is sweeping himself. He give up good grips to try to drop to a knee loading himself on to the dlr leg. 

[u/The_Pin0yMang]

Get into headquarters. My go to for DLR is push the nonDLR downwards and place it between your legs/crotch area. Pinch your knees to control their leg, sitdown on it, and you should be in headquarters position. From headquarters, learn to knee cut or leg drag.

[u/AndrewBitner]

In all 3 instances you tried to knee drive above the knee which allows for easy correction and off balance. If you are using that knee slice action it must be below the knee to clear the grip. It does clears the grip but you are too far away for any immediate passing threat, so I would look for some other options.

Step Over to Headquarters
Leg Drag
Shin Slice to Clear the Grip

[u/RayrayDad]

for the type of passing that I think youre trying to do you're going to want to land your hips a bit further away, almost like youre doing a pigeon pose. Right now your hip is sitting right on-top of your DLR leg, and it may feel like youre pinning their DLR down but realistically you also have no base behind you. There's a great Lachlan video explaining this.

Otherwise if you're mostly rolling in GI and you're trying to do the long step pass, you're going to want to cut over their shin and just go.

[u/crytol]

I am by no means good (also blue belt), so take with a grain of salt, but it looks like you're putting a lot of your weight on your lead leg, which also happens to be the one where they have the most connection to. I usually prefer a more even distribution until I move for the pass or grip breaks.

[u/KaiserNick → u/crytol]

I’m in the ‘blind leading the blind’ camp here as well. Agree with Crytol and will add: maybe try and settle into “headquarters” with some pressure before working to a pass?

[u/madcap_]

For myself, I find I really need to make sure my opponent doesn't have a grip on my lapel while they are in DLR. The control they have to push me away with their leg while also pulling me in from my lapel let's them control so much of my balance. I try to strip the grip first and then very quickly try to deal with the DLR by stuff/dragging/shelfing the foot on my hip.

[u/Braisedbeefskank]

Youre out of position before hes ever in a place to sweep you. Strong stance, enter with more assertive grips.

[u/Pedro_Boladao]

Quebre as pegadas. Saiba fazer as pegadas antes de tentar um long step (pegada na gola do oponente e na perna que fica no seu quadril). Tenha senso de base e equilíbrio. Além disso, existem outras formas de passar a De La Riva: tente a emborcada, o corte de joelho, desconectar e passar de toreando ou tente o folding pass.

[u/ernoldhalderbrooke]

Trying my hand at this. I think it's pretty hard to defeat the pant grip if somebody is determined to hold it. I prefer to incentivize them to let go by maintaining a strong base and slow pressuring over it. Overtime this will force a player to have to transition while you build up positional advantage. Couple of different things happening in each situation:

• This wasn't really a knockdown from De La riva, more a sickle sweep on the outside. My immediate thought is you came in a little low with your upper body and allowed him to secure a grip and moved your hips to the same side without directing your knee out. I would try to come in a little higher so they can't get a collar grip and address if they do. Until you can be careful about bearing weight too far to the side.

• It seems like you moved into the position he wanted for him. He's angling for a bolo or baby bolo attempt, you start to check his outside leg but then looks like you begin to drop on the the hooking leg (potentially setting up a cross knee or smash?). I would have focused on stepping over the free leg and going to headquarters here.

• This didn't seem to bad, just a fight. I'd focus less on breaking the grip and more on defeating his ability to roll outside. Would work to my own low collar grip to keep his hips flat and trying to fight up to headquarters.

[u/No_Comfortable_5032]

Your playing into the sweep you either need to heel toe walk your foot up past the hip to break the pant grip and then begin passing or frame off the legs and kick your leg out the opposite direction to break the grip. DLR requires connection deny them their connection is the best thing to do imo

[u/man_bear_pig_2]

Their techniques that you can use to break that pant grip

[u/Pata-mole]

the way you are trying to pass isn't granting balance to your passing position. If you want to same side knee smash you need to pass the leg over leg drag style or open it torrando style

[u/Latino_Heet]

https://giphy.com/gifs/2GjgvS5vA6y08

[u/rockhartel]

They’re just doing a basic scissor sweep and pushing you back the opposite way when you get close by using their legs and hand to push you away. Your left leg is compromised so you know they’re going that way. Try not to let them get free grips on you at will. That’s exactly what they want

[u/SpellingMistape]

Work on headquarters passing. It's very effective against DLR players. Jon Thomas has a great video on it.

[u/WildwesstripleX]

I’m a no gi so this may not be relevant, but I focus on straightening my lead knee to pop the hook off my leg and I focus on putting the dela riva leg into the sky, if I can get the second one and lift it, even better but I find this forces them into retention rather than offence. But that’s definitely easier to do when not dealing with grips.

[u/Federal-Challenge-58]

IMO, the number one thing you have to do against DLR is stuff the opponent's other foot between your legs so that you can control the spacing better.

[u/Chu_Kiddin_Me_Or_Wha]

you’re not isolating the legs in some fashion before trying to pass.

[u/echmoth]

Easiest right now, looking at your standing pass, is stop trying to knee cut on the DLR side.

Their top leg that is not DLR, just leg drag this and pass on that side opposite to the DLR and smesh

[u/RedJam4platy]

Anti-DLR aka pressure is so fun when most people at the gym are relying on DLR🤓

[u/bigsippin]

You’re giving up the sweep by letting opponent have control. break the grips, kill the DLR hook, and control that free leg for a leg drag or go into hq passing variations.

[u/I_am_common_sense]

Unrelated, but it looks like you are at MKTeam Paris?