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This is great advice. I think the first point about repeatedly failing to do a move and not making much progress is an example of the general rule of "you get good at what you practice". If you spend 95% of the time falling off a move then you are gonna get good at falling off the move. Your tips are a great way to get good at actually successfully sticking the move and get over that barrier to progression.
Doing things "naturally," without thinking about them, can lead to good days and bad days, with no apparent cause for the difference; UNDERSTANDING what you're doing really helps one turn the former into the latter! 🙏
No channel has been more helpful in my climbing journey that yours. I’ve watched hundreds of hours of climbing videos, and your skill acquisition videos are second to none. Your rooting videos changed my whole outlook on my own climbing and each new video teaches me more and more about how I climb. Thank you Power Company climbing
Another useful element for these kind of tactics is to assess reach and the tension required once you make the move. Is it better to accept a cut? Is it better to be fully stretched out? Is it better to use the worse but higher foot?
Had this the other week. Had my 9th session on a project, had realised what the crux move was a while back and kept fluffing it. In this session I managed to climb on above the crux, feel the end position after the crux move, REVERSED the crux move and then sat in that position and realised how I needed to actually change the beta I was using to get this position rather than what I’d been doing. Sent it next try. When I got right under the crux I knew I’d do it because I had just reversed it. Was a very eye opening experience.
Three more secret techniques: 1) Take your shirt off to cut weight 2) Tie helium balloons to your harness! 3) Film yourself for the boost of social pressure JK - this video has terrific advice! I'm definitely going to try the downclimbing tip. Even Peter Croft endorses downclimbing as a great way to improve your technique. Thank Chris!
One thing that is tricky for shorter climbers is reaching hard moves from the ground. I've often been in a spot where I can't reach the holds for the hard move from the ground but taller friends can. Although if outdoors stacking pads can help with this.
@@PowerCompanyClimbing Yup have done that once or twice, definitely helpful. Also I'm not particularly short, just have some friends who are 1.9m ish. Power spot definitely helps.
Power spotting seems like cheating sometimes but honestly it helps dial in the movement so greatly, the comprehension is increased tenfold. I like to say that power spotting helps you send this one, so you can repeatedly apply the movement in other sends! Power spotting on top rope or high clips is so genius!
I noticed in your video that this is mostly being displayed on a spray wall that is inclined like a moon board or kilter board, does this then apply to indoor standard boulder (set) problems or even short sport routes (long ones obv you can use but it's not really that applicable)
It applies wherever you can use it. Some commercial sets are very sparse, so may not have many extra holds to use. No reason it wouldn’t apply on any length sport routes as long as the situation allows it.
Lots of EXCELLENT information here, thank you! ...but the FIRST thing I noticed about your "failure" examples was that you were completely FRONTAL, relying more on your muscles and less on your bone structure than you might, and that when you "SUCCEEDED" on the move you were more conspicuously "ROLLED IN," involving more of your torso and skeletal structure (my Ralph's Rules #1 and #2, 'Use your bones, not your muscles,' and 'If you MUST use your muscles, use your torso, not your limbs.') The key to noticing this aspect of a move is one's FOOT position - if your right hand is moving, your left foot will be your DRIVER, which should always be on an INSIDE edge, and requires less of a foothold, with decent friction sometimes being sufficient. Your SUPPORT comes from your stationary left hand and your RIGHT foot, with your line of support running diagonally through your center of mass (I call this being "crossed up," and it ALWAYS reduces the tendency to "barn door" and also reduces the strain on one's hands.) Your SUPPORT foot, if you're properly turned in, will be using an OUTSIDE EDGE, and that hip will be closest to the wall. A HUGE advantage of being "rolled in" is that you gain significant reach without much bending of your support arm (if it's above you.) In the under-cling example you're using, which nearly always allows for more reach than pulling down on an edge would, your rib cage holds your arm in place, greatly reducing the force applied by your lats and posterior deltoid muscle. BTW, the rest of Ralph's Rules, #3-5, are similarly focused on biomechanics. ralph@ralphmunn.com 🙏
Not possible to outside edge on these footholds, and you’re wrong about the support. Support is definitely on the left foot. I might create tension with the right foot, but without the left I can’t even stand up. Rules don’t always apply.
