are we rolling or not?

One of my pet peeves in training is when you think you're rolling to submission and are making headway, and then your training partner just stops rolling and starts coaching. Or maybe you're rolling to submission and someone else tries to stop you in order to show you or your training partner a technique. It is really annoying.

Of course, I myself have been guilty of doing the opposite... One of my training partners brings out the worst/best in me and whenever I drill with him we always immediately end up rolling. It is something I have to really watch.

So tips for coaches AND students; I think it's a good idea to have a clear distinction. Coach when you're coaching, drill when you're drilling and roll when you're rolling... and let other people do the same.

I of course think there's a distinct difference between coaching from the sideline and actually stopping someone mid-roll to coach... Coaching from the side can be really helpful and you can always show the person what to do if they didn't get it mid-roll but stopping people while they're having a go is one of the most annoying things in the world.

It is of course up to the coach to set the tone, policies, etc. but of course there is nothing wrong with telling someone who is trying to get you to stop mid-roll something like, "I'm trying to work an escape and I'm not going to stop so you can do your demonstration." (I bet other people have ways of wording this more tactfully than I). Or if someone is trying to start coaching mid-roll because you're winning you can always ignore them and just keep going or let them know that you're not finished yet and would like to continue rolling.