The Double Leg Takedown is one of the most popular and effective takedowns in BJJ. All grapplers should have at least a basic understanding of how it works. Many grapplers I know, including BJJ trainees—find a lot of success with this move. So I’m confident the Double Leg will boost your BJJ skills.
This article will be the only resource you’ll ever need to start practicing the Double Leg Takedown in BJJ. I know that’s a bold statement, but I genuinely believe in it.
Although BJJ isn’t about takedowns and throws as much as it is about submissions and ground grappling, they’re a fantastic tool you want to utilize and implement in your grappling game. Actually, you’ll gain 2 points in a competition for taking your opponent down, which is fantastic news for those of you who compete.
I’ve thoughtfully ordered the article the way it is. That’s to ensure it fits all grapplers in all skill levels. This can be the first or the 100th takedown you learn; it doesn’t matter since this article will be suitable for you.
That’s enough introduction. It’s time we dive into the real, practical stuff. I want you to pay as much attention as possible throughout this article. You’ll be able to save a lot of time experimenting if you pay attention to the small details, which I always make sure to include.
So let’s dive into #1!
What is the Double Leg Takedown?
Takedowns are a powerful tool you can use to gain an advantage over your opponent. This applies to all the martial arts that allow the use of them and to street fights. Therefore, it’s a tool you want to get comfortable with.
The Double Leg Takedown is one of BJJ’s and Wrestling’s most influential takedowns. It utilizes grabbing your opponent’s legs (back of the knee), lifting them, and moving forward to take him down. Finally, you want to attain a more dominant position, such as Side Control.
Not only will you gain a more dominant position, but you’ll also be able to experiment with different types of submissions, such as leg locks and chokes. These will allow you to finish fights quickly and effectively.
I also do many breakdowns of finishes on this website, so I definitely encourage you to check them out. The best way to do that will be to sign up for Blinklift’s Email Newsletter to receive a notification every time a new technique breakdown comes out.
How to perform the Double Leg Takedown
This section, contrary to the last one, will be all about execution. I know you might have been waiting patiently for the practical stuff – but it’s here now. Let’s now break down the steps to perform every type of Double Leg Takedown Variation.
The first step is to start standing. Every fight starts with both the contenders standing, so that’s a fairly obvious premise. Also, to execute any takedown, you want your opponent and you to stand up, or else that would be called a sweep.
Then, you want to establish your upper body grips, which are likely to be a both sleeves grip. That’s when you grab the opponent’s right sleeve with your left hand and the opposite.
The next step is to lift the opponent’s arms until they are in line with his shoulders, pull yourself into him, and drop down on your knees as close as possible to the opponent’s legs.
You then want to grab his legs with a same-side grip on the back of his knees. This is a critical part of this takedown. You must grab the back of his knees to ensure you’re capable of lifting his legs. Likewise, you want the grips to be as firm as possible.
Finally, you lift his legs while stepping forward with your rear leg. And the opponent should now be on the ground. We’ll soon see a more detailed version of this variation. For now, here’s a visual aid for you.
Double Leg Takedown Variations
Alright. This section is the most critical one for you to understand. Thus far, we’ve reviewed the very basics of the Double Leg Takedown. Honestly, you’re more than capable already to start practicing this move.
You might know just enough to get it through. However, there’s more to be learned regarding the DLT. The more you know, the more capable you set yourself to be. If, for instance, you only know 2 takedowns, are you as likely to take your opponent down if you were to know 20?
Perhaps this question is impossible to answer in 100% of the cases. However, I guarantee that knowing more takedowns and investing more time in learning and broadening your knowledge—will eventually lead to more opportunities and you being a more dynamic, competent grappler.
This is why learning as many variations as possible, to an extent, will bring you a lot of progression and results. So without further intro, let’s dive into the first out of three variations we’ll cover in this part of the article.
#1 – Standard Double Leg
The first variation is the one we’ve already discussed. The Standard Double Leg is the one you see in your mind when you imagine this move. If you have never seen it in play before, you also have it in mind because it’s the only one I’ve covered.
Here’s how to perform it:
You want to start standing up to perform the Double Leg Takedown. Then, you’re going to grab the opponent’s sleeves while lifting them, so they’re in line with his shoulders. Next up, you pull yourself into the opponent, so you drop down on your knees as close to his feet as possible. Finally, you grab the back of his knee (both of them) while moving forward and attaining a more dominant position.
