Tina Breslin (5'2") runs us through her top techniques for gaining that little bit of extra reach on the wall - tips that are crucial for those shorter climbers, but which are no less useful for the rest of us!

Being a short climber can be frustrating. We have to use worse holds, do more moves, use more strength… And before the tall folk join the chat with sit-starts—what use is having little legs on the sitter if you can't reach the starting holds? I'm personally more psyched on topping out than getting my bum an inch off the ground.

This article isn't about complaining, but if you've ever felt alone as you watched a tall friend casually skip your crux and wondered how the heck you and your T-Rex arms are supposed to get through it—this one's for you.

1. Dynamic Doesn't Have to Mean Dyno

Most shorties already know that learning to move dynamically helps—and it does. But it took me years to realise that dynamic movement doesn't have to mean flinging yourself between holds or specialising in parkour-style dynos. You don't need pogo-stick legs to climb with momentum—though I did recently learn that even on gritstone, the pogo technique can be a sneaky way to gain an extra inch or two when you're too stretched to pop or reach statically.

For me, becoming more dynamic meant learning to drive movement from my hips and gradually challenging the belief that control only came from moving in a perfectly static way.

Rather than just focusing on your arms or legs, use your hips with intent—adjusting their direction, speed, and power like cracking a tiny whip to help your body travel. If your limbs are bent enough, this might look like a big pendulum motion. If you're fully spanned out, even a subtle hip sway can generate just enough force to get that extra inch—and as we know, an inch can be everything.

Even on delicate terrain, like slopers or slabs, purposeful hip movement makes a difference. Ask yourself: how could I use my hips to help here? When you lead with them—or at least bring them into the equation—you can transfer force more efficiently from legs to arms. Your hips are the power bridge between upper and lower body, and learning to use them well can help you climb more efficiently, conserve energy, and still have enough left in the tank for that big lock-off to the top... where you're probably more comfortable sloth-creeping.

2. Secret Holds and How to Use Them

This applies across all rock types, but the more reachy the climbing style, the more creative you'll need to get—not just in finding intermediate holds, but in using them (and yes, if you're an indoor climber, those foot chips absolutely count as handholds). In fact, maybe we just stop labelling things as "hands" or "feet" altogether—every hold is fair game. Hands, feet, knees, frictiony forearms… anything goes if it works.

Try not to be lured in by the biggest holds or the ones everyone else uses. If you've tried them and they don't work for your size or centre of gravity, you're probably better off finding a worse one that actually suits your dimensions and keeps you in balance.

Training yourself to spot hidden holds is a skill in itself. We've all wanted the quickest solution—scrolling beta videos, copying your mate's sequence, following the obvious chalk. But if you're shorter, odds are you've already tried the obvious method and it didn't work. So save yourself the frustration and go in with fresh eyes. Get curious. Look closer. Brush some unchalked rock and channel your inner first ascensionist as you piece together your own sequence.

It helps to know the rock's personality. Gritstone, for instance, is basically one giant foothold—you can stand on next to nothing if your body position is right. Polished limestone… less so. Grit and granite often have pebbles. They might be tiny, but they're a great way to gain height or direction. Try wrapping your thumb over the top and curling your index finger under or around the side, like you're twisting a little dial. (Warning: pebbles can be slick or snappy—play pebble roulette at your own risk).

Once you've found your hold, experiment with how you're using it. Are you on the best bit? Would holding it lower down help you pull over your foot more? If you move your fingers to the slightly worse bit, could you get your thumb involved, allowing you to pinch it for more stability? Don't just think about the current move, but the next ones too—if you'll need to match, leave yourself some room. A subtle twist in your torso can shift your whole centre of gravity and cause your fingers or toes to slip, so plan ahead if you can.

A lot of this is trial and error. Sometimes a hold looks promising but just doesn't work once you weight it—your body's all out of balance. Other times, the laughably tiny pebble unlocks the whole sequence. Don't write off 'bad holds' too quickly. With a well-placed flag, hip shift, trailing leg engagement, or some tension through your palm, even the worst holds can become usable. Keep experimenting—you might be closer than you think.

3. High Stepping

What if there are no secret holds—or the ones you've found really aren't usable? Sometimes, you just need a bigger foothold you can properly claw down on… and unfortunately, the next one is by your hand—or your head.

If you're flexible and strong in that extended range of motion, go for the high foot, place it accurately, and start rocking your hips over it. If precision's tricky but you can get your foot roughly where it needs to be, keep body tension and slowly wiggle it into place. If you can't hoik your leg up that far, look for smaller intermediate footholds or smears to briefly take some weight and step your feet up incrementally. That way, the distance between your low and high foot isn't quite so extreme—which means less flexibility and strength demanded from your hips and legs (though it might shift the load to your fingers as you move off the good foothold).

If you've got decent coordination, you can even hop your foot up—launching from the lower one and landing it directly onto the high hold. Both feet are briefly off the wall, so it needs accuracy, but it can work brilliantly if the target foothold is big—or if you're convinced you have "wooden hips".

Two high feet aren't always better than one. It can force your centre of gravity away from the wall—unless you're good at frogging your knees out to keep your hips pulled in. Sometimes it's better to use just one high foot, letting the lower leg keep you closer to the wall.

Then, as you start moving your hips over your foot, think about pulling your waist into the wall too. That keeps you balanced and eases some of the load from your arms and fingers.

