Get Out!

Escaping side control is one of the things that people struggle with in grappling. It's not easy. One of the biggest things that makes escaping side control difficult is addressing it to late. It is much easier to escape side control or positions like it if you begin your escape as soon as you realize you've lost position. When you are just beginning your escape after your opponent has already established head control and flattened you out, your journey back to a comfortable position is by nature much harder. So the first step is recognizing you have a problem. If you recognize the problem, then you can go about solving it. There are many types of side control and many escapes for each one, but the overarching goals are keep their weight off of you using frames, keep your limbs protected, and remove one of your shoulder blades from the ground. The theory is much more difficult than the practice, so it will probably continue to frustrate you throughout your bjj career as you find people who are better and better to train with, but just working on those three things will lessen your suffering and make you much harder to pin down.