Ever watched someone effortlessly glide up a climb and then tried it yourself and found yourself awkward and fumbling? More than likely they were using techniques compiled over years of practice.
Climbing is not all about strength. In the beginning, the stronger you are the less technique you are likely to learn. If you think the only way to climb harder is to get stronger, you are wrong. Eventually you will reach a point where you will need to learn technique. It’s much better to start learning technique from the start. Develop those good habits now rather than trying to eliminate the bad ones later. As an added bonus, learning more techniques will give you more options. It will be easier to climb and you will have more energy to get past that hard move. You will be the one gliding over the rock!
In my first article, we are going to introduce one technique, the most basic yet commonly overlooked technique that has the possibility of improving your climbing by 100%!!
Use your feet…
Use your feet
It all starts with the foot. If you have precise footwork, you’ll have a good solid base with which to start, especially as most of the weight when climbing can actually be taken by the feet.
When you first start climbing, you’ll find that you will probably want to use the arch or ball of the foot. Doing this will limit your range of movement. You need to be able to pivot on that foot and the only way to do this is by standing on your toes, more particularly, your big toe.
As well as lack of mobility, by relying on the ball of your foot you won’t develop the strength in the big toe needed to stand on something the size of the edge of a 5 cent piece. While this may seem silly and even slightly sadistic (who wants to stand on the edge of a 5 cent piece?), the time will come when you find that standing on it is the only way you will be able to complete the climb. And you want to be able to. By training this technique and building strength in the big toe, it will introduce a wider variety of moves that you can pull off, giving you more options to be able to complete different styles of climbs.
So give it a go! Use your big toe! Good footwork is a skill that every climber should acquire, especially if you want to be that person gliding over the rock!
****A note from Matt****
Sound easy enough? Reckon you have it all sussed? Well as Peta said, footwork is the most fundamental component of your climbing and EVERYONE has something they can work on. But stay tuned, as Rockology rocks on (sorry, couldn’t help myself) the tips and techniques will become more advanced and have you working something new every fortnight! So check back soon for a new writer and a new way to improve your climbing!