Let’s do a quick mental experiment.
Think about your favourite guard pass; your go-to passing technique you use when you want to pass the guard of a tough opponent.
Visualise the steps one by one.
Now tell me, did you a) Pass to your left and end up on your opponent’s right side, or b) Pass to your right and end up on your opponent’s left side?
If you’re like 70% of people, you probably passed to your left side and ended up on your opponent’s right side (like in the picture at the top of this article). The bias towards passing to that side is totally normal. People tend to favour that side.
Almost nobody is equally good at defending both sides of the guard. And since the majority of guard passes in training are to the left, people get really good at defending that corresponding side.
This has at least two implications which you can use to double your guard passing percentages…
- Develop at least one guard pass where you get around your opponent’s legs to the right, and
- If you’re having problems passing an opponent’s guard in one direction (typically to the left) then change directions and go the other way (typically to the right). Sometimes a change of direction all that was needed.
Give this a shot on the mats and let me know how it works!
Stephan
3 Guard Passes vs Flexible Guard Players
Every club has one of those long limbed, super flexible gumby guard players who can put both of his own legs behind his own head without using his hands.
Passing the guard of these kind of guys sucks. You fight, fight, fight to get past the legs and then, just as you’re about to solidify your pin, a leg pops out of nowhere and – BAMM – you’re back in the guard where you started. Nothing has changed except now you’re just more tired and frustrated.
Click here to learn the three best guard passes to use against gumbys!
My Favourite Guard Pass
My new favourite guard pass uses opposite corner control (shoulder and knee) to rotate the body of your opponent plus a kick to disengage his hooks and prevent him from following you. I call it the ‘Kung Fu’ or the ‘Punch, Pull, Kick Pass’.
I’ve been pulling this off consistently for a couple of months now, both against butterfly guard and also against some other forms of open guard.
Here’s how to do the Kung Fu Pass!
How to Do the Leg Weave Guard Pass… And Counter It Too!
The ‘Leg Weave’ pass (also known as the ‘Hip Smash’) is a pressure guard passing technique that relies on correctly positioning your bodyweight to pin your opponent’s hips and then methodically work your way past his legs.
It relies more on sensitivity, weight distribution, and patience than on speed and athleticism. As such it’s a great pass for older, slower grapplers to use against the young punks.
Click here to learn the ins and outs of the leg weave pass.
The post A Simple Hack to Double Your Guard Passing Percentage appeared first on Grapplearts.