Sweeps and Reversals

What it is

A sweep takes you from a guard to the top and scores 2 points. A reversal takes you from under a pin to the top and scores nothing. Both move you from the bottom to the top; the only difference is where you started. Knowing which is which tells you what you are drilling and what the scoreboard will say.

Where it shows up

• Sweep: you are in closed, open or half guard and you put them on their back and come up on top. Hip bump, scissor and butterfly sweeps are the beginner set.
• Reversal: you are under mount or side control and you turn the top player over, for example with the upa. It scores nothing, because it did not start from a guard.
• In a match: a sweep is 2 points only once you hold the top position for 3 seconds; a reversal counts for nothing, however clean it is.

Key details

• Where you started decides the name. From a guard it is a sweep, from a pin it is a reversal.
• Both need the same three things: their balance broken, one of their posts (a hand or a foot) taken away, and your hips driving.
• Come up on top and hold it. Three seconds in the new position is what scores; a sweep that ends in a scramble scores nothing.
• In class people call both a sweep. The referee does not, and the belt tests in the Path keep them apart.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: pulling guard and expecting points. Pulling guard scores nothing; only the sweep that follows does.
• Mistake: sweeping and then letting them scramble back to guard. No 3-second hold means no points.
• Mistake: calling an upa from mount a sweep in a match. You came from a pin, so the referee scores nothing.

What they will try

• The top player keeps base: wide knees, low hips, and a post on the side you are sweeping toward.
• They stand up out of the guard, where most beginner sweeps no longer work.