My GUARD PASSING sucks!

[bjornvil]

Alright... I need some help guys.

As the thread title says... my passing pretty much sucks!

I've been doing BJJ for just under a year. I hang with some blues, get smashed by some whites, dominate others... you know the drill. Basically I'm half decent and get submitted more than I submit (obviously :icon_lol. Bear in mind that my gym is a fairly new one, my instructor is a brown belt, we have a purple, a handful of blues and then whites of all skill levels (new --> borderline blue).

I have a decent guard, some guys have a real problem passing while others pass with little trouble and I hit a sweep here and there.

My biggest frustration with my "game" if you can call it that is that my passing pretty much sucks!

I've learned a few good passes, and I have a pretty good understanding of the technique when drilling, but in live rolling I hardly ever hit the passes I've learned like we drill them.

My passing game is pretty much like this: Start standing > try a standing pass I've learned > almost get swept on my ass > get on my knees and crawl into half guard > improvise > get swept/pass the guard.

When I get into half guard it's like I forget everything I've learned and just try to improvise something off the top off my head.

Do you guys have any generic advise that might help me with my guard passing? I would really appreciate some help here guys!

Videos of some passes are welcome, but not necessary as I think it's not that I don't know any good passes, it's just that I can't seem to use them effectively!

Thanks guys!

 

[bnosam]

Roll with your instructor if possible, ask him for advice on your passing when you try to pass. Ask him for the details that you're doing wrong.

 

[Mat Nemesis**]

so you are standing to pass, do you have one sleeve controlled?

this makes it a lot easier and you can step up with that foot first.
-you can grab his lapel also.

if he tries to underhook you one leg, turn your knee in. you do not want to let him get the crook of his elbow against/under your leg.

if he grabs both your ankles hip forward and you can get to the point where you can grab both his lapels to stabalize yourself and pass.

braulio has some good stuff on cagefilm.com

 

[Waldorf]

I'm no expert, but guard passing is probably the best part of my game. I don't really try to do any particular pass and I don't think of passes as certain techniques, like an armbar from guard or somethign. I try to keep certain postures and apply cetain pressures depending on what my opponent is doing. One thing I always try to fight for, wether in a combat base, or standing is inside position. Grips on the inside of the legs, grabing the pant if gi, and I try to grab at the top of the shin near the knees no gi. If I can control his inside, I think I have a decent chance of passing. I try and keep my posture good-head up, elbows tight to body.

Once I have my grips, it depends on what he is doing. If he is pushing hard against my grips maybe I'll slide my hands under and pass like that. If he is pushing real hard I'll try to zone his legs out and go around. Most of the time I'll try to put his legs one side of center or another as he fights the grips, I'll try to sprawl on his legs and smash his hips and then pass around to his back side. Mostly though its about getting that inside control you control the legs, control the hips and all kinds of passes open up.

Half guard I use more structured passes, but first thing I try to do is kill their posture. Flatten them open with my head, or a cross face and fight for that far side under hook. If I win that battle I think odds are with me passing, so that is the battle I'm putting all my effort into.

 

[THAIBOXINJUNKIE]

work harder

 

[Knuckles69]

braulio has some good stuff on cagefilm.com

I learned my go to pass from him at a seminar of his when he was a brown belt. I use it almost exclusively when passing the guard with gi and it works 98% of the time. When I'm asked to show it to others they are consistently underwhelmed because it looks simple, but the simple things are the ones that work.

Guard passing is a lot about the hips. Both your hips and your opponents hips. You need to control their hips if possible while creating weight and pressure with yours at the right time. This involves a lot of feel for when you sink your hips, when you use a hand or knee to control your opponents hips etc. Giving you a guard pass is like teaching a kata in a TMA in that you'll get some priciples but it'll be at least a little different in real application against a reacting/resisting opponent.

My advice is to concentrate on the hips - both yours and your opponents and react appropriately. This is a matter of feel and experience.

 

[method115]

I sort of had the same problem. I would get stuck in half guard all the time and not be able to get passed it. I just looked up some videos on what to do and eventually I was able to pass someones guard. The best thing to do is ask the people your training with what your doing wrong. There going to be the ones who know best.

 

[bjornvil]

Thanks for your replies everybody...

*Frustrated sigh*

Maybe my guard passing isn't even the weak part of my Jiu Jitsu... Maybe it's as weak as my guard hehe. My guard passing percentage is probably very similar to my sweep/submit from guard percentage.

I just need to continue working hard! I don't care about winning guys who have less experience than me... I want to win guys that have been doing BJJ longer than me and are better than me! That's my motivation to keep training, and the only way I can close that gap and eventually get better than those guys is by training more and harder than them!

