What the smash pass is
The smash pass folds both of your partner’s knees to one side and pins their legs under your weight, so the legs cannot come back between you. It is also called the folding pass. It belongs to the pressure family in our guide to BJJ guard passing.
The name is used loosely. Some instructors also call the stack pass a smash pass, and the leg weave is sometimes called the hip smash. Here the smash pass means the fold to one side.
It fits once you control your partner’s legs and can bring your weight onto them: against half guard and Z guard, and against butterfly guard, where folding both knees to one side takes the hooks out of play. With the knees folded and stacked on top of each other, your partner’s hips turn onto their side and their arms are left to do the defending.
Folding the legs and settling your weight
The fold comes from your body. Angle your chest against the top leg as you push both knees to one side, then bring your weight down onto the legs rather than the hip. Weight on the hip leaves the legs free to push you away, or to hook and sweep you.
Cover your partner’s legs with your own for stability. Then take the upper body with one of the grips below and keep your head close to their shoulder, where it can push their upper body back toward the mat.
Against a knee shield, the fold takes the shield away by pinning the shield leg down on top of the bottom leg, and the pass can continue from there to side control. Instructors enter the fold from the knee shield in different ways.
Grips, gi and no-gi
- Folds the kneesHands on the knees, or on the pants at the knees, push both knees to the same side.
- Pins the legsYour hips settle on their thighs, with your chest adding weight.
- Controls the upper bodyA crossface, an underhook or a grip on the far elbow, with your head beside their shoulder.
Without the gi
Without the gi, the hands push on the knees or thighs instead of gripping the pants. The pin itself works the same way.
Used against
How the bottom player counters it
- Frame and hip escapeBefore the weight settles, a frame against the passer and a hip escape make room to bring the legs back between you.
- Underhook and come upWinning the near underhook lets the bottom player turn toward the passer instead of staying flat.
- Turning to the kneesTurning away onto the knees as the fold lands keeps the passer from pinning the hips.
Clearing the legs and finishing
With the legs pinned and the upper body held, you choose a finish. Common ones are clearing the legs to side control, climbing straight to mount, putting a knee between the legs before you climb to mount, and taking the back when your partner turns away. Instructors differ on which finish they teach first.
In one version, the side control finish keeps the far elbow trapped while you clear your far leg with a windshield wiper motion. The mount finish in that version starts with your near leg blocking near their knees and your head turning from their chest to face their back. You then switch your hips, scoop their legs with your far leg and lock your legs in a triangle around them before you square up and take the mount.
Side control and mount work as a pair. A partner who blocks your path to side control often leaves the mount open, and a partner who guards against the mount often leaves side control open. Switching between the two finishes keeps your partner defending both.
Common smash pass mistakes
Pushing the legs over with your arms is the first. Straight arms hold your weight off the legs, and the legs come back as soon as your arms tire or let go.
Letting go of the upper body is the second. Without the crossface, underhook or elbow, your partner can shrimp away and put their frames back in, even with the legs still folded.
Rushing the finish is the third. Moving around the legs before your weight has settled on them gives your partner space to recover guard before you are past.
What a reviewer looks for in your smash pass
On your footage, a black belt looks at how long your arms did the work before your body took over, and at where your weight landed: on the legs or on the hip. They also check what you did when one finish was blocked: whether you switched to the other or kept pushing. In a roll review, a verified black belt marks these moments with timestamps and sets homework drills for the part that stalls.