Below are some drills and all around climbing technique tips that can be practiced to improve our technique and add to our bag of resources when we get to tricky cruxes while climbing!
Tips to Always Use During Climbing:
It is extremely important to use correct climbing technique while climbing to prevent injury and improve our climbing ability. This takes time to learn and should be practiced while warming up and climbing easy routes so it becomes part of our normal body movement overtime. Below are FIVE tips to help improve body movement while climbing:
1. Keep Good Posture:
Keep the trunk (hips, core, shoulders) upright, with shoulders back, and shoulder blades GENTLY squeezed together. This creates a very powerful foundation from which to engage movement.
Keep the trunk (hips, core, shoulders) upright, with shoulders back, and shoulder blades GENTLY squeezed together. This creates a very powerful foundation from which to engage movement.
*When the body is aligned with good posture the muscles can act more effectively and are less likely to strain.
2. Bring Your Hips into the Wall:
Move your center of mass (the hip/core area) down and closer to your toes and bring the entire pelvis toward the wall by rotating one hip into the wall.
Move your center of mass (the hip/core area) down and closer to your toes and bring the entire pelvis toward the wall by rotating one hip into the wall.
*The center of mass is the area around which the majority of your body weight sits, and the closer we keep that weight near our toes/legs the less our shoulders, elbows and bodies have to work!
3. Don't Over-bend Your Arms:
Try to make every movement keeping straight arms, this means you may need to do a few extra foot moves, including getting your feet really high to stand up. Remember not to lock the elbow, but to maintain a tiny micro-bend to prevent straining the elbow joint.
Try to make every movement keeping straight arms, this means you may need to do a few extra foot moves, including getting your feet really high to stand up. Remember not to lock the elbow, but to maintain a tiny micro-bend to prevent straining the elbow joint.
*Keeping straight arms means we need to bend the knees instead and moves our focus to using powerful legs to generate movement!
4. Push with Your Feet:
Always remember to push through the feet first and ONLY pull with the arms when absolutely necessary.
Always remember to push through the feet first and ONLY pull with the arms when absolutely necessary.
*The legs are developed to support all of our body weight and are much more powerful than our arms.
5. Climb Like You Crawl:
The rule of opposites! When crawling, babies learn the most efficient way to move their bodies by first moving their right arm then their opposite left leg, and then their left arm followed by their right leg. This rule also makes for efficient climbing by maintaining balance and keeping the power in the core.
The rule of opposites! When crawling, babies learn the most efficient way to move their bodies by first moving their right arm then their opposite left leg, and then their left arm followed by their right leg. This rule also makes for efficient climbing by maintaining balance and keeping the power in the core.
(Above tips are from the book Climb Injury Free by Dr. Jared Vagy DPT)
Top Rope Drills:
*For top rope drills select near vertical walls (not overhanging) that are two or more grades below your limit.1. Straight-Armed Drill:
Climb a route whiling maintaining straight arms at least 90% of the time. Straight-armed climbing is crucial for conserving upper-body energy.
2. High-Step Drill:
Ascend an easy route (or use any holds) with only high steps. Begin by high-stepping with one foot onto a hold near hip level. Then rock your body/weight over that foot (think about moving your pelvis over the hold), and then drive downward through the high foot and advance your hands until you reach a straight-legged position. Continue this movement of high feet alternating between right and left foot until you get to the top. The rhythm for this movement is "high-step, rock, push, reach, reach, repeat".
3. Frog-Foot Drill:
This drill helps to develop the technique of pushing with both feet simultaneously. Beginning with both feet and both hands on the wall, using any holds step up with one foot and then the other until you are in a sort of squatting position with your knees out to the side and crouching INTO the wall (not sagging off). Then press down through both feet and in a continuous motion advance one hand, then the other. The hands are to be used primarily for balance (NOT PULLING)! Repeat this process with the rhythm of "step, step, push, reach, reach".
4. Frog-Foot Dynamic Drill:
This drill is similar to drill #3 and develops the technique of pushing with both feet simultaneously, but it add the technique of dynamic movement and powering through the hips. Follow the same steps as in Drill #3, but when pushing down with both feet the hands will release at the same time to move dynamically and simultaneously to another two holds. Continue this movement up the wall to the rhythm, "step, step, push, reach".
Traverse Training Drills:
*Coming Soon*Perform these drills in designated bouldering areas or along the base of roped walls not in use.
1. Shuffle Drill:
2. Matching Drill:
3. Isolation Drill:
4. Back Step Drill:
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