Balance, Weight-Shifting, and Hips.
What every climber needs to know about balance is to focus their weight on body position, particularly their hips.
Weight-shifting on vertical terrain is essentially the same as on slab. The movement and the goal (getting your hips over one foot or the other) are the same.
However, as the walls get steeper the feel begins to change. It leads to climbers making some predictable errors that lead to inefficient habits. Let’s take a closer look at why body positioning matters.
Side Note: We are going to focus on the basics of balance and weight-shifting on the vertical wall. Although we’ll be comparing slab, if you’re only interested in balancing and weight-shifting on slab, check it out here.
Slab Versus Vertical
On slab, it is possible to get into positions that are 100% efficient. Climbers can balance their entire weight over one foot. This is both during a move and after it is completed. You can achieve this in slab without strictly the need to use your hands or arms at all. This does become progressively more difficult at higher grades, not to mention on smaller footholds.
Once the angle reaches the vertical or beyond, it is no longer possible to balance our weight completely on one foot.
This is because at steeper angles we cannot get our hips close enough to the wall to be directly over the foothold on which we are standing. In other words, at steeper angles, gravity always pulls our hips away from the wall.
As a result, even climbers who have mastered weight-shifting on slab tend to use their arms more than is necessary on steeper terrain. (This is a habit called over-gripping).
To avoid this, once the climbs become steeper, we need to consider the three-dimensional nature of the climbing movement.
Climbing as Three Dimensional
When starting out, climbers tend to view moves in just two dimensions-left and right, up and down.
With regard to weight shifting, this means that they only think about moving their hips across the wall. They either shift from their left foot to their right or vice versa.
In order to balance on one foot, your hips must also come in, adding a third dimension to the movement.
The goal to emphasize is not to merely get your hips over your heel. It is equally as important to get your hips as close to the wall as possible whenever you are planning to move.
This approach generally comes naturally to new climbers when doing routes or boulder problems on the slab. Given the nature of the movement, for most people, it simply ‘feels’ right to shift their hips directly over their heel. There is no wall to interfere with this.
Once climbs become vertical, or steeper, however, many new climbers fail to notice their hips.
They don’t realize when moving their hips to the side they frequently do not get them directly over their heel. New climbers leave their hips slightly out from the wall, putting more weight on their arms.
It's All About the Hips
To get your hips over your heel on steeper climbs, climbers need to bring their hips in toward the wall, as well as over toward their heel.
This may seem more difficult for some climbers because it does not necessarily feel ‘normal’. Just remember it will feel differently on lower angles. Practice on getting those hips toward the wall and it will soon become second nature to you.
Recap
When the walls get steeper, remember to focus on the placement of your hips. It will help to think of climbing as three-dimensional. Up, down, left, right, in, and out. Bring those hips in to maintain proper balance and weight-shifting.
All material is reprinted with the permission of the author. Copyright 2022 David H. Rowland. All rights reserved.
