BJJ Memo vs a Spreadsheet: Which Actually Keeps You Revising Techniques

TL;DR. A BJJ technique spreadsheet is free, fully customizable, and great if you love building systems. BJJ Memo is purpose-built to turn YouTube instructionals into structured technique cards you actually revise. Spreadsheets win on flexibility and cost; BJJ Memo wins on capture speed, video timestamps, and a review flow that fits into real training weeks. Pick the spreadsheet if you enjoy maintenance; pick BJJ Memo if you want the notes to stay usable six months from now.

If you have ever typed "bjj technique spreadsheet" into Google, you already know the appeal. A clean sheet with tabs for positions, submissions, and open questions feels like control. The problem is not building the spreadsheet. The problem is still opening it the week before class, two months after you made it. This article compares a DIY spreadsheet against BJJ Memo with one honest filter: which one do you actually use to revise before you step on the mat.

Founder disclosure

I built BJJ Memo, so I am clearly biased. I have also run a technique spreadsheet, a paper notebook, a Notion database, and a Google Drive folder full of saved videos. None of them stuck for me, which is why BJJ Memo exists. I will try to be honest about where a spreadsheet is still the better tool, and where my own app falls short.

Who each option is for

The BJJ technique spreadsheet

A spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers) is for the grappler who:

Likes designing their own system and iterating on it.
Wants to track more than technique notes: tap counts, roll outcomes, drilling minutes, gym attendance.
Is comfortable with formulas, pivot tables, and conditional formatting.
Works primarily from a laptop or desktop.
Does not need video playback or timestamps inside the file.

If you already keep a training log in Google Sheets and it has survived a full year, you are probably the target user. Keep going.

BJJ Memo

BJJ Memo is for the grappler who:

Watches instructionals on YouTube and forgets the details by the next class.
Wants capture to take seconds, not minutes.
Needs tappable timestamps to re-watch the exact moment a detail was explained.
Revises on the phone, often on the way to the gym.
Would rather have a library that is 80% of what they would have built, with 10% of the maintenance.

If your bottleneck is not organization but actually remembering what you watched, that is the wedge.

Side-by-side comparison

Dimension	BJJ technique spreadsheet	BJJ Memo
Cost	Free (if you already have Sheets/Excel)	Mobile app, paid tier for full features
Primary device	Desktop / laptop	iOS and Android phone
Capture from YouTube	Manual copy/paste of URL and notes	Paste URL → structured card generated
Steps and key details	You write them yourself	Auto-structured from transcript, editable
Video timestamps	Manual, not clickable in most sheets	Tappable timestamps to the visual moment
Search	Powerful (filters, formulas)	Built-in across your library
Custom analytics (tap counts, roll logs)	Very strong	Not the focus of the app
Spaced revision flow	DIY — you have to build it	Built in, surfaces cards before training
Offline access on phone	Depends on sync setup	Yes
Maintenance burden	High (you keep the system alive)	Low (capture is a few taps)
Export / own your data	Full control	Export of cards is supported

Remember. A tool only helps if you still use it in month six. Pick the one you will actually open on a Thursday night before Friday's class.

Strengths of each option

What a spreadsheet does genuinely well

Total control over structure. You can shape columns exactly to how your game is organized — by position, by grip, by opponent archetype.
Cross-tracking. One sheet can hold techniques, rolling notes, injuries, drilling minutes, and competition prep. BJJ Memo intentionally does not try to be a full training journal.
Analytics. If you want to count how many times you got swept from half guard this month, a pivot table will tell you in seconds.
Portability of data. CSV is the most durable format on earth. Nothing beats a sheet you own forever.
Zero cost. For a hobbyist who already pays for an instructional or two a year, free is free.

What BJJ Memo does genuinely well

Capture speed. Pasting a URL takes seconds. Writing the same card by hand in a spreadsheet takes ten to fifteen minutes, and that friction is usually what kills the system.
Structured cards. Every card has steps, key details, and common mistakes in a predictable layout. You do not have to re-invent the template for every technique.
Timestamps that jump to the moment. When you revise and you want to see the detail again, one tap puts you back in the exact second of the video.
A review flow designed for grapplers. Cards resurface before training, not on a generic schedule.
Phone-first. The app lives where you already scroll, on the device you take to the gym.

For the article-equivalent of a full note-taking method-off, see Best BJJ Note-Taking Methods Compared.

