One Essential Tool for Progressing on Overhangs － Coaching w/ Dan Pt. 3
Hooper’s Beta Ep. 160
Introduction
Today we're talking about a really pretty straightforward tip, but it's something that comes up especially often with newer climbers.
The tip is that anytime you're trying to generate for a move, you should try to do it from as straight an arm as possible.
A lot of times, because it loads your hands more and it just feels more engaged and solid, people will prioritize getting into these like really bound, locked off positions and they essentially compromise the moves that they're trying to make in order to feel more secure where they already are.
Why Straight Arms Give You a Climbing Advantage
Why should you do this technique?
It's gonna give you more room to move your feet and set up for a move.
It's going to give you more room to kind of accelerate into the wall and get a good momentum going to avoid a swing.
And most importantly, it's going to give you a longer runway to sort of generate speed and power, and it's going to give you a lot more distance while also loading positions in a more balanced and smoother way.
Mastering Footwork and Body Positioning
So what else is this technique going to help me with?
Initially, you learn to keep your body pressed into the wall to load your feet as much as possible. But look at what happens with your foot angle: if I'm pulled in tight and my knee tracks in, I'm more prone to just blow off the hold, especially on a slippery foothold.
But if I just sag out a little bit—by either dropping my heel or sitting my hips down and out more—I'm pushing into the wall. All of a sudden, that foothold cannot blow as long as I'm pushing into the wall; it will not cut. It only fails when the foot angle gives out or I stop loading it at all.
By pulling into the wall, we see I'm at a poor, precarious angle. By sagging out, I can actually load the foot a lot more with basically impunity. By having straight arms, you have the ability to create that angle. Then, as soon as you're trying to create a little bit of pop and distance, you can use your whole body to fluidly move between positions instead of having to get bound up.
When to Use This Technique (and When Not To)
Should everyone do this all the time?
If you're trying to balance and move slowly, and are in a position where you can simply perch on your feet, then you can get really locked in and just reach. But you won't go as far, and you won't be able to create much outward movement to balance out any falling away.
Therefore, starting with straight arms is particularly well suited for:
Steeper overhangs if you're trying to do a bigger move.
Moving up and over onto a foot.
Anything that involves a bigger body movement rather than a little balance and reach.
You basically want to start straight armed. You want to sit back and down on your legs. This is going to let you drive in, it's going to let you bounce, it's going to let you pull and get as much distance and as much control as possible.
Outro
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