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The best BJJ players have a game plan — a coherent strategy that connects their preferred positions, submissions, and transitions into a system that works under pressure. Here's how to build yours.
Start Training Smarter →A BJJ game plan is your personal system — the coherent set of positions, techniques, and strategies you use when you don't have time to think. It's the answer to "what do I do from standing?", "what do I do when I'm on top?", and "what do I do when I'm on the bottom?" A good game plan has answers for every situation that doesn't require mental deliberation — it's been drilled until it's automatic.
Without a game plan, you're reactive — you do whatever occurs to you in the moment, which changes every roll. With a game plan, you're proactive — you create situations rather than respond to them, and you get to practice your strengths over and over rather than training at random.
Start with your current game. Ask yourself: What positions do I feel comfortable in? What submissions have I been finishing in rolling? What situations feel natural versus awkward? These are the seeds of your game plan — the things you can do with less conscious effort, because they've already started to become automatic.
Review your training journal if you've been keeping one. AIBJJ's logging system helps you identify patterns over time — which techniques appear repeatedly in your notes as successful versus which rarely come up. The data tells you where your game naturally lives.
Use AIBJJ to Analyze Your Game →Your guard is the foundation of your bottom game. Pick one and commit to developing it deeply rather than dabbling in many. Guard options for a starting game plan:
Your choice should consider your body type, athleticism, training context (gi vs no-gi), and honestly, what excites you enough to spend thousands of reps drilling it. You won't develop a guard you don't enjoy working on.
From your primary guard, develop 2-3 connected submission threats. The connections matter more than the individual submissions. From closed guard, a simple chain: hip bump sweep → when they post a hand, kimura → when they pull the arm back, armbar → when they defend the armbar, triangle. Each defense feeds the next attack. Your opponent is always reacting to you, never getting to play offense.
Strong guard submission chains for different guards:
A complete game plan addresses both top and bottom game. From top, you need: a passing system (2-3 connected passes), a dominant control position (side control or mount preference), and a submission chain from that position. Example top game plan: over-under pass → side control → arm triangle or kimura → mount → rear naked or armbar from mount. Each position connects to the next.
Every match starts standing. Your game plan needs a standup answer: guard pull, takedown, or clinch-to-takedown. Don't leave this to improvisation — it's the first thing that happens every roll. Even a simple game plan (pull to butterfly guard) is better than no plan at all. Ideally, have both a takedown option and a guard pull option so you can adapt to the opponent's approach.
Your game plan needs not just attack paths but defensive answers. What happens when someone passes your guard? What's your plan from bottom side control? From back mount? These defensive answers complete the game plan — they prevent your system from having exploitable gaps. Build at least one reliable escape from every major bad position before considering your game plan complete.
A game plan only works if it's been drilled to automaticity. Once you've sketched your plan, drill the individual techniques and chains in positional sparring. Set up specific rounds to practice your plan against increasing resistance. Over time, the plan becomes automatic — you stop thinking about what to do and start just doing it.
Use AIBJJ's training journal to track your game plan development — noting when specific elements are working, when chains are connecting, and when you're being taken out of your game plan. This reflection loop accelerates the game development process dramatically.
For competition, your game plan becomes even more specific: tailored to the opponent, the ruleset, and the stakes. Research your opponent if possible. Identify their tendencies and connect them to your game plan — if they like guard pulling, prepare your passing; if they pressure pass, strengthen your guard retention. Compete with an intention, not just hope.
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