Where BJJ Memo is honestly stronger (reasons, not adjectives)

Friction between watching a video and having a usable note. In a spreadsheet, capture is a manual job. You pause the video, type the position, type the steps, type the time-codes, hope you spelled them right. In BJJ Memo the card is generated from the transcript, and you edit instead of create. Edit is a far smaller task than create, and small tasks survive busy weeks.
Timestamps are first-class. A spreadsheet can hold a URL and a note like "2:14 — grip switch". It cannot jump you there. BJJ Memo does. When you have thirty cards and you want the one moment that mattered, tap-to-play changes behavior.
The review surface is built in. Most grapplers who run a spreadsheet never set up a revision schedule. They mean to. BJJ Memo defaults to surfacing cards for revision — if you want the thinking behind that, this spaced repetition plan for grapplers is the method the app is built around.
Mobile ergonomics. You revise on the subway, in the changing room, in the car before class. A spreadsheet on a phone is readable; it is not pleasant. A card designed for mobile is both.
Lower cognitive overhead. Spreadsheets reward people who enjoy building systems. For everyone else, the system itself becomes the project and the technique revision never happens.

Remember. The best note is not the one with the most columns. It is the one you re-read the day before training.

Where BJJ Memo is honestly weaker (mandatory)

Bulk editing. A spreadsheet can rename fifty rows in a second. BJJ Memo is built for one card at a time.
Custom analytics. If you want to count rolls, taps given, taps received, submissions landed, and chart them over a quarter, a sheet is the right tool. BJJ Memo does not try to be a stats dashboard.
Desktop workflow. Some people genuinely prefer a keyboard, a big screen, and multiple panes. The app experience is primarily mobile.
Non-YouTube sources. The strongest workflow starts from a YouTube URL. If your main source is private instructional platforms, DVDs, or seminar footage you filmed yourself, the capture pipeline is less of an advantage. For that, see BJJ Memo vs Notion for a Technique Library.
You do not own the file format directly. You can export cards, but you cannot open them in Excel and run a formula. That is a real trade-off for the spreadsheet crowd.
It costs money. A spreadsheet you already have is free. The app has a paid tier. For some people that single line is enough to decide.

Final recommendation by user profile

If you are a spreadsheet person at heart

Keep the spreadsheet. Add a column for "last revised" and actually look at it. If you already have a sheet that has survived a year of training, do not throw it out for an app. Pair it with a simple revision ritual — see what to review the night before training.

If you are a self-studier drowning in YouTube tabs

BJJ Memo is built for exactly this person. Your bottleneck is not organization; it is turning watch time into reps. Start by capturing the next three instructionals you watch and revising the cards the night before class.

If you are a competitor who needs analytics and a technique library

Use both. Keep the spreadsheet for roll logs, tap counts, and competition data. Keep BJJ Memo for the technique library you actually revise. They do not overlap meaningfully.

If you are a coach

A spreadsheet will not get students to review class. A phone-first card library has a chance. The honest version of this is in the coach's guide to getting students to review class material.

If you are a beginner in your first year

Pick the lower-friction tool and get to mat time. For most beginners that is BJJ Memo, because the real risk at white belt is not that your system is suboptimal — it is that you stop capturing anything by month three.

Frequently asked questions

Is a BJJ technique spreadsheet actually useful, or just a hobby?

It is genuinely useful if you maintain it. The honest failure mode is not that the spreadsheet is bad — it is that logging a technique takes long enough that you skip it on tired evenings, and within a couple of months the sheet is a graveyard of entries from your first week of enthusiasm.

What should I track in a BJJ Excel or Google Sheets tracker?

At minimum: date, position, technique name, source (video URL or class), three or four key details, and a "last revised" date. Anything beyond that is optional. More columns usually mean fewer completed rows.

Can I use a spreadsheet and BJJ Memo together?

Yes, and many serious hobbyists do. Use the spreadsheet for data you want to chart (rolls, taps, competition results, drilling minutes) and BJJ Memo for the technique cards you want to revise before class. They solve different jobs.

Does BJJ Memo replace a coach or mat time?

No, and it is not meant to. BJJ Memo is a retention and revision tool. For real feedback, correction, and safety, train the technique at a legit academy with a qualified coach. The app helps you remember what the coach already taught you.

What about Notion, Google Docs, or a paper notebook instead of a spreadsheet?

Those comparisons are their own article. See BJJ Memo vs Paper vs Phone Notes and BJJ Memo vs Google Docs for Notes for the honest version of each.

How long should it take to log a new technique?

Under three minutes, ideally under one. If your system takes longer than that, you will skip it on busy weeks, and the system that gets skipped on busy weeks is the one that fails first. This is the single biggest reason spreadsheets lose over time.

A soft CTA

If your bottleneck right now is remembering what you watched rather than organizing a quarterly dashboard, try BJJ Memo for a month. Paste the next three YouTube instructionals you open, revise the cards the night before training, and see whether you land anything new in rolling. If it does not help, keep the spreadsheet — that is a fair outcome.

For real feedback on the technique itself, train it at a legit academy with a qualified coach. BJJ Memo helps you remember and revise; it does not replace mat time.

Last updated 2026-11-09.