Weak side vs strong side

[Chris Leavelle]

Im weak on both sides so I guess Im good LOL

[Eddie Bravo]

Most boxers fight have a strong side and stick to it. You don't see baseball pitchers and football quarterbacks throwing with both arms. If Peyton Manning spent half of his life training his left arm chances are he wouldn't have made it to the pros.

What I've found is that you don't really need to train both sides of top game jiu jitsu. The person on top is generally the one who decides what side is gonna be played. But you do need to practice both sides when it comes to bottom game but not 50/50 especially if you're a dominant bottom fighter. Make sense?

Oh, and Marcelo never chokes anybody with his left arm and I never choke anybody with my right arm

[Dwight Roux]

If I am on the bottom practice both sides? And if I am on top pick a side? I am still confused though.

For example my twister setups are good on both sides as I have only been able to practice them in live rolling, the gyms I trained at did not use 10th planet and I would find myself on either side and just go for it. Now I hit them from everywhere and feel good doing it.

But when I am on the bottom I definitley have a weak side. Should I focus more on my weak side bottom game? Do I need to change my top game?

[Pete Daly]

Most boxers fight have a strong side and stick to it. You don't see baseball pitchers and football quarterbacks throwing with both arms. If Peyton Manning spent half of his life training his left arm chances are he wouldn't have made it to the pros.

What I've found is that you don't really need to train both sides of top game jiu jitsu. The person on top is generally the one who decides what side is gonna be played. But you do need to practice both sides when it comes to bottom game but not 50/50 especially if you're a dominant bottom fighter. Make sense?

Oh, and Marcelo never chokes anybody with his left arm and I never choke anybody with my right arm

Actually, it makes a lot of sense. I still have a hard time agreeing with everything just because conventional sports wisdom tells me that it's inherently good to master both sides. I can see a problem with reps, but I have a few moves down pat from both sides, and it helps me so much that I can pick apart my opponents' weakness because I don't have one in some moves. On the other hand, had I trained predominantly one side, would I be a better player right now?

This is going to require a lot more thought that I had initially intended, and probably a lot of experimentation. I had never considered having a "strong side" to be a good thing before, but now, I don't know...

Still, what if you could choke someone with your right arm? Wouldn't that help? What if you just happen to get an over/under on your weak side, because that's all you could grab at the time? Wouldn't it be awesome if you could choke someone with it?

Man disagreeing with the master is gonna give me some minus rep lol.

[Pete Daly]

If I am on the bottom practice both sides? And if I am on top pick a side? I am still confused though.

For example my twister setups are good on both sides as I have only been able to practice them in live rolling, the gyms I trained at did not use 10th planet and I would find myself on either side and just go for it. Now I hit them from everywhere and feel good doing it.

But when I am on the bottom I definitley have a weak side. Should I focus more on my weak side bottom game? Do I need to change my top game?

According to Eddie, yes to both questions. He's saying that the top player dictates which side the fight is going to take place, so just get really good at one side. And on bottom, you don't know which side the fight is going to take place, so you need to train both. It's a well thought-out and logical position.

[Aab]

Most boxers fight have a strong side and stick to it. You don't see baseball pitchers and football quarterbacks throwing with both arms. If Peyton Manning spent half of his life training his left arm chances are he wouldn't have made it to the pros.

What I've found is that you don't really need to train both sides of top game jiu jitsu. The person on top is generally the one who decides what side is gonna be played. But you do need to practice both sides when it comes to bottom game but not 50/50 especially if you're a dominant bottom fighter. Make sense?

Oh, and Marcelo never chokes anybody with his left arm and I never choke anybody with my right arm

Lol! I can't believe you make mention to Peyton Manning. I thought you hated sports or something. Hey as a Vol we love Peyton here in Tennessee. Certainly better than the shit teams we have now

[Ryan Cook]

This question makes me nervous because I could end up screwing myself If I train the wrong way.

[Brandon Mccaghren]

you know how your learning cycles go through peaks and valleys? i use those valleys as times to drill my weak side. it's like having new toys to play with.

[Brandon Mccaghren]

another theory i have is this:

i drill predominantly on my left side. i'm right handed. i figure that my right hand side, being my stronger side, can learn and adapt on the fly more easily than my left side. so by making my weak side my strong side, i improve my game more than if my weak side was my weak side.

in high school i was a basketball player. i remember hearing an interview with Magic Johnson where he said he practiced his ball handling so much with his left hand (his weak side) that eventually it became his strong side, which in turn made his right hand (strong side) that much more effective.

[JAnderson]

if your attacking (on top or on bottom) your are dictating which way the fight is going to be fought... because your forcing the other guy to defend. if he's always on the defensive, your chosing which side he has to defend. this gives you the abilitiy to constantly attack from your domitant side.