One of the key factors in having a solid guard in BJJ is good fundamental hip movement. A great drill for you guys to practice is the double under pass hip escape. The way to do this drill is to have your training partner pass double under but allowing some space for you to move your hips easily. The bottom man is going to block the hips while doing a quick hip escape away creating just enough distance to slide the near leg inside. After the near leg works inside the goal is to toss the outside leg over your training partners head which will successfully block his guard pass. The purpose of the drill is for you to then allow your partner to pass to the other side where you can repeat the drill over and over for about 2 min ( this should be a good workout so move quickly). Another great drill you can do by yourself is to hip escape to your stomach as we do in the warmup. You should be able to get to your knees fast by scissoring your legs low to the mat. I good tip to remember when on bottom is to never let your opponent “Set” your hips! If you allow the top man to pin your hips down he will be able to pass with ease. If you watch the best guard players in jiu jitsu, they never stop moving and creating space on the bottom. Work on your hip movement and you guys will see some great improvements in your guard game! Let me know if you have any questions about any of these drills.
Sean
