Split Squat Pass
The split squat pass: a pressure-based half guard pass using a wide split stance to flatten the bottom player and grind through the guard.
Adapted from the original page. Grappling.Games did not write this. Sources.
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The split squat pass is a pressure pass used primarily from top half guard or from a kneeling-standing position against an open guard. The top player creates a wide split-leg base — one knee on the mat inside the guard, one foot posted far outside — and uses that wide base to pin the bottom player’s hip while working to pass the trapped leg.
The wide base creates two mechanical advantages. First, it is difficult for the bottom player to create the hip escape needed to recover guard when the top player’s weight is spread across a wide base — there is no direction to escape into. Second, the inside knee can drive against the bottom player’s hip line to prevent the half guard recovery while the top player extracts the trapped leg.
Unlike pure pressure passes that rely on chest weight alone, the split squat uses the geometry of the stance to create pressure from the base up, not just from the top down.
INV-P01Invariant "The top player must clear the line of the feet before advancing. Attempting to pass while the feet are active is attempting to pass through the guard rather than around it."
Why it works hereThe trapped leg is the active foot the split squat has to clear. The wide base and downward pressure pin the bottom player's hip and create the conditions for the extraction; the foot-line clearing then happens as the trapped leg is freed. The pin removes the bottom player's ability to reposition the trapping foot, and the extraction completes the clearing — both halves are required, in that order.
See full invariant page → In the split squat pass, the trapped leg is itself the foot that needs clearing. The pass is structured to address this directly — the wide base and downward pressure pin the hip and create the environment to extract the trapped foot. clear the feet is satisfied progressively: the hip pin removes the bottom player’s ability to reposition the trapping leg, and the leg extraction then clears the foot from the knee line.
INV-P02Invariant "After clearing the feet, the top player must advance to and hold the line of the knees. This is the intermediate control position between the feet and the hips."