Simple enough, I believe. There’s more to cover about this variation. However, we’ll do so in the following parts of this article, where we’ll cover tips and common mistakes grapplers make with this move.
But for now, that should be enough.
#2 – Sprawl Double Leg Takedown
The next variant we’ll review will commence from the Sprawl position. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it’s a common Wrestling position, where you’re posting on your feet and knees and have some type of control over the opponent’s upper body. It’s best used to counter the opponent’s trying to take you down, as explained in the following video.
This is the starting position of this takedown variation.
Now that you’re in the Sprawl, you want to grab the opponent’s back of the knees in his legs, which is like the first variation we reviewed. Then, instead of moving forward, you’re going to post on your right foot while balancing on your left knee and foot while driving your opponent to the side.
This will force him to fall, giving you the clean takedown and the 2 points that come with it! And for street fights, you’ll gain the advantage to finish off your opponent, and if he’s still attacking you, you’ll know how to react.
All my readers will know how to react in street fights, I count on that.
#3 – High Crotch Double Leg
The High Crotch Double Leg Takedown is a fantastic variation of this highly effective and popular takedown. You want to familiarize yourself with it, whether you come from a BJJ, Judo, or Wrestling background.
What’s different here is your leg grips. You’re going to start in the same position as the Standard Double Leg variation. Then, you’re going to drop on your knees, and again, falling as close as possible to your opponent’s legs, and grip close to his crotch, hence the name.
When you drop, you want to clear the opponent’s arm thats’ closer to the leg you’re targeting. If you drop to your left, you must clear his right arm while dropping. Now, there’s one more step left for this variation. This step is to stand up and drive him down.
Before you stand up, however, you want to also grip the opponent’s other leg. This is why it’s called the High Crotch Double Leg Takedown. Your grips are much higher, which gives you more stability and more force. When you’re grabbing the opponent’s ankles, conversely, you have more leverage.
And these are the 3 variations of the Double Leg Takedown! If you learn all 3, you’ll become a much more competent grappler, capable of being and remaining dynamic, regardless of which opponent you face.
Double Leg Takedown Tips
This section is going to dive into the more advanced details you want to know about. Listen, you now know everything you really need to know to execute the Double Leg Takedown flawlessly. However, there’s more to be said and more to hone.
These small details will get you from a basic user of this takedown to a much more capable grappler. This is why understanding these tips—is a critical part of BJJ and learning and mastering the Double Leg Takedown.
Alright. Let’s get into #1.
#1 – Keep Moving
The 1st tip is to keep being on the move. It’s going to be hard to grab the back of his knees and go for the takedown when you’re still. You must keep moving, but you want to avoid walking back as much as possible.
The best places you can move are either forward or your sides. Do that—and you’ll find it easier to set up this takedown and make it work.
#2 – Execute the takedown when the opponent’s feet are in line
As the title of this tip goes, you want to execute this takedown once the opponent’s feet are in line. Any other foot placement—and you’ll find it more difficult than ever to set it up and make it work.
#3 – Bring the opponent’s knees toward you while pushing to finish
When you finish the takedown, you might find it difficult to off-balance the opponent swiftly. That’s why you want to ensure you bring your opponent’s knees toward you while pushing. These pulling and pushing motions will make your execution flawless.
BJJ utilizes many push and pull motions. Try to think of an instance where you’re using this pulling and pushing motion to off-balance your opponent and gain the advantage. One instance I can think of is the Foot Sweep, which utilizes an inward and outward motion to take your opponent down.
Do you have any in mind?
Make sure to bring his knees toward you while pushing yourself forward to finish the takedown and attain a more dominant position.
Common Double Leg Takedown Mistakes
Do you know what I love about reading articles and watching videos about topics I want to learn more about? I love the fact that you can learn from the mistakes of others and not do them yourself. You essentially skip an entire phase of learning and save a lot of time.
Now sometimes, going through the struggle—is better than simply getting what you want. In our case, making the mistake—will make you more likely not to repeat it. However, I think that you want to know about these mistakes, so you can avoid them and not even go through the phase where you don’t know what you’re doing wrong.
This will save you so much time, as you don’t really learn from making them. After all, it’s not regular practice that makes perfect, it’s perfect practice that makes perfect.
#1 – Neglecting head position
The first mistake we’ll review is something many novice grapplers get wrong. The fact is that more advanced grapplers are more aware of this. Although it might seem like a small one, I assure you it is not.
