How to “Use” Your Senior Training Partners

Are you “using” your senior training partners enough and properly?
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“Using” sounds like a wrong thing to say, but bear with me for now.
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One obvious way of using them is to ask them questions directly.
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I’m not one to ask so many questions myself, but I believe it’s one of the best ways to improve your skills quickly.
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Most senior training partners would be happy to answer your questions. I’m one of such people as far as answering questions is concerned.
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There are less obvious ways of using your senior training partners as well.
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For example…
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Let’s say one of your training partners does the lockdown as his main move. Let’s call him Lucas.
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(Hmm, this word might have become a triggering word this year, but obviously, I’m talking about the lockdown half guard position.)
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And you don’t know how to deal with it well.
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In this case, you can try this move against your senior training partners… say Sergio, and see how Sergio deals with the position.
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Your lockdown might not be as good as Lucas’s lockdown, but you can still see and feel how Sergio deals with it.
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If Sergio is indeed fantastic at guard passing, you should be paying attention to what he does and how he does it.
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You roll with him and feel his guard passing moves directly.
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You can also watch him roll with other training partners of yours.
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Then copy and steal his techniques. All you need to do is to start doing what Sergio does to you (and others) when you roll with your training partners.
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You probably have some other training partners who are prominent in certain moves and positions as well. Try stealing their moves as much as possible as well.
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I mentioned “senior training partners”, but obviously, they don’t have to be more senior than you either.
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Many people spend their time working on specific techniques that you don’t use much. They may be better than you with regard to these areas. And you can learn from them as well… no worries.
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I hope this piece of advice doesn’t sound too obvious to you. The thing is, some things are too obvious to me (like this one), and I feel hesitant about sharing them. In many cases, it’s hard for me to predict what will resonate with you all. Any feedback would be appreciated.