So, you have decided that you want to start bouldering. Chances are that
you have some friends who will be taking you out to show you around your
local area. They will show you all the V10 test pieces, some VB warm-ups,
and then, a problem where they will say; "You should be able to do this."
Your eyes will be drawn to the handholds and you will think, "How am I gonna
pull myself up that?" Well you're not. You are not going to pull yourself
up anything.
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I don't know about you, but I can walk for hours. I can only do pull-ups
for about 2 minutes. Your legs are far stronger than your arms. What you
are going to do is use your legs to push you to each of those handholds.
And this is going to require you to use your feet. Footwork is the key. Getting
as much of your weight over your feet as possible will save your precious
arm strength. |
Here are some techniques that will help you improve your footwork:
1. Look at the hold, and then carefully place your foot on it. If you blindly
put your foot to rock and let it scrape down until it stops on something
that seems like it might be a hold, you might get a surprise when you try
to stand on it. Not to mention what will happen to your shoes. LOOK DOWN. |
| 2. Don't always use the biggest hold; feel around to see if a smaller
intermediate hold will put you in better position to make the move. Practice
will help with this, as you gain a feel as to what works for you, and what
doesn't. Once again LOOK DOWN. |
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3. On slabs, keep your hips away from the rock; this puts your weight over
your feet. On vertical terrain try to stand on holds as much as possible.
With overhangs things are a little different. You can't stand on any hold,
but feet are still important. Keep your hips in and try to hang on straight
arms. This allows your legs to hold you in. Be creative look for heel and
toe hooks, kneebars, anything that will take some weight off your arms.
4. Practice. When out bouldering try different things, different problems.
Try to climb as smooth as possible, or climb a problem over and over until
you have it wired. Try a slab with no hands. Watch other climbers and think
about what they are doing different than you, then try it. Climb on different
types of rock. Relax and have fun. |
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