The banana split: how it works and how to do it
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By Scott Flear, founder of JitsAI.
The banana split is a leg-splitting submission: you trap one of your opponent’s legs with yours, grab the other leg and fall back, so one leg is pulled towards their chest while the other stays pinned. It’s the splits, except you decide when they’ve stretched enough. The groin muscles and the hamstrings of the pulled leg take the stretch. Tap early.
What is a banana split?
The banana split is a submission in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and no-gi grappling that stretches the legs apart. It’s usually set up with a lockdown, both your legs wrapped round one of theirs, and finished by falling back with their other leg.
In the IBJJF illegal-moves table, “submission techniques stretching legs apart” are illegal only for kids aged 4 to 12. From 13 they’re legal, white belts included (IBJJF Rule Book v6, 2024).
How does a banana split work?
Your legs pin one of their legs, your arms hold the other, and falling back puts your whole body behind the pull. Their hips are the hinge.
- The groin. The adductors, the muscles on the inside of the thigh that pull your knees together, stretch as the legs go apart.
- The hamstrings. On the leg pulled towards the chest with the knee straight, the hamstrings stretch from where they attach near the sit bone.
- Someone else sets the range. In your own splits you stop when it’s too much. In a banana split your partner decides, so the tap is your only brake.
How do you do a banana split?
There are several entries. These steps are the finish. Drill it only when your coach says you’re ready.
- Step 1: Trap one leg. Wrap both your legs round one of theirs, the lockdown, so it can’t move.
- Step 2: Grab the other leg. Hook their other leg behind the knee or at the ankle.
- Step 3: Fall back. Roll back, keeping the trapped leg locked, so the free leg comes with you.
- Step 4: Split slowly. Pull the free leg towards their chest while the trapped leg stays pinned. Go slowly and let go the moment they tap.
Common banana split mistakes
- A loose lockdown. If the trapped leg slips, the split disappears. Lock it before you reach for the other leg.
- Yanking the leg. Your partner’s limit may be well short of yours. Pull slowly.
- Thinking flexible means safe. Flexible people still get hurt: the dancers in the study below were injured by slow stretches.
- Waiting it out. Once the legs are trapped and the split starts, there’s nothing to gain by holding on. Tap.
For the other leg attacks, see the knee bar and the calf slicer.
What happens if you don’t tap to a banana split?
Best case, a groin strain. The muscles on the inside of the thigh and the hamstrings of the pulled leg are stretched past their range.
Slow stretching can do real damage. In a study of 15 professional dancers who strained a hamstring for the first time while stretching slowly, every injury happened with the hip bent and the knee straight, and all were high up the back of the thigh, close to the sit bone. They took a median of 50 weeks (30 to 76) to get back to their pre-injury level (Askling et al. 2007). That’s the same direction of stretch the pulled leg gets in a banana split.
Nobody has counted banana split injuries. We found no study of the move in grappling (PubMed search, 25 Oct 2026), so we won’t guess a rate.
How to train the banana split safely
- Tap early. Tap when your legs are trapped and the split starts, not when it hurts.
- Finish slowly and let go on the tap. Pull gradually so your partner has time to tap, and release the moment they do.
- Train under a qualified coach. Learn it in a class, at the level your coach says you’re ready for.
- Get checked if something’s wrong. Seek medical care for pain in the groin or high in the back of the thigh that doesn’t settle, bruising there, or trouble walking after a banana split.
Does your banana split land on everyone, or only on beginners?
Finishing a white belt and finishing a resisting blue belt are different results. JitsAI scores each technique against a nine-level ladder by partner size and experience, so you know who your banana split really works on.
- One Focus a week, with pinned lessons from Henrique Rezende’s 74-lesson fundamentals course.
- A nine-level ladder for every technique, from partners less experienced than you to more experienced ones, each split lighter, same weight and heavier.
- Land it once and it’s a hit; 3 wins across 2 sessions and it’s proven.
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Video transcripts
Transcript: What happens if you don’t tap to a banana split
What happens if you don't tap to a banana split? Best case, a groin pull. Worst case, your hamstring can rip off your sit bone. It's the splits, except someone else decides when you've stretched enough. First, they trap one leg with their legs, the lockdown. Then they grab your other leg, behind the knee or at the ankle. They fall back, one leg pulled to their chest, the other pushed away. Likely first to complain? Your groin muscles. The cables that pull your knees together. The pulled leg's hamstrings stretch from your sit bone, where they're bolted on. Dancers have torn them right there, just doing slow stretches like the splits. Pro dancers hurt like that? About a year to get fully back. Your pelvis? Very unlikely. That takes a high energy hit, not a slow stretch. Banana split injury rates? No study has counted them. Not one. In IBJJF, it's banned for kids up to 12. Legal from 13. White belts too. Tap early. Train tomorrow.
Banana split questions
Is the banana split legal in IBJJF?
From age 13, white belts included. “Submission techniques stretching legs apart” are illegal only for kids aged 4 to 12 (IBJJF Rule Book v6, 2024).
What does a banana split hurt?
The groin muscles on the inside of the thighs, and the hamstrings of the leg pulled towards the chest, near where they attach to the sit bone.
Does being flexible protect you?
Not fully. The dancers in the study above were professionals, and they were hurt by slow stretches (Askling et al. 2007).
How long does a hamstring strain from stretching take to heal?
It depends on the injury, so see a professional. For scale, the dancers took a median of 50 weeks to get back to their pre-injury level (Askling et al. 2007).
What is a lockdown?
A way of trapping one of your opponent’s legs by wrapping both of yours round it, usually from half guard. In the banana split it holds one leg still while you pull the other.
Sources
- Askling et al. (2007), Acute first-time hamstring strains during slow-speed stretching, American Journal of Sports Medicine 35(10): 1716–1724. 15 professional dancers with first-time hamstring strains during slow-speed stretching: all injured during slow hip flexion with the knee extended; all close to the ischial tuberosity; median 50 weeks (range 30–76) to return to pre-injury level.
- IBJJF Rule Book v6 (June 2024), Technical fouls: illegal moves table, p. 29. “Submission techniques stretching legs apart” are illegal for ages 4–12 only.
- PubMed searches run 25 Oct 2026 (the move’s name with jiu-jitsu, grappling or wrestling). “Banana split” with jiu-jitsu, grappling or wrestling returned nothing.
This page explains a sport technique. It isn’t medical advice.