I was wondering if anyone has any good tips or literature recommendations on conserving energy whilst trad climbing; and more specifically, I was thinking about footwork and body position.
I've realised that I tend to pump out whilst placing gear (particularly on near vertical to steep ground), rather than whilst making moves - and I've been trying to watch better climbers to see what they do, as well as thinking over how I climb.
So, the obvious:
- place gear from a good position
- stand in balance
- straight arms, if that's doable
- good holds, if there are some
- rack so you can get at your gear quickly and place it efficiently
- try to have a good gander at the route beforehand, and think about where you'll rest, place gear, or try to move fast.
But, I was wondering if anyone has any more subtle tips?
Recently, someone told me I'm a very tense climber, and that I should drop my heels a bit, rather than always standing on my toes (to avoid tired calves and Elvis leg). More generally, I've read that it's good to try and relax overly tensed muscles, and certainly I'm trying to avoid overgripping (i.e. trusting feet) - but, it's not always easy! Connected to this, I feel like I sometimes try to "freeze" to place gear - i.e. I get a good hold, and then try to stay as still as possible whilst placing gear - rather than moving around, getting comfortable, relaxing. I think partly this is an indoor sport climbing approach I've learnt, that's creating problems outside. Any thoughts or tips about all this?
I've also noticed that better climbers seem to use the outside edge of their foot a lot more than I do; I tend to prefer the toe or the inside edge. My pet theory at the moment is that using the outside edge more would tend to bring my body closer to the rock and shift more weight onto my feet. Any thoughts?
Finally, I think being scared tends to make me pump quicker: I recently repeated a climb I'd felt scared and pumped on a month previous, but on returning to it I was completely relaxed and didn't feel at all pumped or pushed by the route. At present, I don't really have a technique to deal with this beyond telling myself to "keep breathing", and it means that some days everything mysteriously goes smoothly and brilliantly, whilst other days everything feels mysteriously hard and scary. Any tips or thoughts?
Any other thoughts, techniques or tricks to avoid wasting energy? Many thanks - and apologies if it seems a dull, over-discussed topic...!
Post edited at 14:56