Spraying much? I love your confidence, but it's borderline arrogance to assume you know the position better than the one actually doing the moves. Especially when it's an accomplished climber and full-time coach like Chris Hampton you're spraying on :)))
I use this tactic quite regularly when I first start working a hard climb I know will be a several session project. Sometimes I even do it for harder climbs I want to do faster as well. It really teaches your body the things required for being in a particular position (starting or ending position). Climbing is really just going from point A to point B. I like to think of it as 3 steps: initial position, movement/momentum, ending position (some people like to say going from a stable to unstable position). This methodology is used by competition climbers especially, figuring out where is my next stable position and how do I get there. The momentum/movement part, in this case, is usually quite easy from a strength/power perspective (disregarding competition style movement).
Prime content 🙌🏽, Qck Q: what do u suggest when a move involves both hand and/or both feet, like coordination/paddle moves, bcuz for things like these it’s not quite feasible to find an intermediary, and getting into the final position doesn’t seem to help. Tnx
I'm an older climber. I started 12 months ago and I'm 54 now. Thanks to my great local climbing gym and the coaches there I'm making huge progress. However these videos are invaluable to me as it helps me to keep my mind on the sport while I'm recovering from each session. I watch tonnes of climbing videos from many creators and collectively they all help me to improve my own climbing in some way. Thank you for this great content.
A brilliant video talking about tactics totally overlooked by most climbers I see. Here in the UK climbers seem to have lost the art of spotting completley! Downclimbing problems to find the finishing positions of moves is a great way to work out complex problems, again something I never see other climbers doing, many just try problems from the first move only ground up, never getting to see what the middle and top is like.
Totally agree! Top advice. I used to be a Gymnast and a Gymnastics coach, and now climb. Spotting somebody really well is in my opinion as hard as learning the element its self. Breaking down movement to smaller manageable parts is also key.
Ive done this without actually thinking about it! Now that youre explaining it though, i can use it more consciously! Visualization has also been a great help for me!
Ex-D1 gymnast (and coach) turned climber here too! It always amazes me how underutilized power spots are when approaching new moves or limit moves. Many folks decline an offer to get a spot and then proceed to attempt a move they've never stuck after climbing 3-4 moves just to get set up. Maybe it's a very gymnastic-y perspective, but I'm definitely trying to avoid chucking a move 9 skills deep into a 10 move routine if I've never done it successfully!
@PowerCompanyClimbing If I had to guess, it's because people typically associate it with "spotting" where they are thinking of safe. Maybe they aren't afraid of the move, so they don't understand needing a spot. Maybe they haven't thought through what they're actually learning from the spot. Maybe they're afraid of falling on their spotter. If something is underutilized, it is probably misunderstood why it is helpful.
Part of it for sure. I posted a power spot video years ago and gots lots of ethical pushback as well. Because “if you can’t do it ground up, you can’t do it.” These are the same people who think Gill didn’t toprope some of his boulders and that Bachar didn’t work things on TR before solos.
@@PowerCompanyClimbing There's always going to be a certain amount of people online who need to feel like they know everything by being contrarian, regardless of what you posit. Maybe it makes them feel better about their accomplishments to put others down. It's weird; the climbing community I experience in person is always very positive, but there's a lot of negative energy on RU-vid/Instagram comment sections.
I think it's worth mentioning being mindful when you pick intermediate holds, if the move you want to do depends on body position because it's a slopey hold but the intermediate has a nice edge you can yard off you will get diminishing returns effectively learning the move.
Possibly true in some cases, but you’re still starting and finishing on the same holds and same positions. If you aren’t sticking the finish off of the intermediate, then something is certainly wrong.
@@PowerCompanyClimbing Absolutely, and any intermediate is a GREAT place to start, but I know I've been sucked into the wrong beta and thought I just needed to pull harder on a bad hold when what I really needed to do was move a foot to shift my weight. This video has some great knowledge and I'm excited to check out more of your work!
Totally. Anytime other beta is in play it should be explored if you can’t completely exclude it (which is pretty rare). Thanks for adding your perspective!
