Gianni Grippo Debates Kit Dale & Drilling: Why Should You Care?

From over at Graciemag HERE:

Kit Dale and Gianni Grippo have gone back and forth publicly over the merits or lack thereof regarding drilling for Jiu-Jitsu, with each making some valid points.

Coming back from from ACL surgery, drilling was a big part of my mat time for several months and the positions and techniques I drilled became mainstays of my game in rolling and even competition when I returned to the blue belt ranks. Gianni cites injured time as when he began/emphasizing drilling. Kit Dale points out that drilling doesn't help you against the elite level guys.

What say you?


"Kit responded to Gianni’s post on facebook:
“I love Gianni Grippo.. Nice article.. But to add an opposing point of view.. I will note a few things.. “Drilling until it becomes automatic and you don’t need to think” – This sounds like a good idea against people you can beat easily.. But applying a technique without thinking sounds like a recipe for disaster at the top level.. What if it’s a trap and you just fell into it due to being entrapped by your own muscle memory.. What if this opponent reacts differently or is shaped differently from your training partner.. Unless you have been changing your drilling partners every session which will dilute your tech..
Also you stated you drilled 3 times a day.. How often do you do live training.. Personally I don’t know many people that can train that much. And it seems if you want to take the drilling path you need something not a lot of people have.. Time! You have been training from a very young age if I’m not correct? I started at 22 while working full time and competing in another sport.. I only had time for two "


Gianni’s response:
“Kit, while I understand your reasoning’s, as I always try to look at both sides of the coin I just want to counter a few key points that you brought up. While you say that “drilling until it’s automatic” is a recipe for disaster, I think on the contrary. For example, of course I’m going to drill the basic leg drags until it becomes muscle memory, but once I have that down I also make sure to drill the proper reaction to my opponents defenses/counters. I know there can always be elements of surprise or ways guys can counter so I always make sure to drill based off of my opponents reaction. In this case I would drill the leg drag, my opponent counters and I react to the counter- turning the drill into a series.
Although I still train twice a day around my drilling sessions and my drilling compliments rather than supplements my training, I appreciate my drilling sessions because it gives me the opportunity to make my technique better while preventing the risk of injury. So I’m putting in more mat time with less strenuous activity which leads to less chance of injury. Of course I never suggest not training and only drilling, but I feel it’s important to find a good balance."