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Movement Principles
Article and Photo by Ryan Ojerio A typical climbing sequence can be broken down into a series of rest positions and transitional movements. Rest or hanging positions allow you to recover and get some oxygen into burning muscles, but also can be useful in scoping out the terrain ahead and planning your next move. Common rest positions include balancing on good foot holds on a slab or hanging on straight arms on an overhanging route. Better yet you might be able to find a no-hands rest by stemming with the feet in a dihedral or or performing a knee-bar on overhanging terrain. Transitional movements are the dynamic motions that link resting positions. Typically beginning climbers employ movement patterns that are instinctive or have been learned through previous experience. Think of a baby crawling across the floor, a person climbing a ladder and then envision the same movement pattern while climbing a rock face. The body is in a frontal position, facing the wall and the hands and feet alternately reach and step upward. |
Certainly there are climbing situations where the old frontal step-and-reach technique is the most efficient way to get to the top, but as you progress into harder terrain with fewer holds or steeper overhangs you need to incorporate novel movement patterns to save energy and get the most biomechanical advantage. Elite climbers have a vast repertoire of transitional patterns and are able to link movements quickly and efficiently allowing them to climb strenuous routes with few if any decent resting positions.
To add a new movement to your bag of tricks, it needs to be stored in your muscle memory. When your body performs a motion, a series of nerve impulses fire off in a specific sequence. You can think of the pattern of nerve impulses as a computer program. Except you can't simply perform the motion once and push the "save" button. Nope, you've got to repeat the sequence over and over until that particular motor engram is securely ingrained in your muscles. That is why beginners are initially jerky and wobbly, but then begin to smooth out their movements. They become more efficient in the process and then next time they are faced with a similar sequence their body will be on "autopilot".
Learning new transitional moves is best done when you're relatively fresh and after warming up. Being fatigued or scared interferes with the process of building motor engrams so practice in a safe and comfortable environment. Also be mindful of the fact that old bad habits may seem more effective at first until you learn the new technique. Keep an open mind and a degree of patience when starting out.
Consider the following movements and positions. Do you use them in your climbing? Why or why not? Construct some boulder problems that incorporate these motions and analyze them by answering the following questions: Is your body facing the wall or turned sideways? Are the hips over the feet or to the side? Are the hips drooping or sucked into the wall?
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General Movement
Article and Photo by Dainella Nartker |
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Leslie (left) is pulling inwards with her hands (think of the corners as side pulls) to keep her body in towards the wall and maintain her weight over her feet. In order to climb upwards using the corners for her hand holds she must shift her weight onto one foot so the other is free to step higher. Two key notes are that when shifting her weight she won't simply straighten her knees and rock over, instead she'll move her hips over a foot to load it. This maintains freedom of movement and avoids loading her arms. It also means that her knees stay bent. | Logan (right) is stemming into the corner with downward pressures being on his left leg and right hand as he places his right foot. By pressing downward with his right hand he is mantling, but it is also an easy, energy conserving way of moving through a corner. |  |
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Staying in close to the wall by bending her knees and sinking her weight onto her feet, Megan (left) looks around the corner for her next move. Planning a move or two ahead, or at least looking to see where your weight will be shifting, is a great strategy. |  |
Logan (left) is edging with the inside of his foot, right behind the big toe. This spot and right behind your little toe for outside edging are both strong portions of your foot. Think about placing your foot, or rolling your edge, onto a hold verses scraping down the rock until your foot stops on the the hold. Not only does this save rubber and energy, it is more secure. | ||||||
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| A slick way of counteracting the 'barn door' effect rounding a corner is to use your foot as an extra hand and hook your toe around an edge to improve balance. Another similar method is flagging a foot out to stabilize your balance. (right) | |||||||||
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| Stemming (above left) is a great way to get a good rest in. It is a matter of using opposing pressures and forming a triangle with your body and the two rock walls. Body weight pushes the feet into the walls/holds, applying friction and allowing a climber to stay stationary without using energy. |  |
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Dropping your knee' (turning your hips perpendicular to the wall) puts more body weight over your feet, extends reach and is especially nice on overhangs. (right)
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| To make smearing effective, drop your heel low and let your center of gravity be further out from the wall than when edging (left). This allows your weight to push your feet into the wall increasing the friction and improving your footing. Also, look for inconsistencies in the rock to smear against; the slightest roughening will improve the amount of friction you get. | |||||||||
Footwork
by Ryan Ojerio
Often neglected, footwork can be your "Achilles tendon" or your "ace in the hole". Most folks consider their feet and legs as simply things to stand on and indeed learning to stand on your feet and use them to propel you upward is arguably the most important skill for a beginner to learn. But you can also use your lower appendages as counterbalance, or on really steep terrain you might need to "latch" on to a hold with your feet to take weight off of your arms. As with other areas of technique your footwork may begin to suffer when you fatigue or get scared. When the going gets tough, you may need to refocus on the basics:
Learn to stand on your feet. Good footwork starts by opening your eyes and looking for good footholds. Unfortunately, indoor gyms are terrible places to practice this skill. Most footholds are obviously marked and you are seldom challenged to develop a discerning eye that can detect the subtle differences in the features or texture of the rock that can make or break your foot placement.
