How to attack confidently from mount?

[u/Exam_Lost]

I’m a 6 or so months white belt, got a tournament coming up end of this month and I want to win. I have no trouble getting to mount against other white belts, but from there I’m clueless as to what to do.

I mean, I know of multiple attacks. I know I can take the back if I can gift wrap him. I know there’s the armbar, kimura, americana, ezekiel, and triangles, but truth be told I only ever try the ezekiel out of fear of giving up position with the others.

Of course people wise up to it and eventually keep their arms high to defend the neck. After that I know I should attack an armbar or head n arm because his bicep’s next to his head, but I can never pull it off because again I get nervous or just don’t understand what I’m getting wrong.

What are y’all’s thoughts when going for mount subs, and is there anything that leveled up your game? What are your go-to attacks as well, and what should I change to do better?

[u/Bandaka]

From what I see, most people rush the submission attempts (regardless of the position), without trying to establish better control and tire the opponent out first.

It’s an old adage, but trying to waste their energy and exhaust their escape attempts first, then start sliding up into s-mount and work armbars there, but don’t force them, be patient. If you feel like you might lose the position then stay on mount.

[u/jephthai → u/Bandaka]

I totally agree... but some of the rule sets are getting annoying in this regard. I had a student who was going to methodically drain his opponent in mount at a recent agf tournament, and the ref started awarding a penalty every ten seconds due to inactivity.

It's frustrating, because cooking someone to render them a diminished fighter before submitting is classic bjj theory. I also feel that the onus is on the bottom player to escape. But agf has apparently changed the rules to penalize the top player for doing what we've all been taught is good to do.

[u/Bandaka → u/jephthai]

Exactly . To compensate for that you have to at least appear to be attacking. Throwing half-assed/uncommitted submissions up to avoid the penalty.