In the spirit of the upcoming spooky season, let's talk about something that all climbers face at some point on the walls — fear.
Fear is a normal reaction to risk and your body's way of protecting you from harm. The problem occurs when fear bubbles up despite being prepared in a situation that is relatively low-risk. How do we convince our self-protecting brains that a controlled lead fall at the gym is not equivalent to free soloing El Cap? Keep reading for our best tips on how to approach the most anxiety-inducing situations in climbing.
Dynos, Barn Doors, and Falls, Oh My
1. Dynos
A "dyno" is when a climber makes a dynamic movement that uses momentum to get to the next hold, rather than a controlled reach. A dyno often resembles a jump, but there's a lot more to it than closing your eyes and hoping for the best. The best results come from combining power, precision, and core strength. We asked our coaches for their top 4 principles to moving your body up the wall dynamically.
- Make sure you’re pushing and flagging. This keeps your body close to the wall, and gives you a little more force.
- Keep cross body tension. In dynamic movements, you will be actively pulling against all your points of contact at once. So, if you jump from two opposing side-pulls, be sure to pull against each side evenly.
- Focus, Aim, Commit, Execute (FACE). This is a handy acronym to keep in mind while dynoing.
- Keep your hips in. Jumping away from the wall when attempting a dyno is typically a subconscious fear response. Ideally, in a full dyno, your hips should stay as close to the wall as humanly possible.
Continue perfecting your dyno technique by brushing up on our blog What Is a Dyno and How to Do One Successfully.
2. Barn Doors
A "barn door" is an unintentional swing away from the wall, resembling a barn door opening on its hinges. Barn doors happen when only one side of our body is attached to the wall. The best way to avoid barn dooring is to keep the opposite hand on the wall of the foot that will be initiating movement. For example, if reaching the next hold requires you to push off with your left foot, be sure to keep your right hand on the wall. This is called cross-body tension, and helps a climber maintain the balance needed to prevent the dreaded barn door.
3. Falling
While it's not technically a move, falling is a part of climbing — whether it's while sport climbing or bouldering. We asked our coaches for their best tips on overcoming your fear of falling.
- Choose carefully. The more prepared you are, the better. Check for roofs, ledges, trees, ground falls, and other climbers before you choose a route.
- Start small. There's no rule that says you have to practice falling on your redpoint grade! Even making controlled falls onto a bouldering pad or small lead falls at the clip can help put your mind at ease.
- Breathe. Don't forget to breathe! When you think a fall is coming, take a slow, deep belly breath or two to relax your muscles and calm your mind.
For more advice, read our blog on 4 Tricks to Overcome your Fear of Falling.
The next steps
Practice these scary moves with us! Movement offers Intro & Intermediate Technique classes designed to help you refine your skills and progress in your climbing journey.