CLIMBING BEGINNERS - TOP 5 TECHNIQUE BASICS

Much of the advice out there on improving climbing technique is aimed at climbers who have a bit of experience behind them. If you are a true beginner and just been to the wall/crag for the first time you probably were shown the basics of safety and the rules of the game (use only one colour of holds etc) but many will learn their climbing technique intuitively from a mate and won't know what to look for.

It takes a bit of time to get comfy with being at height and moving on rock before the more detailed technical drills will help you improve. Try them in your first few sessions and they sometimes just frustrate and confuse. So here are 5 basic things to repeat in your head on your fist few sessions.

1. Feet are the key:
Your body is built to be supported by your feet. The more weight on your feet at all times, the better. When you struggle on a route, you're arms are giving in and you start to rush, think FEET - they will almost always be the reason you are stuck and the solution to keep you on the rock.

2. Arms straight:
Keep your arms straight as much as you can (i.e most of the time). The basic climbing movement is to keep arms straight, move feet into position to reach the next hold, pull up momentarily to reach next hold, arm straight again to move feet, and so on. This helps you in lots of ways but the most important benefits are reducing the muscular effort from your arms and being able to see what's going on at your feet much better than if your face is pulled hard against the wall.

3. Lots of small foot moves:
Many beginners automatically assume the making more foot moves is bad. Your footwork will become more efficient in time, but it's still normal to make 2-3 foot moves for each hand move in many types of climbing.

4. Quiet feet:
This technique has nothing to do with keeping the noise down in the climbing wall, its just a simple technique for good footwork. Avoiding jumping or scuffing your feet up the wall as you move your feet means you have to get in balance to place them carefully.

5. Make the most of each hold:
In indoor climbing, each hold will have a 'best' spot on the hold which is the part you should use. You need to try and find it (hand and feet!). Beginners tend either to grab and pull without 'feeling' for the best bit first, or, when they get stuck on a move, they feel around for way too long trying to find that magic hidden incut that isn't there. Somewhere in between is best; look and feel the hold to find the best bit, then move on. If you get stuck, concentrate your efforts on feet (see No. 1) and looking for other holds.

BREATHING IN CLIMBING

Something that people occasionally ask about in climbing is breathing during difficult climbing – how important is it and how can it help your climbing?

Obviously we need to breath almost constantly and during exercise of any kind its even more important to fulfil it’s most basic function of delivering enough oxygen and removing carbon dioxide so metabolism can keep happening at the desired rate. But breathing is also extremely important psychologically.

Breathing can be used to set or assist the pace and rhythm of movement and even to help control aggression on moves. Climbing movements at your limit require constant changes in speed of movement and delivery of muscular effort. Regulation of breathing can be a sort of link between body and mind for managing this task. The best way I can describe it is to say that the mind expresses the desired type of movement through breathing, which tends to be followed immediately by a similar body movement, tension or force delivery.

Often, A sharp or deep intake of breath happens before a movement is executed, followed by a longer exhalation during or after the movement has been completed. Many climbers find that they hold their breath far too long during climbing until the breathing centres force them to breath and this breaks up the body’s climbing rhythm and they ask how they can break this habit?

The answer is by running some technique drills. Technique drills are nothing scary, so don’t be put off by the jargon - it just means repeated exercises focusing on something in particular that you want to practice. A really good time for any breathing or movement technique drills is when you warm up.

Because the climbing is not hard, you have ‘space’ in your mind to concentrate on something within the movements (like your breathing rhythm) as opposed to having to give your full concentration to just staying on the wall. Practice climbing a route or problem you can do comfortably again and again. Separate the two main stages of climbing movement – preparing to move (where you set your feet and body) and moving (where you execute a hand movement). While preparing to move, focus on making smooth relaxed breaths as you set your lower body in preparation for the next reach. One complete breath cycle for each foot movement is common on lots of moves but not on every one. Take a breath in as you stare and focus on the next hold and exhale as you grab the hold.

Consistent practice during easy climbing will help you find a breathing rhythm that works well for your climbing style and it will become automatic so it happens without you even thinking about it on the hard stuff. It’s most often relative beginners (less than two years regular climbing) that notice breathing as a problem. It’s hard for them because there may be no such thing as easy climbing! Just being on the wall is enough to feel so tense you have to force yourself to breath. If this is you, don’t worry – you will find a rhythm and with patience it will come once you get a change to be more composed on the rock.

