How To Turn An Almost-Pass Into A Real Pass

You know the feeling…

You almost passed someone's guard, but somehow they still manage to recover.

You cleared the legs, controlled the hips, and for a moment the pass feels close.

But then they turn back in, create space, and suddenly their legs are back between you again.

One detail that can help here is climbing your control higher instead of staying focused only on the hips.

We are talking about the moment after you already passed the legs and are trying to stabilize the position.

What many people do here is focus only on pinning the hips.

And of course, hip control is important.

But against good guard players, staying only at the hips often gives them enough freedom to frame, turn, shrimp, and recover their guard.

Instead of staying low, start looking for ways to climb your control higher.

This can mean controlling the shoulder, the tricep, or getting a high collar grip near the neck.

The goal is to stop the guard player from turning back into you while disconnecting the upper body from the hips.

That is often what turns an almost-pass into a real pass.

The idea is simple:

First beat the legs.

Then control the hips.

Then climb to the shoulder or neck before they recover.

Try this against the guard players in your gym with strong guard retention and see how it changes the feeling of the pass.

Sometimes the difference between almost passing and actually securing the position is simply climbing your control from the hips to the upper body at the right moment.

😉 Tine 

© 2026 Tine — BJJthoughts