We know how it feels. Your next sparring partner is a BJJ purple, brown, or black belt… And boy, are they better than you. They can tap you out and they can do it whenever they want. Almost literally whenever during a roll. They’re that much better than you are.
How in the world are you supposed to deal with this? How to approach rolling with someone who’s a much better BJJ athlete than you are?

Nick “Chewy” Albin has a suggestion.

ROLLING WITH A MUCH BETTER BJJ ATHLETE

Chewy explains that the most important thing while rolling with a much better BJJ practitioner is to remind yourself to not take it too seriously. That is to say: sure, you want to put on your best performance… But wanting to do that can lead to overthinking.
You might start worrying that you’re going to walk straight into a trap that this higher rank is setting you up for. Or that you’re going to embarrass yourself by trying to do something.

But the thing is, if you don’t try anything new, you won’t improve. Besides, those higher ranks are supposed to be able to set up traps for you – they’re supposed to be capable of tapping you out every 30 seconds. If they wanted to; though this probably isn’t in their interest.
What is in their interest is to have a good roll. Even if that means that they’re rolling with a no-stripe white belt, they still want you to learn and to enjoy the experience.

So, whatever you do, try not to overthink it. If they catch you, they catch you – who cares? It’s just another tap or a mistake out of a million that you’ll be making.
And, as long as you’re making sure to take advantage from these mistakes and taps – to learn from them – you’re going to be much better off with just going for it. And enjoying your BJJ journey, just like you’re supposed to.