Why I Rarely Use Speed Passing Against Bigger Guys

Most of my training partners are bigger and heavier than me.
​
I weigh about 70kg, and my training partners are probably around 80-90kg on average.
​
I could move quicker than them and use this quickness to my advantage.
​
So, naturally, it would make sense for me to use speed passing against them.
​
But I rarely do that.
​
(Though I started using it a bit more than before.)
​
It’s simply because I want to improve my pressure passing skills against bigger and stronger opponents.
​
If I can control such training partners well, it will be much easier to control people around my size when I compete against them.
​
Also, training with bigger folks gives me opportunities to work on being more precise about how to pin them down.
​
If I’m not careful, they could bench-press me and escape from my side control. This is not the most efficient or effective way to escape from the side control, but the thing is… it can work when there’s a huge size/power difference.
​
Because, after all, you could get your desired outcomes by making some terribly wrong moves. But that’s not the point of learning jiu jitsu, and you will eventually have to face the consequences of not learning proper technique in the long run.
​
Anyway, my point is…
​
Sometimes you can get your best learning opportunities by willfully ignoring your natural advantages and choosing to go on a more challenging path instead.
​
If you’re a bigger person in your gym, perhaps you could work on what light-weight folks typically do.
​
If you have a strong wrestling/Judo background and are more confident attacking from the top position, you could work on your guard game for a while.
​
Or if you’ve been catching others with your signature half guard sweep, heel hook, triangle choke, foot sweep, or whatever… you could decide not to use your favorite moves and start working on some other moves.
​
Keep creating opportunities to improve your overall game. It will be better (and more fun) that way in the long run.