Smash Pass
The smash pass is a pressure-based guard pass where the top player folds the bottom player's legs to one side, driving their knees toward their face or chest while applying heavy crossface and hip pressure. It is used when you can control at least one of your opponent's legs and collapse their guard structure by smashing their lower body flat, eliminating hip mobility and framing ability.
Quick Reference
Key principles
- · Pin the opponent's bottom knee to the mat using your hip weight, eliminating their ability to re-guard or shrimp.
- · Crossface pressure drives their head away from you, flattening their shoulders and killing their frames.
- · Keep your hips low and heavy—elevating your hips lets them recover guard or create scrambles.
- · Control the near-side leg or underhook to prevent them from turning into you or inserting a knee shield.
- · Anticipate the opponent shrimping away by advancing your knee past their hip line before they can create space.
Execution
- 1 Secure control of one or both legs by stapling the bottom leg with your shin or knee while collapsing their top knee across their centerline toward the mat.
- 2 Establish a deep crossface with your shoulder driving into their jaw, and secure an underhook or collar grip on the far side to flatten them.
- 3 Drop your hips low onto their folded legs, using your bodyweight to pin their thighs to their torso and eliminate hip escape space.
- 4 Walk your hips around their compressed legs, sliding your knee past their hip while maintaining constant chest-to-chest or shoulder pressure.
- 5 Clear the legs entirely and settle into side control, mount, or take the back depending on their reaction.
Common mistakes
- × Staying too upright or posting on hands instead of driving weight through the shoulder and hips, allowing the opponent to create frames and recover guard.
- × Failing to control the bottom leg before applying pressure, letting the opponent pummel a knee shield or half guard hook back in.
- × Rushing to clear the legs without first flattening the opponent's shoulders with the crossface, resulting in them turning into you and re-establishing guard.
Do it from
Positions and situations where the Smash Pass shows up.
9 less common
Chains into
Where to go next when the Smash Pass lands, or gets defended.
Where it lands
The position you end up in.
Common defenses
How opponents shut the Smash Pass down.
Use it against
The Smash Pass is an answer to these.
Show 1
Chains & Sequences
Commonly taught paths through the graph that feature this technique.
Butterfly Half Folding Pass to Mount
Knee Cut Smash Truck Back Take
