Notes from YouTube channel Movement for Climbers.
Contralateral Movement - while walking, we naturally swing limbs on the opposite side. If you're stepping forward with your left foot, you'll swing your right arm. It even happens during running or crawling. The same pattern should be applied during climbing too.
First Rule of Climbing - use opposite hand with opposite foot, like climbing a ladder. It lets you distribute force evenly across the body. When you use the same side hand/foot, you tend to barn door because you're not stable on the wall.
Exceptions to the first rule: when back flagging or inside flagging to keep your hips square to the wall.
Tips for foot placement, body positioning, and movement.
Vertical walls:
- use inside edge and smear for feet
- smears are great for slabs too
- a good smear will have a lot of surface area in touch with the wall
- keep hips square to the wall (which keeps center of gravity closer to wall, which is why inside edge is so great)
- vertical walls are like a 2d game, you can go up/down/left/right
- movement tends to be slow/controlled/static and balance oriented, with minimal rotation of hips
- favor precision over speed
Overhangs:
- use outside edge (which keeps one hip into wall)
- use toe placement (which lets you switch between inside/outside edge)
- one hip into wall keeps center of gravity into the wall and uses opposite hand/feet rule
- always apply a lot of pressure onto the toe
- overhangs unlock the third dimension, you can go in/out also -- you want hips in
- movement tends to be more dynamic and powerful, usually requiring transitional energy
- favor generating momentum
Power comes from the ground. A powerful punch comes from your rear foot. Before making dynamic movements, think about how to best place your feet. Drive power from it.
Timing is important too. Height of a jump also depends on swing of the arm, using momentum to gain distance. With climbing, it's important to pull with the arm and swing upwards to reach your target for further distance.
Explosiveness comes from compression and expansion. Do not windup to deepest compression. Athletes never jump from the deep squat. Take as few practice windups as possible to use instinct.
- use inside edge with high feet, which tends to push the hips away from the wall. Inside edge keeps hips closer to the wall.
- use your feet to generate power/movement. Don't just rest your feet on footholds. Your calf should be flexed.
- think of your toes as talons. Actively use your feet to engage the hold.
- it's easier to move when your center of gravity is closer to the foothold. You can achieve this by rocking your weight closer to the foothold right before reaching for the next hold.
Routesetters use a scale for setting: RIC for risk, intensity, complexity.
Risk - risky problems include low percentage moves that require coordination and commitment. They're usually difficult to recover form and aren't solely based on finger strength or power. Example would be a dyno.
Intensity - measure of strength/power/tension. It's usually overhung, has small holds, or big moves. Physically stronger climbers will excel here.
Complexity - tests pattern solving and problem solving skills. Usually has tricky beta that requires understanding of angles and positioning.
A climber with flow climbs up the wall with no wasted effort or extra movements.
You can get ride of waste by:
- reducing number of moves to climb the problem
- when traversing sideways, conservative move is to do it with hips square to the wall the entire time. Use crosses will help eliminate moves.
- remember to lead with the feet, cross hands, then rotate hips in that order. Pivot off both toes.
- jugs - type of hold, easiest to hold and positive
- chips - type of foothold, positive
- match - putting two hands (or feet) on a single hold, great to re-sequencing
- bumping - using the same hand, repeatedly, to move to the next hold
- straight arm hang - when climbing use straight arms to avoid getting scrunched up, train yourself to use legs for power.
- toe placement - always use toe placement on footholds inside of the entire foot
- inside edge - toe on foothold but inside feet touching inside of wall
Forearm should be perpendicular to pulling edge - it maximizes leverage.
Counter pressure with feet - think about playing tug of war, you push with your feet as much as you pull on the rope. You want to do the same thing while climbing and optimize the push/pull angles.
Sidepulls have two positions: lie back and gaston. Lie backs involve using a foothold that's directly below or slightly ahead of the sidepull. Apply counter pressure using your opposite foot. The further you settle back, the more stabilized it feels. The gaston looks like you're trying to pry open an elevator door.
Underclings have pulling edge on bottom. Higher feet gives you more leverage. You can use it as a pinch or curl. Pinches are great to move into an undercling and curling is great for moving out of one.
- crimps - handholds that are very small, typically one pad deep (fingertips to knuckles)
- pinches - hold that requires you to use thumbs for counter pressure.
- slopers - round that doesn't have positive grip. Try to maximize surface area on contact. Sink hips low into the sloper.
