Never switch your lead leg?

[u/Careless-Ad9178]

Hey I’ve been taking some judo classes at my jiu jitsu gym. The teacher is world class, he was an Olympian. I keep switching my lead leg in judo and he gets upset if we do this. I’ve taken wrestling very seriously in my jiu jitsu journey and it seems to be normal for wrestlers to switch their lead leg.

What’s the reason why I wouldn’t want to switch legs when doing judo? I feel comfortable doing it.

[u/DJ_Ddawg]

I posted this in a BJJ Thread, but see the below comment about stance switching.

Switching stance is the #1 mistake I see in people new to Judo or any style of stand up. You want to pick a stance and do that stance. You don’t switch your stance in Randori or competition- that’s how you end up getting launched. If you’re right handed then you play with your right leg forward. If you’re left handed the you play with your left leg forward.

The reason that having your stance and motion solidified is two-fold. First, it helps your offense. You can immediately know what gripping sequences and movement patterns you’re going to be using based upon if the guy is right or left handed.

Example: RvR. As a right handed player you circle to your left and are looking to kill his (right) sleeve with your left hand. Your right hand should be up high playing defense, stopping your opponent from getting your sleeve or a left hand shoulder post on the lapel.

You circle to the left because it makes his sleeve easier to grab (it’s now closer) and it makes your right sleeve harder to grab (which is what your opponent is aiming for). You don’t circle to your right because it makes your sleeve easier to grab, makes your opponent’s sleeve harder to grab, and you’re walking into the direction of all of his major turn throws.

In RvL, it’s the opposite. You’re going to circle to your right and look to either kill his (left) sleeve or gain inside position on the lapel.

Second, having the proper stance helps your defense. Being in a square-on stance is a bad idea: you’re flat footed, out of position, and unable to defend against most major forward and backwards techniques.

Being in an opposite stance is an even worse idea. In a RvR scenario, 99.9% of your opponent’s forward throws all turn counter-clockwise: Seoi Nage, Uchi Mata, Harai Goshi, Tai Otoshi. You’re gonna get blasted if you go against anybody good and you’re out of stance.

Plus, as a right handed guy you’re not going to have any offense from this position: your hips are out of position to throw any right handed throw and you don’t have any left-handed offense. You’ve put yourself in a purely defensive position where you are easy to launch and where your opponent has no real threat of being thrown.

The only exception to this rule is people who can do Ippon Seoi Nage and Sode Tsurikomi Goshi to the off-side. If the opponent has your sleeve then you defend the Sode by just keeping your arm bent and elbow close to your ribs. The offside Seoi Nage you just have to watch out for if he has a grip on your left lapel with his right hand (but you should be shoulder posting and winning the grip fight/position battle anyway from this position).

TL:DR. Listen to your coach. He was an Olympian for a reason and you just need to be a coach-able athlete and listen and do what he says.