Climbing Techniques
Rock climbing requires good physical condition, but more importantly, it demands proficient technique. Learning climbing techniques is highly practical and must be practiced through continuous climbing. Having an experienced climber guide you can significantly boost your progress.
Hand Techniques:
The fundamental purpose of using your hands while climbing is to move your body upward and stay close to the wall. There are many different shapes of holds on the wall, with dozens being quite common. Climbers need to be familiar with these hold shapes, knowing where to grip and how to apply force for different types. Depending on the position and direction of protrusions (or indentations) on the holds, techniques such as hooking, pinching, pulling, gripping, holding, and pushing are used.
But don’t be rigid—there can be multiple ways to grip the same hold. For example, there’s a type of hold that is a round nub with a small flat platform on top. Normally, you’d drape your fingers over it and pull straight down, but to stay closer to the wall, you can fully pinch it and pull horizontally. Another example: when both hands need to use the same hold, the leading hand might give up the best grip to the trailing hand to avoid the hassle of switching. When gripping holds—especially when applying horizontal force—keep your elbow low to increase horizontal friction via downward pull. Make full use of your thumb’s strength by placing it on the hold; for common shallow horizontal grooves, twist your thumb so the fleshy part hooks into the groove, or lay it across the backs of your index and middle fingers to gain extra power.
Finger strength is crucial in climbing, and you can train it with exercises like finger push-ups, pull-ups, finger-assisted pull-ups, and lifting weights with your fingers. Some elite climbers abroad have even developed the strength for one-finger pull-ups. When tackling longer routes,
you can choose easier sections to alternate resting your hands. Pick rest spots with little or no overhang and larger holds. While resting, keep your feet firmly planted on holds, straighten your arms (bent arms won’t let you rest), lean your upper body back, but push your hips forward to bring your lower body close to the wall and shift your weight onto your feet. This reduces arm strain. Wiggle your fingers, shake out your hands to relax, and apply some chalk to prevent slipping.
The fundamental purpose of using your hands while climbing is to move your body upward and stay close to the wall. There are many different shapes of holds on the wall, with dozens being quite common. Climbers need to be familiar with these hold shapes, knowing where to grip and how to apply force for different types. Depending on the position and direction of protrusions (or indentations) on the holds, techniques such as hooking, pinching, pulling, gripping, holding, and pushing are used.
But don’t be rigid—there can be multiple ways to grip the same hold. For example, there’s a type of hold that is a round nub with a small flat platform on top. Normally, you’d drape your fingers over it and pull straight down, but to stay closer to the wall, you can fully pinch it and pull horizontally. Another example: when both hands need to use the same hold, the leading hand might give up the best grip to the trailing hand to avoid the hassle of switching. When gripping holds—especially when applying horizontal force—keep your elbow low to increase horizontal friction via downward pull. Make full use of your thumb’s strength by placing it on the hold; for common shallow horizontal grooves, twist your thumb so the fleshy part hooks into the groove, or lay it across the backs of your index and middle fingers to gain extra power.
Finger strength is crucial in climbing, and you can train it with exercises like finger push-ups, pull-ups, finger-assisted pull-ups, and lifting weights with your fingers. Some elite climbers abroad have even developed the strength for one-finger pull-ups. When tackling longer routes,
you can choose easier sections to alternate resting your hands. Pick rest spots with little or no overhang and larger holds. While resting, keep your feet firmly planted on holds, straighten your arms (bent arms won’t let you rest), lean your upper body back, but push your hips forward to bring your lower body close to the wall and shift your weight onto your feet. This reduces arm strain. Wiggle your fingers, shake out your hands to relax, and apply some chalk to prevent slipping.
Foot Techniques:
To reach a certain level in rock climbing, you must learn to use your legs and feet effectively. Legs have great load-bearing capacity, explosive power, and endurance, so make full use of their strength while climbing. Climbers typically wear specialized climbing shoes, which have soles made of hard rubber, with slightly thicker rubber at the toe. The shoe body is crafted from tough leather, with a pointed toe and high friction on the sole. These shoes allow you to stand stably on holds as narrow as less than one centimeter wide while supporting your full body weight.
