Review of Guard Passing: Pressure vs Speed

Overview
Passing guard is the art of crossing a minefield without exploding. Two grand strategies dominate: pressure (pin the hips, melt through) and speed (cut angles, force reactions, slice past). The best passers blend both—weight when close, footwork when far.

Who benefits
- Heavyweights who like patience and chest‑to‑chest.
- Lightweights who prefer movement and misdirection.
- Anyone stuck in the opponent’s legs for entire rounds.

Pay‑off
Pressure passing (knee cut, over‑under, headquarters) teaches how to control hips, collapse frames, and win inch by inch. Speed passing (torreando, leg drag, X‑pass) sharpens angle changes and timing. You’ll learn to read knees, grips and off‑balances rather than barging straight ahead.

Watch‑outs
- Driving your head low without controlling the near hip is an invite to guillotines.
- Chasing legs side‑to‑side without pinning a shoulder becomes cardio, not passing.
- Don’t forget to connect chest to hips at the finish—side control escapes begin when you leave space.

Try this round
- Pressure EMOM: 10 mins alternating knee cuts and over‑under entries. Finish every rep in a 3‑count chest‑to‑hip pin.
- Speed ladder: 3×2 minutes torreando to leg drag; reset each out‑of‑bounds.
- Shark tank: Passers rotate every 60s against a fresh guard. Score only when your belly button crosses their knees and you hold side for 3 seconds.

Final word
Pass with principles: control the hips, kill the far shoulder, win the angle. Whether you melt or slice, those rules don’t change.

-Chuk