Sorry for the rant guys. I just feel like I'm hitting a wall right now and it's a little bit frustrating :icon_chee

 

[Fedorzilla]

 

[DevinTheDewd]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you've only been training a year. Keep practicing. But if you really want to get better then practice passing it all the time. Sweep, get on top, position yourself where you want to pass from and if it fails, REPEAT. Once you've done this thousands of times you will be pretty good at it.

 

[JerseyTrash]

Most of the time I watch new white belts, they overlook the importance of controlling their opponent's legs. They grab arms and collars, while the guy can freely keep them at bay with his legs.

 

[Calibur]

Most of the time I watch new white belts, they overlook the importance of controlling their opponent's legs. They grab arms and collars, while the guy can freely keep them at bay with his legs.

Oh really? Because the problem I see with white belt passing is their desperate attempts to control their opponents legs, while not knowing how to stop the hips from moving.

 

[pwrforward8]

Work on strengthening your mid section stomach muscles thighs etc, add swimming to your work out and not just hanging out in the pool but at least to start a full hour of keeping yourself a float and swimming, plus use an elliptical trainer.

 

[Kalma]

I can relate to this very strongly. I have started Judo recently and when it's time for free newaza I just get mauled.

99% of the time people pull guard on me. I've been shown 2 or 3 basic ways to attempt to start passing the guard but its so hard .

As a drill when they let me through their guard, yeah I get it. When it's free for all I struggle.

Though I quite like it cause it's so dam hard to beat (for me at this stage). Im at the point where I want to make it my missionto master passsing guard.

Im thinking of throwing some BJJ lessons in the mix to help learn some more techniques.

Let us know how you go with your Guard Passing. I'm very keen to hear as I think I know how you feel.

 

[206warrior]

I can relate to this very strongly. I have started Judo recently and when it's time for free newaza I just get mauled.

99% of the time people pull guard on me. I've been shown 2 or 3 basic ways to attempt to start passing the guard but its so hard .

As a drill when they let me through their guard, yeah I get it. When it's free for all I struggle.

Though I quite like it cause it's so dam hard to beat (for me at this stage). Im at the point where I want to make it my missionto master passsing guard.

Im thinking of throwing some BJJ lessons in the mix to help learn some more techniques.

Let us know how you go with your Guard Passing. I'm very keen to hear as I think I know how you feel.

Nice man, keep it up!

 

[jarra22]

To me it just sounds like once you get in half guard you kinda mentally freeze and forget what to do so you should just keep on practicing until its habit and u have the muscle memory.

 

[SPRAWL42]

A really overlooked detail in passing is footwork. Everyone is so worried about what there hands are doing but they pay no attention to there feet.Give this pass a try its my best pass.

YouTube - Saulo Ribeiro, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Revolution 2, The X-Pass

 

[bjornvil]

A really overlooked detail in passing is footwork. Everyone is so worried about what there hands are doing but they pay no attention to there feet.Give this pass a try its my best pass.

YouTube - Saulo Ribeiro, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Revolution 2, The X-Pass

Thanks man! That's actually really similar to a pass I know. The biggest difference I can see is that instead of the grip on the collar, I have a grip on the other pant leg as well.

It's a good pass, I just don't have a lot of success with it since, like you say, I don't have the footwork quite down yet

 

[joe90210]

I learned my go to pass from him at a seminar of his when he was a brown belt. I use it almost exclusively when passing the guard with gi and it works 98% of the time. When I'm asked to show it to others they are consistently underwhelmed because it looks simple, but the simple things are the ones that work.

Guard passing is a lot about the hips. Both your hips and your opponents hips. You need to control their hips if possible while creating weight and pressure with yours at the right time. This involves a lot of feel for when you sink your hips, when you use a hand or knee to control your opponents hips etc. Giving you a guard pass is like teaching a kata in a TMA in that you'll get some priciples but it'll be at least a little different in real application against a reacting/resisting opponent.

My advice is to concentrate on the hips - both yours and your opponents and react appropriately. This is a matter of feel and experience.

how about explaining Braulio's pass.....?

 

[redaxe]

When you pass standing, take a step back with one foot, so that your stance is staggered, and your hips are facing diagonally, not directly toward your opponent. This makes it harder for him to put his feet on your waist and sweep you.

Bend your leading knee and use it to put weight down on your opponent's hamstring. Use your elbows to block his feet from getting inside of your knees, and use your hands to grip the pants on the inside below the knee to control the legs.

From there you can either try to pin one leg to the mat and work a knee slide pass, or grab both pant legs and step back to go for a bullfighter pass, or cross-grip the pants to go for an x-pass, or underhook a leg to go for a stacking pass.