When buying such shoes, be sure not to get them too big. They should fit snugly—you should just be able to get your foot in, with your big toe curled and not straight. The tighter the shoe, the more stable it is when applying force. Some competitors even use quick-draws to forcibly jam their feet into the shoes during competitions. Beginners often buy shoes that are too large, and after a while, they find their feet sliding around inside with no power. On a foot, there are only four points that typically contact the hold: the very tip of the shoe; the inner edge near the big toe; the outer edge near the smaller toes; and the heel (mainly used for hooking during roof moves). Each point should have only about a finger’s width of contact—not too much, like placing the whole foot on the hold—so the foot can pivot and adjust for moves like foot swaps or body rotation.
Foot swapping is a basic technical move frequently used in climbing. It’s common to see beginners forcefully push off with their front foot, leap, and land their back foot precisely where the front foot was. Though it may look smooth, this method is incorrect because it puts more strain on the fingers, throws off body balance, and is especially unfeasible when the foothold is high.
The correct method ensures stability and doesn’t add burden to your hands. Taking a swap from the right foot to the left as an example: first, lift your left foot above your right. Rotate your right foot counterclockwise (when looking down) on the hold, using the far-right edge as the axis, to free up the left side of the hold. Your weight remains on the right foot. Then bring your left foot in from above, place it on the hold, and smoothly withdraw the right foot as the weight shifts to the left. The motion should flow seamlessly—as if your soles were greased—right foot slides out, left foot slides in, with your weight constantly supported by both feet while your hands only help with balance. Besides bearing weight, your feet also help maintain body balance. Feet don’t always need to be on holds; sometimes you extend a leg outward to adjust your center of gravity so your weight transfers steadily to the other foot.
To reach a certain level in rock climbing, you must learn to use your legs and feet effectively. Legs have great load-bearing capacity, explosive power, and endurance, so make full use of their strength while climbing. Climbers typically wear specialized climbing shoes, which have soles made of hard rubber, with slightly thicker rubber at the toe. The shoe body is crafted from tough leather, with a pointed toe and high friction on the sole. These shoes allow you to stand stably on holds as narrow as less than one centimeter wide while supporting your full body weight.
When buying such shoes, be sure not to get them too big. They should fit snugly—you should just be able to get your foot in, with your big toe curled and not straight. The tighter the shoe, the more stable it is when applying force. Some competitors even use quick-draws to forcibly jam their feet into the shoes during competitions. Beginners often buy shoes that are too large, and after a while, they find their feet sliding around inside with no power. On a foot, there are only four points that typically contact the hold: the very tip of the shoe; the inner edge near the big toe; the outer edge near the smaller toes; and the heel (mainly used for hooking during roof moves). Each point should have only about a finger’s width of contact—not too much, like placing the whole foot on the hold—so the foot can pivot and adjust for moves like foot swaps or body rotation.
Foot swapping is a basic technical move frequently used in climbing. It’s common to see beginners forcefully push off with their front foot, leap, and land their back foot precisely where the front foot was. Though it may look smooth, this method is incorrect because it puts more strain on the fingers, throws off body balance, and is especially unfeasible when the foothold is high.
The correct method ensures stability and doesn’t add burden to your hands. Taking a swap from the right foot to the left as an example: first, lift your left foot above your right. Rotate your right foot counterclockwise (when looking down) on the hold, using the far-right edge as the axis, to free up the left side of the hold. Your weight remains on the right foot. Then bring your left foot in from above, place it on the hold, and smoothly withdraw the right foot as the weight shifts to the left. The motion should flow seamlessly—as if your soles were greased—right foot slides out, left foot slides in, with your weight constantly supported by both feet while your hands only help with balance. Besides bearing weight, your feet also help maintain body balance. Feet don’t always need to be on holds; sometimes you extend a leg outward to adjust your center of gravity so your weight transfers steadily to the other foot.
