Why Your Guard Gets Passed

There can be all sorts of reasons why your guard gets passed, but…
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… here’s one major factor that I tend to see a lot among beginners/people who can’t keep their open guard.
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When you play the open guard, you almost never want to extend your leg/s fully UNLESS that extension is necessary for executing your sweep/submission.
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Because when your leg is fully extended, your opponent will be able to control it more easily, and you’ve given up some space for your opponent to intrude into.
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And folks who aren’t good at playing the open guard tend to move their legs way more than necessary. They try to kick their opponent away, circle their legs when they shouldn’t, and make all sorts of crazy (and unnecessary) movements with their legs.
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Mmm, chill.
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Keep your knees close to your chest and your elbows close to your knees as much as possible. This is one of the strongest defensive postures. I suppose you could describe it as a reverse turtle position.
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Don’t react, but focus on controlling your opponent instead… and eliminate your unnecessary movements.