There’s nothing more satisfying in BJJ than to sweep your opponent, gain the upper hand, and finish the fight. This article aims to allow you to learn this sweep and start using it correctly. The keyword here is correctly, as many grapplers learn it the wrong way and end up not succeeding with it, which we want to avoid.
The Elevator Sweep is a sweep that will allow you to transition from an inferior or neutral position to a highly dominant position, such as Side Control and Full Mount. From there, you’ll be able to finish the fight easily since all you’ll have left is to go for a finishing submission, such as the Americana.
You will nonetheless make plenty of mistakes along the way. The 2nd goal of this article is to shorten your learning time and save you time by giving you the answers right away.
You want to avoid these mistakes, so I’ll mention them in this article so you can eventually avoid them and ensure you get this sweep right more often. The more mistakes you avoid, the more success you’ll find, and the more fights you’ll win.
So let’s dive in without further ado.
Elevator Sweep Variations
This part of the article will be all about the variations of the Elevator Sweep. You want to learn all of them if you desire to become a great grappler.
The most skilled BJJ masters know plenty of entries, submissions, and techniques. They might not use them in their own style. However, they’re at least familiar with them.
This makes them more competent grapplers since they can analyze and understand what their opponents do. So then, they can react appropriately and win more fights as a result of that.
This is why reading all the variations in this section—will help you become a much more skilled grappler. So let’s dive into the first one.
#1 – Elevator Sweep From Guard
This is the classiest variation of this sweep. You want to learn it first, as it’s the foundation for everything you’ll learn regarding the Elevator Sweep. Eventually, it’s also the simplest one, as it doesn’t involve any finishing move or complicated technique.
But there are things you must understand when executing this variant; most grapplers will make the same mistakes when they first learn this sweep. So I’ll mention them in the next part of the article: we’ll break down this variation step-by-step.
So here’s how you perform the Elevator Sweep From Guard:
- Start in Closed Guard
- Wrap your left hand around the opponent’s arm
- Your left hand now goes to the back of your head
- Trap the opponent’s arm
- Push yourself backward
- Stretch your legs
- Hook the opponent’s right leg
- Stretch the opponent’s other leg
- Flip the opponent over
- Attain Full Mount
This is fundamental for all other variations, especially if you desire to learn it correctly. You want to learn it first to build a solid basis for the future of your BJJ journey.
#2 – Elevator Sweep From Spider Guard
This Elevator Sweep variant is a bit more complicated and astonishing, as it includes a set of movements that look incredibly complicated to the outside eye.
However, it’s pretty uncomplicated to learn and execute. And this is what we’ll learn in this section. So here are the steps to performing this Spider Guard variation.
- Start in the Spider Guard
- Remove your leg from the right biceps
- Place the same leg on the opponent’s hips
- Pull your hips under the opponent
- Straighten your legs
- Push his hands in
- Drive your hips backward
- Attain Full Mount
This is an exciting way to perform the Elevator Sweep. I mean, your opponents will find it more difficult to react when performing it since they won’t expect you to flip them over that way.
There’s one thing you want to keep in mind when performing this sweep. You want your power to come from your legs, not your hands. That means you must not skip the step which says to pull yourself below the opponent’s hips.
But more on that later.
You’ll use your strength as leverage if your hips aren’t aligned with your partner’s. And using strength as leverage is rarely what you want to do, as BJJ isn’t about strength but about leverage.
#3 – Elevator Sweep to Armlock
This variation of the Elevator Sweep is quite different. You’ll start in bottom Side Control, an exceptionally inferior position. We want to change the power distribution here by sweeping the opponent and attaining a more dominant position.
Learn more about BJJ’s dominant positions you must know by following this link.
But we won’t go to the Full Mount if that’s what you think. Instead, we’ll go straight for the Armlock, a highly effective BJJ submission.
So here’s how it’s done:
- Start at bottom Side Control
- Push the opponent away
- Hook your right leg in
- Wrap your left leg around the opponent’s back
- Grip the opponent’s lapel
- Grip the opponent’s right arm with your left hand
- Scoop your legs
- Flip the opponent
- Finish with the Armbar
This variation allows you to play around with the Elevator Sweep and go for a submission right after sweeping the opponent. Using it can help you finish more fights and do so more quickly—a win-win situation.
Don’t hesitate to learn specific techniques like this one. It’ll help you prepare for particular situations better and finish when you find yourself in them.
Now let’s dive into the 4th and last variation.
#4 – Elevator Sweep From Half Guard
This variation is the most complex, as it includes many steps that are relatively difficult to (1) understand and (2) execute.
So when you have a lot of complicated techniques, you’ll also get a tricky move. And performing this move is exceptionally difficult.
Here are the steps to perform it properly:
- Start in the Half Guard position
- Underhook your left hand around your partner’s arm
- Place your other hand between his legs
- Place your forehead on his hips
- Pull the opponent
- Put all your weight on your left hip
- Lock your half-guard above the knee (the other way around)
- Underhook the opponent’s foot
- Elevate the opponent
- Insert your knee inside
- Push the opponent forward
- Attain Side Control
I would advise you to watch the demonstration below to understand better how this variation works. You’ll make many mistakes along the way when you first perform it, so watch the video and implement the lessons in it.
Now that we’ve gone through the 4 primary variations of the Elevator Sweep, we want to break down one. You’ll see which one we’ll break down in the upcoming section, so stay tuned for that.
How to Elevator Sweep
This part of the article will break down the 2nd variation of the Elevator Sweep. Then, it’ll allow you to understand further how to use it more successfully.
Optimizing your BJJ execution can be exceptionally helpful, especially if you’re not as sure of your abilities yet.
Buckle up; let’s start breaking down the steps to see how you can optimize your performance of this sweep and win more fights using it.
Step #1 – Start in the Spider Guard
The 1st step is to start in the Spider Guard. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it’s a form of an Open Guard. So now, how do you perform it?
You want to be in the bottom open guard to start setting up the Spider Guard. Then, you place your right leg on the opponent’s biceps and left leg on his hips while grabbing his wrist area on both sides. You’re now in the Spider Guard.
From here, you can advance to step #2. Let’s see how you can advance from this position.
Step #2 – Remove your right leg from the biceps
The 2nd step will be to remove your right leg from the biceps. In the previous step, we discussed the Spider Guard and how to perform it appropriately.
You must understand something. Control is the most critical factor in BJJ. The more control you have, the more likely you’ll be to win.
You allow him control when you remove your right leg from the opponent’s biceps. So, yes, you’re allowing control instead of attaining more.
But you’re giving up control right now for more in the future. This is why you must act fast, although it’s a dangerous move.
Step #3 – Place the same leg on the opponent’s hips
The 3rd step is placing the same right on the opponent’s hips. Your current position will include both hands grabbing the opponent’s wrist while your legs are on his hips.
And yes, if the opponent wants to, he can easily pass your guard. That’s why you must act quickly and without hesitation.
Step #4 – Pull your hips under the opponent
The 4th step is to pull your hips under the opponent’s hips. This step is critical, and you must not skip it, especially if you’re looking to increase your success odds.
The primary mistake grapplers make is here; they don’t pull their hips under the opponent. When they try to elevate the opponent, they’re unsuccessful.
In this case, you want to align your hips with the opponent’s. Do that, and the next step will come smoothly like butter.
Step #5 – Straighten your legs
The next step is the halfway point of this technique. Hopefully, you’ve been able to understand everything thus far. If you haven’t, I encourage you to (1) re-read the entire step-by-step breakdown and (2) watch the video at the end of the 2nd variation.
You now want to straighten your legs. This is the first direction of the force you’ll implement. Your opponent will now be at your mercy. If you act fast, he won’t be able to counter, and you will leave him vulnerable.
If you had aligned your hips with the opponent’s hips, you’d have no issues elevating the opponent.
Step #6 – Push his hands in
The next step is to push his hands in. The natural consequence of you performing this move is that he’ll fall backward on his back. What do you think is the next step? 🙂
Step #7 – Drive your hips backward
Your next move is to attain a superior position. Congratulations, you’ve performed the Elevator Sweep flawlessly. Now you want to finish the move by getting Full Mount.
By now—the opponent is confused. He doesn’t know what’s happening, and you want to use that. You now want to drive your hips backward, giving you a better position.
Step #8 – Attain Full Mount
The last step is to attain the Full Mount position. There’s nothing better here than to finish the sweep and get the upper hand in the fight.
This feeling is highly addictive, so be cautious of that. But, on the other hand, you wouldn’t want to stop learning and performing this Elevator Sweep in real-time, as you’ll become successful with it.
Experiment with it. See how it feels and set your preferences accordingly.
This was the Elevator Sweep.
Final Words
You’ve reached the end of this article. However, if you’re serious about learning the Elevator Sweep—I recommend bookmarking this article, so you can return to it when you finish learning one variation.
There’s nothing more effective than learning each variation one-by-one, and not diving into deep waters too soon learning all of them.
You’ll be able to build better muscle memory that way and shorten your learning time. If you want to save time, I encourage you to bookmark this article and implement each variation.
Experiemeint with them. Have fun. It can be incredibly satisfying to get successful with this sweep.
However, the Elevator Sweep isn’t the most effective sweep BJJ offers. Follow this link to read about BJJ’s most effective sweeps you must learn to call yourself a capable grappler.
And here are other articles you’d enjoy reading:
Lumberjack Sweep 101: How to Perform & Master
Flower Sweep (Pendulum): Complete BJJ Breakdown
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