How to Fix Holes in Your BJJ Game Before They Become Bad Habits

You know that sinking feeling. You get swept from half guard by the same pass—again. You tap to the same choke every session. You miss the same guard recovery window every single time your training partner starts to pass. It’s frustrating, right?

The difference between a one-off mistake and a true hole in your game? Repetition. If the same problem keeps catching you in live rolling, it’s a weakness that needs a real fix. Most people recognize the pattern but have no clue how to break it. They just hope more mat time will magically solve it, but without a plan to figure it out and address it, the same losses pile up.

This article gives you a step-by-step way to spot the problems that matter most, group them by position or situation, pick one big weakness to fix first, and build drills that turn your worst spots into strengths. You’ll also pick up tips on tracking whether your fixes are actually working in sparring.

Why Technical Gaps in BJJ Often Go Undetected

Most folks just roll, shower, and get on with their day. You feel what went wrong during sparring, but honestly, the details fade pretty quickly.

When you get swept or submitted, you know something failed. But do you actually stop to record which position broke down, or why your defense fell apart? Without notes, the patterns stay hidden.

Training itself creates blind spots:

• You focus on surviving the round, not analyzing what just happened
• Different partners expose different holes on different days
• You remember big submissions but forget the small positional losses that set them up
• Coaches can’t catch every recurring mistake

You might get caught in the same choke a few times over two weeks and never connect the dots. Each time just feels like a one-off instead of proof of a gap in your game.

Improvement starts to feel random when you can’t spot which problems repeat. You end up drilling techniques that seem useful, but they might not touch your actual weak spots.

The fix? Deliberate tracking. Write down what went wrong right after rolling, while it’s still fresh. Group problems by position or situation. Look for patterns over a few sessions.

When you see the same escape fail four times in your notes, you’ve found a real hole to fix.

Recognizing Patterns in Rolling That Hold You Back

You get swept from half guard every round. You tap to the same choke three times in one week. That’s not just bad luck—it’s a pattern.

Start by tracking what happens during live rounds. After each roll, jot down what position led to trouble and how you ended up there. Don’t just write “got submitted”—note the exact sequence. Did you leave your arm hanging? Did you turn the wrong way during a pass?

After a week or so, go back through your notes and look for what keeps happening. You’ll start to see the same issues pop up over and over.

Group your problems by position or situation. Keep it simple:

• Guard problems: Getting passed, swept, or can’t sweep
• Passing problems: Stuck in someone’s guard, getting reversed
• Top position problems: Can’t hold mount, side control escapes
• Submission problems: Getting caught by the same finish
• Defense problems: Can’t escape certain positions

Pick one high-impact hole to fix first—the one that shows up most or costs you the most in rolls.

Drill around that specific weakness. If you keep getting your guard passed to the right, drill defending passes on that side. Test it in positional sparring from that exact spot.

Track whether the problem happens less often over the next couple of weeks. If it does, you’re making progress. If not, tweak your approach or ask your coach for advice.

RollJourney lets you journal each session and map these recurring problems so you can see which drills and techniques actually fix your weak spots.

Organizing Weak Points by Position, Transition, or Submission

After a few training sessions, sort your problems into clear groups. That way, you can pick one area to work on at a time without getting overwhelmed.

Go through your notes from live rolls. Look for patterns in where you get stuck or submitted.

Three main categories cover most problems:

• Position weaknesses – You get passed, swept, or held down in certain spots
• Transition failures – You lose position moving between guards, passing, or escaping
• Submission gaps – You get caught by the same attack or can’t finish your own submissions

Write each recurring problem under the right category. For example, “got passed to side control three times this week” goes under position. “Missed the back take from turtle” is a transition.

You can keep track of this with a quick category note:

• Position weakness: Bottom side control defense came up 4 times this week.
• Transition failure: Passing to mount broke down 2 times this week.
• Submission gap: Escaping arm bars failed 3 times this week.

Once you group your weak points, you’ll see which category causes the most trouble. Pick the problem that shows up most or costs you the most dominant positions.

RollJourney lets you tag entries by position, transition type, and submission so you can spot these patterns quickly without digging through pages of notes.

Prioritizing One Critical Issue for Maximum Progress

You can’t fix every hole at once. Trying to work on five weaknesses at the same time just means you make slow progress on all of them.

Pick one recurring problem that costs you position or submissions most often. Look through your notes and spot the patterns. Do you get swept from the same guard every class? Do you lose certain escapes against skilled partners?

