I have been reviewing deep half for the last few weeks. Almost took it completely out on my game but it is so necessary. If you’re not fast with it you can get smeshed pretty easy and/or submitted. Hide the outside arm under opponents leg. Also get used to various entries like building to a high half guard and then diving in or lockdown whip up to deep half. Keep moving underneath, work on penduluming the legs as well as hip and shoulder shrimping. As soon as you're stationary it gets difficult to get them moving again, especially those big boys.
I like Half guard, and have been using it for a while, so this is one thing that was something I had tried but kinda gave up on. Now working with a new team, I am being told that it will fit in with many of the things that I already do, like you mentioned the lockdown whip is one. I have also been working on entry from getting butterfly swept, and diving in. It is fun to play with new ideas. EVEN though I am getting smashed while trying.
"Hide the outside arm under opponents leg. Also get used to various entries like building to a high half guard and then diving in..."
Very good advice about hiding the arm, although you'll start doing this automatically when people start grabbing it every time.
I can't emphasize building to some sort of a high half guard/dog fight enough: you have to get them to raise their hips for you to enter underneath. This is the #1 concept I emphasize for my students who are new to deep half, after failing miserably enough times with other concepts.
The first 3 sweeps I ever learned from there still work pretty well for me... over the top, out the back, single leg wrestle up. I like to spam that series a lot. Dodge guillotines with strict head placement. Always pummel and never concede any sort of undertook on our far arm. Tuck our chin. I try to enter the position any time the dude is trying to mount me by hugging the leg I wanna deep half. Very basic but simple and effective deep half game. If I can trap an arm of theirs, the sweeps are even easier.
It's not very nice, but it is trivial to dislocate your partner's patella, with the barest gesture, once you have their leg locked out.
Saying that, it is logical to punch the deep half guard player's face,
And not to hit them, nicely.
Before he or she can dislocate the patella, or perform Thor's hammer submission, from there.
"It's not very nice, but it is trivial to dislocate your partner's patella, with the barest gesture, once you have their leg locked out. Saying that, it is logical to punch the deep half guard player's face, And not to hit them, nicely. Before he or she can dislocate the patella, or perform Thor's hammer submission, from there."
I think I am going to tell Professor Geery this advice Sunday. I will make sure he knows who it is from!! LOL, He is the one that is pushing me to try to add this more to my game.
"I think I am going to tell Professor Geery this advice Sunday. I will make sure he knows who it is from!! LOL, He is the one that is pushing me to try to add this more to my game."
I was not contradicting your Professor's advice to you.
Deep half is a very valid path to take when option is given to you, even if you just use it as a transition to back / standup or just to off blance to create space. I feel pretty safe in deep half, but I never head to it as my main path, but its nice when others paths are being shutdown.
I have found, the last few practices when we are live rolling, it has been my goal to get to a good solid deep half. I have been able to get there a hand full of times, but am unable to complete anything into my advantage. I will keep on trying.
To get you going, I like to turn toward them bring the free knee up into their hip \ stomach and use that push them away from my head. This makes the underhooked knee very light.
Deep half is something I adapted already at white belt... Not sure exactly how, since my instructor didn't teach it nor did anybody at my gym particulary play it back then, it just felt natural to pull myself under a person, laying on my back using their tigh as a pillow. Comfy! (Unless you get crossfaced or punched.)
I like to use a longer range guard first (SLX, Z half etc.) but if they leak, the passer has to deal with my deep half next, unless they're very good at avoiding it. It's nice to have a short range "backup" guard if you're about to get passed. It's also the perfect guard to escape to from under mount, back control etc.
Honed basics work for a long time. As Mr. Garrett said, you need to keep the opponent unbalanced all the time, similar to X-Guard where you're also directly under their hips, so that they can't get stable and start working their attacks. It's almost stupid easy to sweep people who don't have much experience dealing with the deep half. That said, good people who know it well... still mostly basics but timing, unbalancing and options pay a much bigger role.
The Homer Simpson / turning to single leg is a good starting point once you can get into position, along with unbalancing / threatening a sweep to both main directions.
"Deep half is something I adapted already at white belt... Not sure exactly how, since my instructor didn't teach it nor did anybody at my gym particulary play it back then, it just felt natural to pull myself under a person, laying on my back using their tigh as a pillow. Comfy! (Unless you get crossfaced or punched.)
I like to use a longer range guard first (SLX, Z half etc.) but if they leak, the passer has to deal with my deep half next, unless they're very good at avoiding it. It's nice to have a short range "backup" guard if you're about to get passed. It's also the perfect guard to escape to from under mount, back control etc.
Honed basics work for a long time. As Mr. Garrett said, you need to keep the opponent unbalanced all the time, similar to X-Guard where you're also directly under their hips, so that they can't get stable and start working their attacks. It's almost stupid easy to sweep people who don't have much experience dealing with the deep half. That said, good people who know it well... still mostly basics but timing, unbalancing and options pay a much bigger role.
The Homer Simpson / turning to single leg is a good starting point once you can get into position, along with unbalancing / threatening a sweep to both main directions."
I hope to take deep half all the way to black belt one day as well. My go to guard
Best deep half is the one where you have at least one frame to control the distance with e.g. Ryan Hall's usage of hook(s) under the shin. The "classical" modes of deep half use "pulling" grips and while you can still push on the top person, that's not as good distance managment as it is in case of most other "types" of guards.
This in turn means that it gives the top person chances to base and sit on you and push back etc etc addressing the materialising sweep and back-take attempts as scrambles from bottom=inferior position and this can negate and neutralise many reversals.
I don't use deep half very often but when do it works as long as stay in postion to not get smashed, but if you've grabbed concepts of balance and weight distribution it can be fun for sweeps and what not especially if other person isn't familure with it throws them off gaurd
