Hook, flag, piaz or crimp – there are a huge number of techniques in climbing. Much more effective than learning the mechanics of a single technique is understanding the concept of a movement. And that's exactly what today is about.
“There are hundreds of climbing techniques,” says lattice coach Josh Hadley, citing changing feet on a step as an example. This alone could be made in at least five different variants. There are also other shapes, depending on the step, the body position or the angle of the wall.
Learning the mechanics of a climbing technique, while useful, does not fully teach how and when to use it. Understanding movement concepts is much more important to developing high-level climbing skills.
Josh Hadley
The importance of movement concepts
Once you understand the concept or law of movement, the correct climbing technique will emerge automatically.
Learning good technique means being able to adapt it intuitively to common climbing scenarios
Josh Hadley
An example: Once you understand the principle from which direction a hold or a kick needs to be loaded, techniques like laybacking or heelhooking become much more intuitive. Josh Hadley introduces the four most important movement concepts in the video above.
Four basic movement concepts for climbing
- direction of pull
- Hip timing dynamics
- Predict the end position of a movement
- Triangular area
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Credits: Cover picture Lattice training