Inside heel hook
A submission (leg lock) you hit from Saddle (Inside Sankaku), 50/50 and K-guard. Advanced level.
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Starts from
Get to one of these positions first, then look for the inside heel hook.
Key steps
Leg lock. Tap early in training, and let go as soon as your partner taps.
- Trap their leg in the saddle or 50/50
- Expose their heel
- Wrap your arm around the heel
- Turn your whole body to finish, slowly
They hide their heel: switch to the toe hold.
Common mistakes
Finishing fast in training.
- IBJJF: illegal in the gi at every belt; in no-gi, legal only for adult brown and black belts
- Control the knee before you finish, and go slowly with partners
How to defend it
Where you’ll face it
You’re most likely to get caught in it from these positions. Each one has its escapes.
Related positions & techniques
- Starts from
- Saddle (Inside Sankaku)50/50
- Defend it
- How to escape the inside heel hook
- Similar submissions
- Straight ankle lockOutside heel hookToe holdKneebar (Hiza Juji Gatame)Calf slicerEstima lock
- In courses
- Leg lock set
Safety and research
Learn it under a coach, apply it slowly, and tap early when you’re caught. Check your gym’s and tournament’s rules first.
A 2026 study of IBJJF no-gi competitors found knee injuries were about 12 times more likely for athletes exposed to heel hooks (26.5 vs 2.2 per 1,000 matches). In a 2025 survey, inside heel hooks caused 8% of submission injuries. Learn under supervision, hide your heel, and tap early.
Source: Piekarski et al., Knee Injury in Competitive BJJ Athletes: Implications for Training, Sports Health (2026); Stegerhoek et al., Injury prevalence among BJJ practitioners globally: 881 participants, BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine (2025)
Practice
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