Visualizing the movement of your opponent

When visualizing a movement, I find it very helpful to also visualize how the opponent's body will move as a consequence of the technique. Nooo, I am not saying that you need to visualize your opponent tapping out with their face bunched up in agony (although if this motivates you, go right ahead, you sadistic shit 😝).

Of course, don't forget to do the movement yourself- a fully resisting opponent ain't gonna move his/her ass for you. Rather, knowing how the opponent should be consequently moving helps you self-diagnose whether you are doing it right/wrong. Rather than scratching your head trying to remember the "how", you shift your focus to the "what" instead, and let your reflexes "execute" the technique from there.

As a nice bonus, understanding how the opponent should be affected helps answer why something did/did not work.

Examples:

- When doing the overhead/backward roll sweep in De la Riva or Reverse De la Riva, it is not enough to simply yank your opponent, roll backwards, and hope for the best; the opponent's head, hips, and feet must be in very specific positions during the sweep

- When doing the flower sweep, after you yank their torso forward with your legs, imagine the opponent being "flipped over" as you use the leg grip.

- When doing the hip bump sweep, you do not push your opponent straight back; rather, the opponent's body draws an arc as s/he flips over.

- When doing standup foot trips, it is not enough to yank the opponent's foot; your opponent must be actively falling backwards (alternatively, the upper body lean is very important).

- The difference between an arm throw and a hip toss is that in the arm throw, the opponent is hurled forward, whereas in a hip toss, the opponent "slides" sideways off of your hips.