Coach my roll
Get coached on your top half guard from the top
Reading about top half guard only gets you so far. Upload a roll or a competition match and the professor watches it back with you — it finds every top half guard exchange, marks the moment it went wrong, and tells you what to drill next.
Free, no account needed. Your footage stays private.
The chapter
Half guard is one trapped leg and a whole fight over what happens above it. Coaches keep saying the same thing about the bottom: the main game runs through the underhook — win it and you have sweeps, back takes, and wrestle-ups; lose it and you're just holding a leg while they pass.
The bottom position really has two modes with opposite jobs: the underhook closes distance and takes you into their base, the knee shield makes distance and keeps them off you. Knowing which mode you're in matters more than any individual technique.
For the top player the position is a pinning problem before it's a passing problem. A half guard player on their side is dangerous; the same player with their shoulders flat is mostly just waiting. Everything the top player does — crossface, underhook, hip pressure — serves that one goal first.
Playing top
The pass is a pinning problem: flatten their shoulders, win the crossface-underhook pair, and only then pick mount or the sideways pass. A loose top half guard is where their sweeps and leg attacks come from.
Head on their shoulder, palm turned in, and drive the crossface until their far shoulder touches the mat. Their game runs on being on their side; the crossface deletes that.
WhenFirst thing after you land in top half — before hunting any pass, take away the side position it would need to stop.
Charge your chest forward to close the distance and thread the far-side underhook, so they can't build frames or wrestle up into you.
WhenThe instant their own underhook attempt stalls — whoever's arm ends up inside decides whether this position becomes a pass or a sweep.
With the upper body pinned, work your trapped knee loose and slide it across their belly line into mount, keeping the crossface heavy the whole way.
WhenThey turn in to fight your crossface — their leg lock on your knee loosens exactly when their hips turn, and mount skips the side control argument entirely.
Sprawl your hips away from their hooks, switch your base into a T against them, and drag the trapped leg free toward side control — or slice the knee through if the lane opens.
WhenThe knee won't come free for mount — instead of wrestling their leg lock head-on, change the angle and take the pass sideways.
Also worth knowing
- Darce when their elbow floatsWhenThey shoot their underhook with the elbow open — your arm threads over the top and the darce is there.
- Kimura without passingWhenTheir far arm reaches or hangs loose — the figure four locks up from the top before the legs are even cleared.
- Camp and drain themWhenThey won't concede an inch — heavy hips and patience turn top half into a place they exhaust themselves.
Why you keep failing here
“They keep wrestling up or attacking my legs from bottom half.”
WhyA loose, upright top half. Without forward pressure, their underhook and your free ankle are both on offer at the same time.
FixStay compact and commit your weight forward — every wrestle-up and leg entry needs the space you're donating by sitting tall.
“I can never flatten them out — they stay on their side all round.”
WhyYour crossface isn't doing anything. Even elite passers stall in half guard when the crossface fails; the analysis of Gordon Ryan's early matches says it in exactly those words.
FixRebuild the crossface as a technique, not a habit: head to their shoulder, palm in, and turn their face away until the far shoulder is pinned.
“Their half butterfly hook launches me every time I settle my weight.”
WhyA rigid, planted leg is a handle. Braced weight is exactly the load the hook sweep is built to lift.
FixRelax the hooked leg the moment they elevate and turn your knee into their foot to strip the hook before you drive back in.
Your game
Where does Top Half Guard show up in your rolls?
Upload a roll or a match and the professor finds every top half guard moment in your own footage, then coaches you through what went wrong — or just tell it what's going wrong and get pointed at the fix.
Prefer your own assistant? Use the professor in ChatGPT or Claude
The map
Connections describe what coaches teach across 2,044 indexed videos — not what's objectively best. A row backed by one video is weak evidence; ✓ marks connections taught by 2+ independent channels.