A caveat to begin: Although we certainly do not speak for all producers, we (and we suspect, most producers) do not want to see any of our combatants seriously harmed. We prefer a competitive incentive to win each match within the rules, and we generally expect each woman’s competitive juices to enjoy the competition and to want to either 1) beat her opponent again (if she wins) or 2) avenge her loss (if she loses). Seriously injuring an opponent is usually not beneficial for anyone involved.
With that out of the way, we would like to add our “2 cents” to what we hope will be a good discussion:
1. The “battle of attrition” observation is pretty much right on the money. Holds are harder to maintain for any pin or submission, and there is usually a lot of position reversal going on. There is a slightly greater danger of leg/knee/groin injuries if the match has a lot of “stand-up/take-down” action in it – slippery surfaces coupled with weight coming down on a hyper extended appendage can be a bit dangerous, but that can be handled by starting each fall in a kneeling position.
2. Pins definitely become harder, especially if the match is on a mat and not in some sort of plastic pool.
3. Breast attacks and punching usually become more difficult to use effectively, but not without being visually enjoyable to see.
4. While hairpulling might be more difficult to do (harder to grip) it can become a primary tactic in gaining a head scissors or waist scissors submission. (Hint for the ladies: in your pre-match shower use lots of high quality conditioner to reduce the damage from both the oil and the hairpulling).
5. Punches are generally less “damaging” or effective, but they sound great!
6. Depends on the nature of the match!!!
7. If the clothes are not torn off completely they might be used to hold the opponent in a position for a submission or pin – most of our ladies want the clothing off as quickly as possible to prevent just that.
In summary for tactics in an oil fight: lots of conditioner in the pre-match shower, use hairpulling to control the opponent’s movement and use head scissors as the submission move.
That’s just one opinion – hope to see more in this thread.