Things To Remember

Bouldering is one of those activities that comes fairly naturally and most people have a pretty good idea what to do. However, if you feel like you've hit a plateau and can't raise your game, then it may be worth having a look at this quick 5-point checklist for improving your performance. It only takes an over-sight of one or two things to cause your entire performance to be dragged down. 

                               1. Mental skills - reading and reviewing the sequence

The first step for newcomers is to resist the temptation to jump straight on and work it out as you climb. There simply isn't enough spare strength or skin on your fingertips for this and it always pays to have a good look at the holds first and try to plan a sequence. Most intermediates will do this by habit, but it's amazing how few will attempt to link a foot sequence in with a hand sequence. The reason most don't bother is because they usually guess wrong, but it's amazing how your ability to predict the sequence in fine detail will improve with practice. Don't get tunnel vision once you start working the problem and remember to consider other options when you're resting between attempts. You may have found the heel-hook round the arête but would a toe-hook work better? How about flagging to save time instead of swapping feet and changing to an outside edge? It may be a sloper but have you tried crimping it? You may be on the biggest smear, but is it in the best position? These are just some of the classic review questions from an endless.

2. Tactics - resting, brushing and skin care

The answer to how long you should rest between attempts at a boulder problem is longer than your natural instinct dictates. Don't let frustration get the better of you and resist the temptation to keep jumping back on and thrashing. If you're bouldering in a small group and things are getting competitive then one of the best ways to bag the problem first is simply to miss your turn when it comes round! A good rule of thumb for hard projects is to rest a minute for each move that you manage to link. For long bouldering sessions you should take ten or fifteen minute breaks every half hour or so. Most boulderers know the importance of brushing the holds but few use a swat rag. These are great for removing excess dust and cooling the holds down to improve conditions. Be meticulous when you clean your feet and keep tipping up the crash pad regularly so that it stays spotless. Keep a constant eye on your skin and be disciplined enough to call time before you rip the flapper. Use beeswax and vitamin E based creams such as Climb On bars between sessions.

3. Variety - different holds, moves and angles

When you're training and when you're at the crag, the best way to prolong bouldering activity at a high level is to switch between different styles of problem. A simple example is to do slabs in order to rest from overhangs, but a more subtle one is to switch from a crimpy problem to a slopey one, or from a static 'locky' problem to a dyno. Not only will this help prevent premature burn-out but it will ensure that you develop versatile technique and that all the necessary moves and muscles are trained. The other obvious point is to boulder both indoors and outdoors and to climb on a mix of different rock types.

4. Training - specific bouldering for strength / power

A classic mistake is to think that the steepest angle possible is best for strength training. The optimum angle is the steepest possible angle on which you can use finger holds. These don't have to be tiny – they can be medium sized and slopey or rounded but they mustn't be jugs. If you're swinging around on jugs then you won't be working your fingers and finger strength should always be the greatest priority. It is also best to use the smallest possible footholds to work body tension and footwork accuracy. Stronger climbers may wish to try footless bouldering to increase the intensity, but don't go over-board with this because the crucial body tension element is lost. Another worthwhile training tweak is to try 'system' style boulder problems where you set a rule such as cutting loose and replacing your feet between each move or holding a lock-off and 'hovering' over the next hold for a few seconds.

5. Planning and training structure

If you're only into bouldering then putting training plans together is pretty straightforward. However, if you want to climb on consecutive days then be sure to change the style of bouldering or the intensity to avoid repetitive strain. A good example is to do shorter problems with harder moves on day 1 and then to do longer easier problems on day 2. Alternatively try fingery problems on day 1 and juggy problems on day 2. If you wish to mix bouldering with routes then avoid doing so in the same session as it sends confusing training stimuli to the body. If you wish to train on consecutive days then do bouldering on day 1 and routes on day 2. If your soul focus is to get strong then don't keep hammering the same combination indefinitely. Push your training forward in waves where you go all-out for a few weeks and then come off the gas to allow recovery.

by Neil Gresham Mar/2007  - posted by J Hay 15/7/2010