Outside Heel Hook
Submission · Leg Locks
A heel hook from the outside: the heel is turned on your forearm near the wrist, and the twist travels through the ankle into the knee. It comes from outside ashi garami when he turns his knee out and the heel opens. Keep his knee pinned between your thighs, past your hips, so he cannot spin with the rotation. Cup the heel from the outside on your forearm near the wrist, his toes trapped under your armpit, clasp your hands and pull the elbow to your ribs. Finish by turning your upper body slowly outward, the whole chest with the grip, never the arms alone. It loads the ankle and the outside of the knee; usually a little less catastrophic than the inside version, but there is no pain warning before it tears. If he hides the heel, switch to the straight ankle lock. Under IBJJF only brown and black belts in no-gi: rotate slowly, tap early.
How to do it
- From outside ashi, keep their knee pinned between your thighs, the knee past your hips, so they cannot pull the leg back or spin.
- Trap their foot against your side under your armpit, so they cannot turn the toes and hide the heel.
- Catch the heel from the outside on your forearm near the wrist, not deep in the crook of the elbow, with his foot flat against your bicep and ribs.
- Clasp your hands palm to palm and pull the elbow tight to your ribs, so arm, heel and chest move as one piece.
- Before any rotation, check the knee line: if their knee has slipped back in front of your hips, re-pin it first.
- Finish: lock your legs tight around his leg and turn them one way while chest and shoulders turn the heel the other way, elbow glued to your ribs. The counter-rotation puts the twist into the outside of the knee with little movement; turn gradually and release at the first tap.
Key details
- The pinned knee is the hold; the heel is the lever. With a free knee they turn with the rotation and the lock disappears.
- Rotate with your torso, never with a jerk: the chest turns the heel smoothly and gives them time to feel it and tap.
- The foot trapped under your armpit stops them turning the toes to slip the heel out of your elbow.
- Elbow tight to your ribs: a gap between arm and body lets the heel slide out of the grip.
- Keep his foot flexed, toes toward his shin: a flat foot locks the heel to the shin, so turning the heel turns the knee; a pointed foot gives and slips.
Common mistakes
- Rotating with the arms only. — The arms are weak and the heel slips out of the elbow crook. — Keep the elbow on your ribs and turn chest and shoulders together with the grip.
- Grabbing the heel before the knee is pinned. — A free knee lets them turn out of the entanglement as you rotate. — Pinch the thigh between your thighs, knee past your hips, then take the heel.
- Waiting for the partner to feel pain before stopping. — The knee ligaments tear before pain arrives, so pain comes too late as a signal. — Rotate slowly with the torso and release at the first tap; partners tap as soon as they feel the heel is caught.
If they defend
- They spin toward the heel. → Follow the spin and keep the knee line.
How to drill it
Heel exposure and grip, no rotation, 10 reps each side; then positional rounds where only control scores.
Safety
Heel hooks damage the knee before pain warns you: rotate slowly with the torso, release on the tap and tap early. Banned in the IBJJF gi; in no-gi only for brown and black belts.
What comes next
Where it comes from