Ankle Pick from Wrestling for BJJ

Ankle Pick from Wrestling for BJJ is a transition between related positions built around a handful of repeatable controls. You are on top of a front headlock, with one arm around the opponent's head and the other controlling the near triceps, his head below your chest. Another common starting shape: the opponent has a collar tie on you with your lead hand, you hold a collar tie back, and their lead leg is accessible. The ideas that hold it together are picks live and die on timing the load and the pick is a finish, not the off-balance — the upper body breaks structure, the hand only collects the foot.

The ankle pick chain is a sequence of small controls, not one athletic burst. Walk your hips off line so you are perpendicular to the opponent's body. Reach the free hand under to the inside of the near ankle and lift. Drive the head and shoulder down and across with the headlock to spike him to his hip. Peel their wrist down with one hand and circle toward their lead leg. Drop to the same-side knee while pulling their head toward their own knee. Tomahawk-chuck them forward with the inside hand as the other hand collapses on the ankle. Use short, sharp snaps with the collar tie to make the opponent post the lead foot for support. Mix in fakes to the opposite side so he loads weight forward to recover. You have stepped off line and dumped the opponent flat by lifting his near ankle while the front headlock pins his upper body down.

Watch for these mistakes: Dropping to the knee but leaving the head up, breaking the angle of the pick. Reaching for the ankle before the opponent's weight has shifted to the targeted leg. Trying to pick without using the collar tie to off-balance first. The high-percentage version of ankle pick from wrestling for bjj is the one you can still chain when the next position is contested.