- The Fourth Stripe
- Posts
- TFS#63: Pass With This Grip
TFS#63: Pass With This Grip
You don’t have to look too far for success. You just need to figure out the puzzle in front of you.
Wayne Terran
July 23, 2023
A special thank you to our sponsor who keep this newsletter free to the reader:
The Pacific Shorts are currently the new favorites for No-Gi grapplers across the nation. They’re made with a board shorts style that gives you the freedom to move, dries quickly, and features an internal no-slip drawstring. These shorts are fully IBJJF legal and available in 5 different colors.
You can get them from Gold BJJ at 10% off your order with code FOURTHSTRIPE.
I talk a lot about passing.
But today I’ll keep it short and sweet.
And this concept I’m going to share is really straight forward, you only need to control two things: the shoulder and the leg.
Here we go…
The Shoulder Control
The concept is simple, get perpendicular to your opponent (say you’re passing to the right, their left).
Use your right hand to grip underneath their shoulder, and lift their shoulder up. This forces them to almost sit upright.
The grip is typically best at the upper tricep or directly behind their shoulder, grabbing the fabric.
The Leg Control
You have a few more options for leg control here.
But I personally prefer to control same side collar with the opposite side leg.
So for this issue, if you’re controlling the shoulder with your right hand, use your left hand to control their right leg.
The hand on the leg can also be transferred to the hip to flatten their hips or to block the leg from pummeling.
Summary
If you want to check out further details from Lachlan Gile’s Breakdown, watch here.
It’s a fairly simple concept. Try building your passing style to this concept and play with it in class.
Closing Remarks
Always look to improve your passing, it’s what your instructors notice the most.
If they see you on top more consistently, they’ll see that a big chunk of your game has improved.
You don’t have to look too far for success. You just need to figure out the puzzle in front of you.
For The Dedicated
→ For white belts: You’ll find this piece of tip useful if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
→ For blue belts: Before you make it to purple belt, you need to develop better control in your guard.
→ For your mobility: You need these stretches to undo all the years of sitting.
→ For your future: Every instructor can’t stress the importance of note taking enough.