Toe or heel? Try both. Rocking over a heel can help if you struggle to keep your hips in—it opens them up and gives you more space. On the other hand, if you need to stand as tall as possible by the end of the move, a toe usually gives more reach.

It's hard to know from the ground what's going to work best, so stay playful and try different approaches. Over time, you'll start using and trusting your high steps more intuitively. Unless something feels painful, don't rush to label yourself as "too inflexible" for a high foot. Often it just takes one adjustment—shift your hips, switch to a heel, walk your foot up first, or reposition your trailing leg—to make it work.

4. Don't Look, Lock!

I know I started off telling you to ditch your inner statue and embrace dynamic movement—and yes, that is important—but good technique is like a big book of tricks. The more pages you can flick through, the better, and as a shorter climber you'll probably need to read all the chapters - possibly multiple times.

Lock-off strength is a total game-changer. If you've been climbing a while, you've probably levelled up your lock-off game without even realising. While taller climbers just reach, you've been holding body tension mid-move—adjusting a foot a few centimetres, crawling your fingers onto a finishing jug, or trying to reach that "just-out-of-reach" hold for the fifth time, despite definitely not growing since your last attempt.

Now, if you've locked off as far as your arm will let you and you're still a few inches shy of the next hold (which sums up roughly 90% of my climbing attempts), there are a few tricks that might get you just that bit further:

Use Your Trailing Leg: One of the most underrated tools for gaining height (in general but particularly with lock-offs) is actively using your trailing leg. Placing it with intention—often higher than feels natural—can help create full-body tension and give you a bit of upward push. You might have to let your hips come away from the wall, adding to the strain on your upper body to make it happen, but if that gives you the reach you need, it's a worthwhile trade.

The Push-Through: Use your reaching arm to push off something—another hold, the wall, your own leg. You can do this mid-lock or just before maxing out. That extra push can assist the hard-working locking arm and might boost your hips by the crucial few inches you need.

Switch the Pull to a Press: Can your locked arm switch from a pull to a press? It might not feel like you can move in this locked-in position, but shifting some awareness to your lower body and trying to reposition your weight might take enough strain off to sneak your palm onto the hold and turn it into a press. It can be awkward—but surprisingly effective.

(Advanced) Particularly on slabby or vert terrain, you can gain another inch by pressing all the way onto the tips of your fingers.

The Mini Pop: If you're at full lock and still not there, try sinking your hips slightly and using a quick burst of momentum to pop just beyond your high point. It's a small, sharp move that needs timing and accuracy—but when you've got no more lock left to give, this can be the answer.

Look Away: When all else fails—no push, no press, no pop—there's one last trick. It's a bit weird, but hear me out: look away from the hold. Seriously. Turning your head down or to the side can unlock a few extra millimetres of torso twist and extension. Imagine: you're locking on your left, reaching with your right, and the hold is just out of reach. Now turn your gaze down to the left—feel that right side elongate. It's subtle, but sometimes it's just enough.

And if nothing else, dragging your fingertips up the wall toward the hold adds a nice bit of drama to the attempt. Closing your eyes is optional—but it makes for a great "try-hard" photo and it does save you from seeing the fall zone.

5. Knees, Toes, Anything Goes

When you're short, creativity isn't just a bonus—it's essential. If you can remember to try even a few of these options when you're stuck on a reachy move, you're far more likely to unlock a solution.

Heel Hooks: A well-placed heel can help you stay connected and pull through when you're otherwise fully stretched. Use it to move up, anchoring your foot for leverage, or to unweight another point of contact so you can make small adjustments mid-crux.

Toe Hooks & Feet-First Beta: When a heel hook's too far and your leg's nearly straight, it's hard to get leverage—but the tops of your toes are a whole foot further than your heel. Straight-leg toe hooks give you the most reach. Closer, bendier placements open up even more sequence options, but need a bit more knack. Twist, drop a knee, shift your hips—find that balance point where you can engage and pull through the top of your toes, shin, and quad.

Maximum style points if you can walk or swing your legs into place first, like you're reaching with your feet before your hands. Once they're in position, fold in—ideally to hand-foot match. Being able to touch your toes with your legs straight and having the core to do this, probably upside down, helps!

Kneebars & Friction Scums: Don't just think about what you can grab or stand on—what parts of your body can wedge, press, drag or scum against the wall to gain stability, sneak a rest, or push a bit higher?

Flagging: If you feel off-balance, a flag can help you control your centre of gravity and stabilise for long reaches. Flagging behind, in front or to the side are all worth experimenting with to regain control.

Bicycles, Twists, Drop Knees & Roses: Bicycles (pressing down with one foot, pulling up with the toe of the other) give you opposition and control on steep ground. Twisting into a move often gives you that vital extra inch of reach. A drop knee rotates your hips in and lets you extend further without cutting loose. Rose moves—a cross-through where you rotate your torso and reach across your body, opening your chest away from the wall as you unfold—can help split big spans into smaller, more manageable stages… and they look cool.

The best habit you can build here is curiosity. If something feels impossible, ask yourself: how else could I move through this space? The shorty solution might feel weirder or harder—but 'weird and doable' beats 'impossible' every time.

The Short Of It

As a short climber, you'll likely need more precision, more technique, more strength, and more strategy—but you'll also build a richer skill set and a deeper understanding of movement. The more ways you know to connect with the wall, the more options you have to solve the puzzle—and the more puzzles you can play on.

Being short can unlock a uniquely creative style of climbing, one that's both poetic and powerful, and far more satisfying than just pulling and reaching.