High Crotch

The penetration entry

The high crotch is a wrestling takedown variant where the attacker steps deep between the opponent's feet, with the lead arm reaching from the outside up between the opponent's legs. The lead hand grips the opponent's inner thigh, and the attacker's head is positioned on the inside of the captured leg.

It's a hybrid between the single-leg (where one leg is fully captured) and the double-leg (where both legs are attacked). The high crotch is most useful against opponents who defend well against pure single- or double-leg shots.

Mechanics

From a striking stance, attacking from neutral range:

• Hand fight: control of the opponent's wrists or biceps to manage their defensive grips.
• Level change: drop the hips with knees bent and back straight.
• Penetration step: lead foot steps deep between the opponent's feet, knee dropping to the mat or close to it.
• Arm position: lead arm reaches between the opponent's legs from outside; hand grips the inner thigh.
• Head position: head on the inside of the captured leg (between the opponent's legs), facing the opponent's hip.
• Finish options:
  • Lift the captured leg: stand up with the leg in the high-crotch grip, then drive the opponent over the standing leg.
  • Convert to double-leg: the off-side arm reaches to grab the other leg.
  • Trip the standing leg: the lead foot hooks the standing leg for an inside trip.

What the high crotch is for

• Against good sprawlers: the head-inside position is more difficult to defend with a standard sprawl.
• Setup for chain wrestling: the high crotch chains into singles, doubles, and body locks if the initial finish fails.
• Penetration depth: the high crotch puts the attacker deeper into the opponent's space than a typical single-leg shot.

Common errors

• Head outside: the head needs to be on the inside (between the opponent's legs) for the high crotch. Head outside is a head-outside single-leg, a different technique.
• Shallow penetration: not stepping deep enough leaves the attacker exposed to a guillotine choke or a sprawl.
• Single-direction finish: thinking only about one finish (lift vs trip vs double) when the opponent's reaction dictates which is available.
• Standing up too high after the entry: rising before the takedown completes lets the opponent base out.

Defense

• Guillotine choke: from a stuffed shot or sprawled position, locking the front headlock and finishing the guillotine.
• Whizzer-and-sprawl: overhooking the attacker's shoulder while throwing the legs back.
• Hip down on the head: sitting on the back of the attacker's head once they're committed to the shot, preventing the lift.
• Front headlock: securing the front headlock once the shot is stuffed and looking for the back-take or guillotine.

Variations

• Standing high crotch: from a standing entry rather than a knee-drop entry.
• High crotch to double: as the attacker controls the high crotch, the off-side arm reaches for the other leg.
• High crotch to trip: the lead foot hooks the standing leg for an inside trip finish.
• High crotch from clinch: from over-under clinch range, dropping levels through the underhook for the high crotch entry.

Exemplified by

• Cain Velasquez: the high-crotch lift takedowns that finished Brock Lesnar at UFC 121.
• Daniel Cormier: Olympic freestyle high-crotch takedowns that produced the LHW and HW title-defense run.
• Henry Cejudo: Olympic-gold freestyle high crotches integrated with chain-wrestling.
• Kamaru Usman: welterweight high-crotch entries that built his fence-pressure title reign.

Drills

• Solo penetration reps: 50 high-crotch entry reps per side, focused on knee-to-mat depth and inside-head position.
• Partner cooperative reps: drilling the entry against a cooperative partner.
• Partner half-resistance: defender sprawls; attacker chains to a follow-up double-leg or trip.
• Live wrestling rounds: 5 × 3 min wrestling-only rounds where the high crotch is the primary shot.