It is also difficult to develop a sense for how secure your shoes are on a variety of types of rock when all you climb is plastic. To work on your footwork in a gym, challenge yourself to climb using only the features or texture of the wall for your feet. Practice smearing on slabs and focus on how your body position can affect the friction you get with a smear.
Learn to walk your feet up. Failing to move your feet up often means that you have to overextend your reach to get to a new hand hold or perform a strained high-step to get to a new foothold. Many beginners are reluctant to trade a secure foothold for a less secure hold slightly higher up even thought the smaller hold will put them within reach of the next move.
Learn to place your feet precisely. The quicker you can move to a secure foothold, the less time you have to hang on your arms. Practice placing your foot exactly where you want it the first time. Banging the wall with your foot or pawing at the foothold burns valuable energy. Practice this skill while warming up by climbing statically almost in slow motion.
Learn to counterbalance. Reaching off to the side or climbing on steep terrain can cause your center of gravity to swing away from the wall. This "barn dooring" can be minimized by flagging a foot to balance your weight or it can be placed against the wall to push against the swing. Practice flagging with a leg on the inside and a leg on the outside. How does your body position determine which type of flag is most effective?
Learn to Heel Hook and Toe Hook. On extremely steep or overhanging terrain, your feet can be used to grasp holds. A heel hook or toe hook combined with strong abdominals can help maintain body tension saving the arms and fingers from burning out. Practice these moves on boulder problems with a spotter for safety, or you can also have the spotter actively support you until you've got the technique worked out.
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Handholds
by Michael Strong; photos by Dainella Nartker Handholds come in a variety of sizes, shapes and textures. To climb efficiently and to avoid injury, it's important to learn how to "hold" onto the various shapes encountered while climbing on the wall. On lower angles, hands should be used mainly for balance, letting the stronger legs propel you up the wall. As the angle steepens, contact strength becomes increasingly important, and it becomes critical to figure out how to obtain the best purchase with your hands. When using handholds:
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TYPES OF GRIPS
The CLING GRIP is used on small holds, usually when grasping an edge. For the best purchase, move your fingers along the hold until you find the most positive grip, then crimp down positively. Crimping is a powerful way to latch onto hand holds. One way to make it stronger is to wrap the thumb over the index finger, turning the cling grip into a RING GRIP. The thumb is the strongest digit, so getting it involved adds contact strength. in the PINCH GRIP, the thumb usually "pinches" in opposition to the fingers, but it can also pinch 90° from the direction the fingers are gripping (e.g. the thumb presses on the side of a hold while the fingers pull down). |
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Be careful when pocket climbing and crimping small holds. It's easy to injure tendons. Stretch the fingers, warm up adequately, and avoid the temptation to crimp very small holds. Some climbers tape tendons to add security and avoid injury. If you want to give your fingers a rest, use a wrap. In a THUMB WRAP, wrap your thumb over top of a positive hold and stack your fingers on top of your thumb. This can be a powerful combination and take advantage of the thumb's superior strength. On large (e.g. bucket) holds, use a WRIST WRAP. Hook the heel of your hand over the hold and hang on your long bones. The wrist wrap has limited use, however, it can transfer force to the long bones of the arm, thereby giving muscles a break |
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Much nicer on your tendons and kinder to the finger tips are slopers. Slopers don't have a defined edge and are used with an OPEN GRIP. Curve your hand into a tensed C-shape, push your thumb into the side of your pointer finger and hook your hand over a sloping hold. Volia! Open grip! Try experimenting with the amount of contact your hand has with the hold and where your body's weight is in relation to the hold. There are more and less secure ways to use any hold. In the photo (right) the red hold is more positive if you are below it rather than if your torso is level with the hold.
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Some rock formations lend themselves well to "pocket" climbing, especially limestone and welded tuff. For this reason, many gyms replicate this type of climbing. Pockets can be small, one-finger affairs, or larger holds that accommodate the hand. When pulling on a pocket feel around the inside edge to find the most positive grip (it's not always on the bottom). Generally speaking, it's best to use as many fingers as possible. The most challenging pockets are one-finger (mono-digit) holds. These require sufficient strength to used effectively (and to avoid injuring a tendon). If a one-finger pocket is tall, stack your middle finger on top of your index finger for added strength. If the pocket accommodates two fingers, use the middle and the ring finger to balance the load on the hand.
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Sidepulls and underclings may be necessary to use the pocket in the most effective manner. In the diagram to the left, Logan is pushing down with his feet and pulling up on his hands to create a counter pressure that allows him to use the undercling to move around the corner. Another variation of the undercling is a sidepull, where your body is off to the side of a hold whose most positive edge is furthest away from you. Hooking a hand on that edge will be positive so long as you are pulling on it towards yourself, but moving your weight to the opposite side will make it less useful. As you become more familiar with the different holds, your climbing efficiency will increase. Experiment with how you grasp holds and the sequence with which you utilize them. For example, rather than matching hands on every hold as you traverse, try crossing through. One hand reaches past the other in the direction you move. This can increase smoothness and efficiency in your climbing. |
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