Getting Footwork Down

At this point you have only gotten half of the puzzle on how to get up the rock. That half comes from your hands and upper body, the next part is on your lower half. More specifically the feet. Here I must also make a critical plea, if you want to enjoy climbing to the fullest and get the most you can out of your abilities, ask to borrow a pair of rock climbing shoes. The expense is usually a few dollars to rent them along with the usual stink that cannot be gotten rid of. Plus they give you the ability to almost stick to the rock as if they had been glued in certain instances. In order to give you a continual flow and present the information in the best way it will occur in the same type of format with a name and description followed by a picture for some of the footholds.

Smear- Is used when no actual place is available to serve as a foot hold. Instead what you do is essentially create your own. This is achieved by using the flat toe potion of the shoe and trying to get as much of the shoe surface to contact the rock face. One example of how this looks on a vertical wall is in the picture below. Followed by how it would appear on a more sloped surface.

Edge- Either an inside or outside edge are practically the same the only difference is which part of the shoe you use to hold you there. I will describe an inside edge and you will be able to do the same thing just with the outside of the shoe to create the other type. What needs to happen is take just the small inside part of the shoe, about where the big toe meets the rest of the foot and place this section of the shoe onto the rock.
Toe in- Is generally used when there are pockets to place a toe in. Do your best to try and get as much of your foot into the hole in order to try and get a sturdy place to stand. In the image below the pocket is very small hence the reason only a small piece of the toe is in but it is still creating very good friction.
Heel hook- this is generally used to allow you to free your arms for movement. Although it can be used to help pull you up an overhanging rock. It will work best to get the majority of your heel over the hold you plan to use and use your hamstring like a bicep and curl inward. This move looks like the image below.

In order to use most of these at their optimal level you must work on body position. This frequently occurs naturally with your body telling you which way it wants to lean. Usually against the hold to give you the best tension without engaging a lot of muscles the key to long term climbing is to rely on you skeletal structure to hold you rather than your muscles. Another important note is to try and keep your foot level which does the same basic skeleton work and also to make the best possible angles and friction for t your footwork. Another thing you will notice in nearly all the picture is a trend to have the heal and toes create a parallel line wiht the ground no matter how far below it is. This allows your leg to stay less stressed and funtion at its best.

Come back for next weeks posting on how to belay.