Don’t Be Too Lazy

This one is a note to my past self… but I figure it applies to some of you, too.
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If you play the guard predominantly and are indeed comfortable with your guard skills, make sure to work on your guard passing skills, too.
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It’s okay to be lazy in the sense of being efficient, but you don’t want to be too lazy, to the point of lying on your back all the time during sparring sessions.
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Sometimes people insist on lying on their back so much that they never get up even when they have obvious opportunities for sweeping their opponent and coming up on top.
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One of the most likely reasons for this?
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They are scared of attacking from the top position due to their lack of confidence in their guard passing skills.
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Even if they say they are “just going for submissions”, their insecurity is probably one of the biggest reasons why.
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It’s better to start working on your guard passing skills as early as possible.
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A piece of advice that you might find helpful when you start working on improving your guard passing skills is:
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You don’t have to aim at passing your opponent’s guard initially.
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Your first mission is to work on your positioning. A good top position protects you from potential sweeps and attacks, and you maintain the position by using your weight in such a way that it creates strong pressure against your opponent. Also, you limit your opponent’s movements by placing your limbs against them effectively too.
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Once you start being safe and secure in your top position, you can move on to the next steps.
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Keep working on various positions. Improve your weaknesses.