Crimp Harder Without Training: Advanced Techniques!

In this video, I’ll show you how to level up your crimping without any dedicated training! These are practical techniques and tactics you can use in your next climbing session to make the most of your finger strength.

We often hear that finger strength is the single most important attribute in climbing. But what if you’ve got strong fingers and still struggle on tough climbs? You’re not alone! If you can hang 200% of your body weight 💪 but still can’t get through a 7C (it happens), this video is for you. This video is also for you if you hate hangboarding 😉. I’ll break down step-by-step tactics to help you *apply* your finger strength effectively, unlocking harder climbs.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

- How to Use Your Hips: Maximize grip angles, leverage weight, and increase your stability with hip and foot positioning.
- Deceleration Techniques: Avoid shock loading and keep your movements controlled to save energy on each move.
- Grip Position Versatility: From full crimp to nuanced adjustments, improve your grip technique to handle a variety of holds.
- Building Skin Toughness: Tips on adapting your skin for outdoor climbing and maintaining grip on small holds.

These techniques can make a huge difference without any additional training, and they’ll help you get more out of every climbing session. Time to learn how to climb smarter and unlock your full grip strength on the wall!"

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
0:15 - How to Use Your Hips
2:20 - Deceleration Techniques
4:25 - Grip Position Versatility
7:28 - Building Skin Toughness

DISCLAIMER: The contents of this video are for informational purposes only. By watching this video, you agree that any actions you take as a result of the information or content provided are entirely at your own risk and Lattice Training Limited shall not be responsible for the loss, or damage, of or to any property or to any person arising from the same.
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[PlPu]

Got it. Condition the skin of my hips, decelerate my grip versatility, and sand down holds to improve crimps.

[AusVersehen]

Yes, I am one of those weak hand warriors

[jfireclimbing]

A couple thoughts:

- I love the emphasis on technique in a "how to crimp" video. Bravo Lattice. Good grip work starts with body positioning that reduces the need for grip.

- Curling into the hold can also cause extra skin damage. Be thoughtful about how you initiate contact. You want a lot of surface area on the part of the hold you'll use through most of the movement, but you don't want a lot of surface area on the hold while you adjust your grip. That's how you mess your skin up.

- Sometimes, you'll want to look for the part of the hold with the most friction and bias it towards the strongest part of your fingers. Especially outside, holds are not uniform. Surface area is not everything. Connecting force production to best point of friction is king. Don't assume the back of the hold is where you want your finger tips.

- Similarly, keep in mind as your body moves upward, the attack angle you have on a crimp will change. Skin-wise it's better to consciously adjust your grip if you can, in stages, rather than slowly dragging your fingers across the hold as you move up. Often for this reason you'll want your finger tips on the edge of a crimp when you grab it from below, so that you can roll on to it as you move past it without messing your skin up.

- Full crimping: because the thumb is so much shorter and attaches at the base of the palm, this also puts the MCP in more flexion and the wrist in extension, functionally increasing the leverage of the entire grip. This is also part of why it's risky on the pulleys.

- Learning/training to flex at the MCP and extend at the wrist while crimping is INCREDIBLY useful whether you use your thumb ("full crimp") or not. This requires a very long training timeline but it's mega for being able to position the body while crimping.

- To get good at small holds if you already have a lot of recruitment in max hang style tests (mentioned around 5:00) I suggest climbing in a "wall crawl" or "low gear" style with the smallest holds you can move slowly on and big, big footholds. Just staying on the wall for 30-60 seconds and moving with lots of control, like a tractor going uphill. 3-4 reps at the start of a bouldering session with tons of rest between reps is where I would start. This gives you an opportunity to do tons of that "slow things down" style practice without a lot of risk.

Good stuff, cool to see how much your guys' video team has evolved.

[Mendokusai]

I just came from a session thinking that I need to work on crimps. Thanks for this!

[labesace]

I'm a bit skeptical about advising to prioritize heels over toes. It's true that heels are an extremely powerful technique when the situation is right, and they are very useful to suck your hips in, but I see too many people who climb mostly indoors and learn to use heels even before their master the full potential of what they can do with the point of their foot. Knowing how to position precisely the toe, trust the friction and build body tension with poor footholds is an underestimated skill, and much more versatile than heels, that are like a more specific weapon in my opinion (it also requires relatively specific strengths like flexibility and powerful hamstrings)

[chip]

Incredible video! Such great tips explained so well, thank you!

[jerm]

Watched this video in the morning and the deceleration tip helped me send my project :) thanks for the help! 🎉

[rachellmichelleyoga]

Such awesome tips! Sometimes I think I’m doing most things efficiently but my pinky finger strength and mobility is so weak. I feel like it really holds me back from leveling up my crimp game.

[hj]

This video feels inspired by Nate Drolet. Some good tips there. Thanks

[Chris-khmt]

Could you make a video about how to prepare and do highballs outside (bouldering) without injuring yourself. Like techniques and things to look for.

[sam-qmf]

This was sick tbf new to climbing and will defo give those a go

[tadeasulrich]

awesome, great attention for detail and movement skills. thanks

[spspaceboy]

I thought I'd heard that static stretches reduce short term flexibility?

[FountaenBlu]

Question about the "Don't move higher than you need to be / catch holds with extension" point: isn't that quite situational? In particular, if a move requires me to stop significant momentum (that isn't directed straight down into the hold), wouldn't catching the hold with bent arms typically be easier?

[oleshikaru]

i always stretch my hips before climbing by going into the splits. i feel like a knob head while doing it since i see no one else warming up like that, but it helps i think haha. if you are trying the technique of pushing your hips as close to the wall, and you still cant catch that crimp, is the solution to just work on your finger strength then?

[FrankT-ow]

Does anyone have the link to the full-crimping vid with Anna? I can't find it...

[ScottWilton]

Good tips! But please don't use white text over a gray background, the low contrast makes it very hard to read!

[StormofBytes]

I'm a little bit afraid of the fullcrimp... as a result I often climb with openhand/half crimp.

So how can I exercise/train a fullcrimp propely? Just climb easy stuff fully crimped?

[martinvalek]

yes..

5) Nails
not long, but also not very short. Long enough to support skin on small edges. stright end of nails, not arch.

[yeriperi]

thank you lattice training for making climbing more understandable <3