Focus on:

• The problem happens multiple times per week
• It leads to lost position, points, or submissions
• You can recreate it in positional sparring
• Fixing it will help in multiple situations

Once you pick your critical issue, spend 2-4 weeks working on it. Drill the specific position before class. Ask partners to start rounds from that scenario. Get feedback from upper belts on what you’re missing.

Track your progress by counting how often the problem pops up each session. Write down what’s working and what’s still failing. If you usually get swept four times per class and now it’s only once or twice, you’re improving.

Once you see real improvement, move to the next hole. This focused approach builds skills much faster than spreading your attention thin.

Use RollJourney to journal your training and track which problems show up most, so you can spot the single issue that deserves your focus.

Transforming Weaknesses Into Targeted Drills

When you find a recurring problem in your live rounds, turn it into something you can drill. Start by writing down the exact position or situation where you struggle. For example, “I get swept every time someone controls my sleeve in half guard.”

Group similar failures together. If you get swept three different ways from half guard, that’s one positional hole, not three.

Pick the one weakness that costs you the most during rolling or shows up most in your journal.

Try this simple drill progression:

• Drill the defensive position static first (hold the position for 30 seconds)
• Add light movement from your partner
• Practice your escape or counter with some resistance
• Flow through the full sequence 10-15 times per session

Test your drilling in positional sparring within a week. Start from the exact position where you struggle and see if you can defend or escape better than before.

Track your results in RollJourney after each session. Note if the weakness is improving, staying the same, or getting worse. If you’re not seeing progress after a couple of weeks, change your approach or ask your coach for advice.

Repeat this for each major hole you find. Work on one weakness at a time until you see real improvement in live rounds, then move to the next issue.

Measuring Real Improvement Over Time

You need a way to track if the holes you spotted are actually shrinking. Otherwise, you’re just guessing.

Pick one metric for each hole you’re working on. If you get swept from half guard, count how many times it happens each week. If you lose grips standing, note how often you get broken down before you can establish your position.

Create a simple tracking system:

• Record the problem each time it happens during sparring
• Count occurrences per week or per session
• Note the skill level of your training partner
• Write down any new details about why it happened

Check your numbers every two weeks. Real improvement means the problem happens less, or you’re holding your own against tougher partners.

Be honest about progress. Getting swept three times instead of six? That’s improvement. Holding half guard for twenty seconds longer before the sweep? Also improvement. Defending the same attack against a blue belt, when before you couldn’t stop a white belt? That’s progress, too.

Warning signs you’re stuck:

• Same problem happening at the same rate after four weeks
• Problem getting worse against similar skill levels
• New versions of the same positional failure popping up

Use RollJourney to log each occurrence with details about position, setup, and outcome. Tag entries by the specific hole you’re tracking so you can review patterns and measure change over weeks and months.

If the numbers aren’t improving after a month, it’s time to change your drilling approach.

Mapping Out Problems and Solutions Visually

Honestly, just sketching a quick diagram can open your eyes to patterns you’d never catch in a boring list. Put the main spot where you’re struggling smack in the middle of your page or whiteboard.

Start branching out with each specific problem that pops up there. Let’s say you keep getting swept from closed guard—draw a branch for that, then jot down if it’s happening during grip fighting, when you stand up, or maybe when you try to open the guard. It’s not always obvious until you see it laid out.

Try using these in your map:

• Circles or boxes for positions (closed guard, side control, half guard)
• Arrows to show where transitions break down
• Different colors for different types of problems (sweeps, submissions, escapes)
• Numbers to mark how often each issue comes up

Once your map starts to show clusters, you’ll spot the biggest holes in your game. If a problem pops up in a bunch of positions, it probably deserves your focus more than something that only happens once.

Pick the problem that’s got the most connections or the highest number. That’s the one to tackle first.

RollJourney lets you build these diagrams digitally and tie them to your actual training sessions. Update your map after each class and (hopefully) watch those trouble spots shrink as you put in the work.

Your map isn’t static. Jot down notes about drills you tried or techniques that actually helped. Link those notes straight to the problem areas so you don’t forget what really works for your style.

Fixing holes in your BJJ game is not about chasing every mistake at once; it is about making your recurring problems visible. When you track the positions, transitions, and submissions that keep costing you rounds, you can choose one weakness, drill it with purpose, and test it honestly in sparring. Over time, those notes become a map of what is changing and what still needs attention. RollJourney gives you a place to keep that map connected to your sessions, techniques, drills, and concepts so your progress is easier to review and repeat.