Would you say that guard passing is your weak side? That, perhaps, you’re not as fast as your training partners are; or, at the very least, that you’re not as quick as their guard retention is? Often times, up and coming Jiu Jitsu practitioners will get demoralized because their guard passing isn’t as superb as they’d like it to be. Sometimes, combining all that speedy footwork with constant attention towards not getting swept or submitted yields to frustration.
Luckily enough, there’s a sort of a workaround! You don’t have to be the quickest guard passer if you can learn to utilize pressure passing… And the Butter Flip Pass, shown here by Keenan Cornelius, is a fantastic way to start learning just that.

OVER-UNDER PASSING BASICS AND WHY THE BUTTER FLIP PASS WILL SERVE YOU WELL

If you want to learn this technique, you first have to understand that this is a type of an over-under pass. And to make over-under passing work, Keenan emphasizes that you must not ever engage it while you’re in-between the training partner’s legs… In quite a comical fashion, Keenan points out that this isn’t a pass at all; but just a Triangle that you’ve set yourself into.
Therefore, make sure that you’re controlling one of the training partner’s legs; you can simply grab it, place it in-between your legs and then kneel down while pinching it with your knees. This will immobilize their leg and leave you out of the Triangle-city danger.

From here, you should first attempt gripping and pinning the partner’s hip to the mat with your other hand (while your first one is still controlling their leg); so that you can pass straight into Side Control. However, if you’re rolling with a skilled teammate, you’ll find that they won’t just let you do this. Instead, they will use their free leg to keep your arm at a distance by sort of hooking it and their second leg to incapacitate you from passing to the side.

When this happens, you will have to resettle into a neutral position. But don’t worry, as here’s the important part: reach with your „hooked“ arm from beneath to grab the training partner’s belt or the loop of their pants. This way, you’ll have secured a grip which will enable you to engage into the Butter Flip Pass.

THE BUTTER FLIP PASS TECHNIQUE

To start off with the Butter Flip Pass, keep your chest low on the training partner’s leg (the non-trapped one) and lower your head on the same side, into the space between their thigh and ribs. Your opposite-side hand needs to grip their second leg at the ankle, and bring the heel as close as you can to the partner’s backside.
What you’ve done by doing this, Keenan explains, is that you’ve managed to pin down both of the training partner’s legs. Now, this still won’t make it possible to just walk towards their side and pass like that; for sure, you’re controlling their ankles, but their knees are still blocking your way.

So what should you do? Basically, you need to lower your head onto the mat and, thus, post your shoulder onto the training partner’s waist. Once you’ve done this, simply jump up into the air and cartwheel over the partner’s legs – aim for pointing your belly button to the ground on the way down and you’ll end up in Side Control!
Also, don’t try to overdo this jump; Keenan explains that this is really more of a cartwheel than anything else.

Watch Keenan demonstrate the Butter Flip Pass on the video below: