UKC

Going solo bouldering soon and fancied trying some hard traverses to remove the need for a spotter and reduce the risk of an injury.

Does anyone have experience if traverses translate at all to upwards movement? 

I always find the traversing makes u think about ur feet, having them in the right place to suit ur next move. And an added bonus, a nice long traverse can be pumpy so makes u stronger in that way.

On some you may get a section or 2 where you would have to reach a higher handhold etc. 

Excellent training for fitness and also for wide moves. Throw in a few offset pull ups into the mix.

Of course it does. I train traverses specifically when I want to target body tension and shoulder strength.

Personally I found traverses harder to protect than strait ups if you're on your own. I suppose if you're shuffling along 30cm above the ground the whole way then fine but if it's a rising traverse then it's hard to know where to place the mat. You can rarely pad out the whole thing and you've not got any spotters there to move the pads along for you like normal so it can get a bit sketchy sometimes. 

At least with straight ups provided it's not highball you're going to land in more or less the same spot each time so you can more effectively pad the area out. 

Yeah I was looking at some straight across traverses rather than rising, but that's a good point about mat placement!