Purpose:
To encourage you to not only realise the importance of keeping your hips in to the wall but to be able to better understand when to get our hips in close to the wall and when to let them drift backwards.
Where: slightly overhanging terrain
This drill needs to be done on an overhang, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be very steep. It doesn’t involve climbing up, so only the starting position needs to be overhanging
When: during the Learning Window
Climbs should be easy enough to allow thought process but not so easy as the drill feels contrived.
The Drill:
Find a position on the wall with two reasonable handholds and two reasonable footholds in a rectangle
- Pull off the floor and hang from your arms
- Push your hips forward so they are close to the wall
- Drop the hips back so they are plumb underneath your hands
- Push the hips back in but this time, pay attention to where the weight is: hands or feet?
- Now drop the hips back and again, pay attention to where the weight is: hands or feet?
Variation: ask yourself which limb you may wish to move when your hips are either in or out of the wall
The Outcome: How do you know when it’s working?
Over time, you should find that you not only develop more confidence getting the weight in your feet on steep ground but also start to distinguish when to put the weight in your feet