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specific and perhaps address issues you mail me/ask me. Now, why should I be an authority
or have any answers? Good question. I'm not really and I don't claim to, I guess. These are
just my ideas from years of climbing mixed together with some good old medical knowledge
from my studies as a physician and physical knowledge from other sports I've done for years
(Karate, Gymnastics, Wrestling, etc.) Take or leave what you want or what helps. If it helps,
GREAT!
GREAT!
BTW, I was never much for grammar, so forgive the many writing errors, or better yet, cut &
paste the text and email me with corrections that bug you! noah@tryhardclimbers.com
Anyway, for most of us, training power is infectious. "If only I were a bit stronger, I could
really pull-off that sloper!" In actuality, often technique is to blame for inability to "pull-off" a
move. Most of us can make that move if our beta is (near) perfect. By technique, I do not
mean right-foot here, left there, etc. What I am talking about is a subtlety in hip movement
and body position and deadpoint, etc. When unable to complete a move, try first to open
yourself to the possibility that you are doing the move incorrectly, or not optimally. Try to
consciously tweak things one at a time. sometimes the real "boulder problem" is figuring out
your own body! A good way to practice this art is to get on hard problems that you have
wired, but are still hard for you, and try to complete them flawlessly. Try to make them feel
absolutely easy. Better yet, try filming yourself and then critique your movement as if you
were watching a student climber of yours. We have all had that impossible boulder problem
which we thought would never go. We've all had that same problem feel easy when
everything goes just right. It's like magic! Instead of the randomness of magic, try to figure
out what went right. The difference between climbers at the highest levels usually concerns
who is best at making everything just right for the send. Try this out for a session and you
may get hooked. And then, of course, Try Hard!
20 May - Hip Movement & "Air-Sense"
Basically, in every human sport there is some sort of emphasis on hip control. In Karate,
power and speed come from the hip rotation. The swing in Baseball or Golf. Etcetera.
Thinking about precise movement of the hips is crucial to deadpointing and dynoing
especially. So often, we throw our hips above where they actually need to be. In dynamic
movement we often think about our hand's position relative to the hold we are going to
without realization that our hip's motion is the most pivotal aspect of position. This is
because hip position and vector determine swing. Try to really think about your hip during
your next hard deadpoint. Advanced ways to control the hip on overhanging territory are by
"Three-point" climbing where you can kick your dangling (flagging) leg into the air backwards
to counter-act hip motion outwards and thus give yourself time to latch a hold. When
dynoing, try to pull your hips or upper torso out away from the rock and then launch inwards
& upwards. A good way to train you hip movement is to be cognitive about it on easy
overhanging/juggy problems. Feel the precision of good hip control by wiring a phat dyno
and feeling like you hadn't moved at all when you stick. Also, try swinging dynos and
consciously think about where your hips are. It's proprioception, (feeling "where" your body
(part) is without seeing it) and it's hard for most people. Gymnasts call it "air-sense." I like
that term! Other key elements of hip control will be discussed next week with a conversation
of selective body-tension. Good luck unlocking your potential understanding of air-sense.
Until the 27th...
27 May - Selective Body Tension
Selective Body Tension (SBT) is a term I like to use to describe the natural phenomenon of
tension generation between two body points with or without relaxation of other body parts.
An example may be useful here. Sometimes deadpointing we are required to "squeeze" with
our upper body. When this happens, a line of tension is created that goes from hand to hand
or hand to foot. This is nothing more than the "flexing" of all the muscles inbetween our
gripping points, with our "pecs," or chest (or abs/quads, etc.,) being at the center. Tension
that most of us think about is generated between a foot (or feet) and an arm (or arms.)
Tension helps you hold on. While brute finger strength helps you hold on, crushing tension
strength helps you catch and hold deadpoints. Just as conventional campusing trains contact
strength in the forearms/hand, etc. Unconventional campusing (id est making campus
problems on your woody, especially with side-pulls) strengthens your upper-body tension.
On to SBT. SBT is a crucial high-level aspect of dynamic technique. It is critical to be able
to transfer energy to various parts of your body in order to optimize your movement and
therefore make moves "easier." Think about it, when you go big to a hold and catch it, many
times it's your swing that pulls you off. Much of swing, however, is a result of having too
much general body tension (GBT). SBT is another way of saying "relax" certain parts of your
body. Imagine if you had no legs. you'd be a campus fiend! not only because you were low
weight, but also because your radius would be shorter and your arms would not have to
generate quite as much centripetal force to pull you back in to the wall. when you have too
much GBT, you act as a board and increase your radius because your body functions as a
solid, long piece. With SBT, your radius is essentially cut down because you try to relax at
the hips. You see great climbers "fall" into a swing all the time. That's SBT. Their upperbody
is squeezing like mad, but their lowerbody is relaxed and is just dead-weight. To better
understand, try this experiment: grab some bad holds on an overhang. Now put your feet as
low as you can get them. Then swing. If you try to stay as rigid as a board it'll be harder to
hold the swing. if you jump up to the holds you'll probably rocket off. Try instead to stay
taught in your abs and slow the swing down until you are almost at the bottom of the swing
motion and then, BAMN! Relax. It takes perfect timing and is a learned skill, but it works.
watch great climbers in the videos and they do this all the time (I tried to catch a bunch of
this type of movement in "Try Hard." Anyway, try to find a boulder problem that the swing is
hard to hold for you. Now think about two things: Squeezing harder, upperbody (from your
chest, (even on parallel crimpers!)), and relaxing your lowerbody (hips) at the point you pass
vertical. Usually, GBT seems to help you up to this point. For example, if you barely lose
your feet off the wall, it might be that GBT will suck you back quick and efficiently. SBT is a
good technique for steep territory. Extend the the concept of SBT to include other dynamic
movements and I think you'll see that it is an extremely useful technique to learn. Tune in
next time for the 3rd discussion: "slow power." Also, email me specific beta questions or
areas of interest (or arguments)! Until then...
23 June - Slow Power.
Slow Power (SP) is exactly what you think it is: it's pulling slowly and fluidly between long
moves. It's "slowing down" big long moves that you normally might be tempted to do
dynamically because you're too weak to do them slowly in control. The only way to slow
down these moves is to slow them down! In the gym try making big moves slower, that is,
float up to the holds you are going for instead of that campus latch move. Often, quick
movements require more precise timing because the deadpoint is more "narrow," or shorter.
Quick movements should be reserved for ultimate throws or limit catches. To utilize all
around good technique, slow, fluid movment should be practised religiously. Try, for
instance, slowing down hard moves that you've barely made dynamically. This slow
deadpoint "widens" your latching window, increases the time you have to recruit your
muscle fibers, and engrams "final tension" (ie. tension at the end of a movement.) Moreover,
it makes movement less mysterious and more observable (like time-lapse photography or
'slo-mo.' The climbers I know who do this best are Fred Nicole & Tim Doyle. Try it out!
Try Hard!
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