Purpose:
To develop your footwork skills transitioning to climbing on rock
Where: floor based
This drill should be conducted on a rock face. It doesn’t work indoors
It can be done on any angle on wall (although steep overhanging will obviously be more strenuous) but should be done at ground level.
When: during the Warm Up or early in the Learning Window
This drill isn’t done on specific climbs, it is a floor-based exercise. It can easily be incorporated into the warm up
The Drill:
For this drill, you will need a block of chalk. This could be a small piece from your chalk bag or it could be a specific piece of teacher’s chalk
- Find two good holds at ground level (roughly head high from the floor)
- Before you pull off the floor, take the piece of chalk and mark every available foothold on the wall
- Now pull on using your good handholds and stand on every chalk mark you see
- Once you have stood on every hold, step back down to the floor and see if you can see any more.
- Mark the new holds that you missed the first time around
- Pull on again, now standing on all the holds, including the new ones
The Outcome: How do you know when it’s working?
With each lap, you should find that you begin to find more and more holds; becoming more subtle along the way.
If you find that you are not marking new holds, try getting closer to the rock, looking a bit more closely and even running your hands over the rock to feel for new options