Exercise ball drills

[Grissim Connery]

So most grapplers nowadays have at least seen somebody messing around on an exercise ball for pressure. for example,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx1Js...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnjFd...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfxGB...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYODx...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cNvpIamQOE

Anyways we've started messing around with it more at my club. has anybody developed a progression to this stuff? i normally do it before my workouts now because i consider it skill work (balance and what not). it also warms up my groind and hips really well before squatting or whatever.

[Jon Brody]

Cool links; going to try some of that out, for sure, and beef up my warmups.

I trained MT mainly out of a mma academy and the BJJ coach (Marcio Stambowsky) liked to incorporate the exercise balls. He's really "old school" and his balance/stability/gymnastic-like abilities were off the charts....~50 years old and a body beat to hell and he could still pull off a full planche and use his core in super-human ways....

I guess if you can balance your knees/legs on the ball like eating a piece of cake, a powerful and dynamic knee-on-belly position can come pretty swiftly.

[Grissim Connery]

Originally Posted by Jon Brody

I guess if you can balance your knees/legs on the ball like eating a piece of cake, a powerful and dynamic knee-on-belly position can come pretty swiftly.

i like the ball a lot cause i'm more of a dynamic rider than a pressure guy. maybe it's better strategy to focus on pressure, but i just like to have fun more than win. thus when the positions are going crazy, i really feel like we're doing something. also i don't like to try to pressure guys who are bigger than me. i like to catch their mistakes. i find the constant position changes open this up well. i'm probably just emulating my coach (Darren Branch) a lot. he's awesome at riding guys.

[John Malecki]

Thanks for posting the links! These videos are great. They will definetly help me raise the level of my Jiu Jitsu.

[Mike ODonnell]

Ah swiss balls, loads of fun....and make plenty of room just in case you crash. Playing catch on the swiss ball with a medicine ball is fun....in front or side to side. Once you master the kneeling then you go to standing.

Easiest thing to do is just get on one....and throw your weight around and counter balance....like riding a bull.

Note that the more pumped up with air....the harder it gets....and I learned that lesson long ago trying to jump on one....after someone had already pumped it up overnight and didn't tell me....let's just say I almost went through the ceiling.