The Secret To Never Losing Guard Passing Points (ADCC Ref Explains)

ADCC and PGF referee Heath "The Ref" Massery sits down for his first BJJ Fanatics instructional preview, breaking down a mistake that costs grapplers points they already earned: passing the guard and then losing the position the moment the opponent turns to turtle. Heath explains why the pass itself is only half the job, and why keeping the opponent flat on their back is what actually matters for scoring.

The core idea Heath introduces is what he calls pinning mechanics: a way of thinking about top position where the goal isn't just to attack, but to have tools ready to pull the opponent back down the moment they try to escape to turtle. He shows why this matters even more than most people realize, since rolling back to bottom side control after turtling can wipe out points that were seemingly already scored, in both ADCC and IBJJF rule sets.

Much of the control comes down to a single detail: where the opponent's elbows are. Heath breaks down the elbow concept from both sides of the position, how the bottom player fights to bring their elbows to centerline to escape, and how the top player can lock them out to prevent it. He demonstrates his own named grip for this, the "Ref Drag," a control he uses to catch a turning opponent and pull their back flat onto the mat.

Heath also walks through how the specific pinning requirements differ between rule sets, what counts as a scoring pin in ADCC versus IBJJF, and why understanding those differences changes how a grappler should approach top position depending on which ruleset they compete under.

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS VIDEO:

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro: Meet Heath "The Ref" Massery
0:20 The Problem Nobody Talks About After the Guard Pass
0:39 The Scenario: How a Missed Pin Costs the Position
1:38 The Hidden Scoring Rule Most Grapplers Miss
2:52 ADCC vs IBJJF: How Pinning Rules Differ
3:38 The Elbow Concept: Offense and Defense
4:33 Demonstrating the "Ref Drag" Control
5:36 Takeaway: Closing Your Elbows to Escape
5:59 Wrap-Up & Final Thoughts

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Bernardo Faria is a 5x World Champion. Bernardo started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Juiz de Fora - MG, Brazil at the age of 14 in 2001. After receiving the Black Belt from his first instructor Ricardo Marques in 2008, He moved to Sao Paulo to join BJJ legend Fabio Gurgel and his Alliance team. After many years of training and winning many major titles, Bernardo moved to NYC in 2013 to train and teach at Marcelo Garcia Academy. In 2015 Bernardo achieved his dream of winning the IBJJF World Championship Open class title and his division, doing the double Gold and becoming the 1st in the IBJJF Ranking and also chosen as the best athlete of 2015.

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