The threat of your opponent executing a Guillotine Choke on you exists, and you want to avoid it at all costs. So placing your head on the outside of your opponent’s body—might lead to a Guillotine Choke in return.
To learn how to avoid that by learning more about escape routes from the Guillotine Choke, follow this link.
#2 – Ineffective finishing
The 2nd common mistake with the Double Leg Takedown is ineffective finishing. We’ve already gone through this in the tip section, but I know it’s important to keep this in mind. So if you allow me, let me repeat it.
You want to pull your opponent’s knees while moving forward. This will off-balance your opponent to a point where he’ll be forced to get on the ground. If he won’t, you might be able to either take the Back Mount or Full Mount, which is wonderful for you.
#3 – Weak grip or lack of control
Grips bring you control over your opponent. Now control is everything in BJJ and in grappling. So you want your grips to serve you, not the other way around.
Thus, maintaining solid, firm grips—is critical to maintaining control over your opponent’s legs and upper body. So keep this in mind when performing one of the variations we have gone through.
#4 – Poor setup
The 4th mistake, but the first one you want to watch out for, is a poor setup. While I can’t point out the specific mistakes you’re making, I can point out one major issue many grapplers seem to make when first learning the Double Leg Takedown.
This issue is not setting the right atmosphere for getting this takedown right. To get it right, you must catch your opponent when he’s least prepared for it. When’s the best time for that? When you either catch him not paying attention or when his feet are in line.
If both conditions are met, your success odds will be higher than average.
#5 – Incorrect level change
The next common mistake we’ll review is incorrect level change. The thing that many grapplers do which makes them less likely to make this takedown work is bending through their waist instead of their knees.
Avoid bending through your waist and use your knees to lower your level and penetrate the opponent’s line of defense.
#6 – Lack of penetration
Lack of penetration is when you’re not driving forward explosively, and, as a result, fail to take the opponent down. The most critical thing is driving the opponent off-balance, which you do by moving forward and doing so explosively.
Wrestling is all about explosiveness. You’ll definitely benefit from using more forward movement to off-balance your opponent more effectively.
#7 – Overcommitting
The last mistake we’ll review is overcommitting. This mistake is the most common one I see because grapplers today aren’t dynamic. All they do is choose one move and do everything in their abilities to execute it.
While that shows goodwill, it also shows on lack of options. The lack of options comes from not knowing enough moves and variations. The more you know, the more dynamic you’ll be. And the more dynamic you’ll be, the less likely you are to overcommit.
Double Leg Takedown Finishes in BJJ
Finishing a fight in BJJ is the most satisfying feeling you’ll feel; it’s that way for me, at least. So you want to know about some finishes from the Double Leg Takedown. Imagine how it’ll feel to take your opponent down and win the fight immediately after. That would be awesome, wouldn’t it?
Here are the best finishes from the Double Leg Takedown in BJJ:
As you can see, you have many options. You can follow each link to read about it separately.
Is the Double Leg Takedown legal in BJJ?
The Double Leg Takedown is a legal technique in BJJ. Not only is it legal, but it’ll also grant you 2 points when you execute it in an official IBJJF tournament. The only illegal throws and takedowns in BJJ are suplex ones, which involve smashing your opponent on the ground, with either his head or neck.
Final Words
Your next step is to get on the mat and practice. You want to experiment with this move, as to start learning and understanding more about this superb move.
What it’ll do is help you take your opponent to the ground and attain a more dominant position over him. This is fantastic regardless of your BJJ fighting style, as being in a better position than your opponent is extremely helpful.
The Double Leg Takedown, however, isn’t the most effective takedown out there. I’ve dedicated an entire article to write about the 9 most effective takedowns in BJJ, and you should learn it if you want to become a much better grappler.
You can also sign up for our Email Newsletter to keep up with our blog posts and gain access to free martial arts/self-improvement courses!
Here are other articles you’d enjoy reading:
Arm Drag Takedown – Complete Fighting Breakdown
Foot Sweep Guide (For BJJ, Judo, and Wrestling)
Seoi Nage – Takedown Breakdown (BJJ & Judo)
Single Leg Takedown 101 – BJJ Comprehensive Guide
Ankle Pick 101 (BJJ) – How to Execute Properly
Pull Guard BJJ – Everything You Need to Know