- overhang - wall is steeper, less than 90 degrees from the floor
- slab - wall is more than 90 degrees from the floor. Usually requires more balance
- arete - outward corner, use heel hooks for compression to squeeze body closer to wall
- dihedral - inward corner, use pressing (push with arm) and stemming (push with feet)
Sometimes the best foothold is no foothold.
Outside flag - or just "flag". Most common type. Opposite hands on feet on hold. Hand/foot hold tend to be on the same vertical plane. Foot that's not on the hold is flagged out, smeared against wall. This can achieve either hips square or hips in body positioning.
Back flag - uses same side hand/foot. You'll feel a lost of balance, back flagging fixes it. Take your foot that's off the foot hold and shoot it the opposite direction, behind your foot on the foot hold. Back flags are always done with hips square.
Inside flag - same side hand/foot. Similar to back flag, but leg goes inside instead of behind leg on the foothold. Inside flags are hips in. Used very rarely, usually just for control at the beginning or end of a problem.
Instinct climbers - use gut feeling or first reaction. Involves quick decision making, has less energy wasted. But it's high in risk and can be short sighted. They tend to stick to what they're good at, so skillset isn't expanded as easily.
Control - analytical side. Looks at big picture and considers what the routesetter is trying to do. It makes sense, has predictable outcomes, and higher percentage repeatability. It tends to have slow decision making and has energy wasted.
Three actions to take:
- Get Mileage - go climb, climb a lot. Mileage means time spent on wall. Accumulate as much as you can to learn the proper movement/technique and fostering intuition. Prioritize quantity over difficulty to get the reps in. Diversify your climbs to expose yourself to all different terrains and hold types.
- Build Base Fitness - train pull ups, push ups, and squats. Be able to do one pull up per V grade. Push ups are great for antagonistic training. Keep elbows in. Squats will teach you how to form good connection of feet to floor and develop explosiveness.
- Create a Community - the collective consciousness helps everyone become a better climber. Send trains!
We care more about getting to the top than how we got to the top.
Beta is good if it's repeatable. Can you repeat it? Pick a climb that's out your max flash level and physically exerting. Climb it multiple times without any rest. Can you repeat it with the same beta? If not, try fixing your beta. Repeatable beta also shows you if you're using high percentage moves.
Does it flow? If beta is good, check to see if the moves flow. Look at the transitions to see if you're wasting any movements. Count the number of moves, see if you can reduce it. The opposite of flow is "stop and go" climbing.
Depress the scapular - arms should be straight and shoulder blades should be pulled down. Pull the bar towards your chest while brining your shoulder blades into each other. There should be a distinct feeling of a lock off at the top with no slack.
Don't flare elbows. Keep them down and tight.
Drill with scapular shrugs, inverted rows, and pull up negatives.
Bend the bar! The movement creates torque to maximize muscle usage.
- hang on the pull up bar
- do a front tuck lever
- flip into an inverted tucked hang
- move to tuck back lever
- let feet stick out into German hang
- uncoil back into hang
Remember to depress your scapular and engaging chest/core. Keep straight arms, but you can bend them for progressions. You can also start with a jump.
Pistol squats - practice on an elevated surface. Engage your legs during the entire movement.
Box jumps - engage your calves/toes. Push off with toes. Work on timing of swinging your arms while jumping up to maximize your vertical height.
Cossack squats - best way to develop mobility and open hips for jumping. Keep back flat and avoid hunching.
Push ups - best antagonistic exercise. Keep elbows in. Maintain flat line across the body. Transition to ring push ups for added challenge.
Dips - slight forward lean. Drop chest forward. Keep elbows in tight and lock the elbows. Transition to rings for more challenge.
Tucked Planche - static hold. Progression: scapular protraction and pushing floor away, tuck knees below you. Second uses a slight forward lean while keeping arms straight. Knees will travel back to counter balance. Last step involves elevating hips and flattening the back, or the anterior pelvic tilt. Involves arching the back.
Alignment - for stability (harder to topple), energy efficient (less energy to hold straight line), and aesthetic. Align the wrist, shoulders, hips, and ankles.
Rebalancing - alignment is not required for balancing. There is no such thing as absolute balance. You'll always be making adjustments to re-adjust your balance. Accomplished via micro adjustments of fingers/palms. Also via macro adjustments via shoulders.
Tension - body is three components: upper body, core, lower body. Tension makes them all form a single unit for easier balance.