10 Pro Tips Every Climber Should Know

10 tips from pro climber Alex Waterhouse on how to improve your climbing.

Let me know if you found the tips helped!?

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Contents of video:
0:00 Intro
0:10 Tip 1 Swapping Feet
1:32 Tip 2 Drop Knees
3:37 Tip 3 Standing on Volumes
4:31 Tip 4 Climbing Fast
6:12 Tip 5 Flagging
7:03 Tip 6 Dynos
8:34 Tip 7 Rock Overs
9:52 Tip 8 Heel Hooks
11:18 Tip 9 Mantles
12:23 Tip 10 Putting it all together

[TheNitram]

I'd love a video on more advanced techniques such as nose jamming and teeth crimping.

[Will-ktjk]

8:07 that down-dyno is insane to me - especially when he can just pop it back and forth like it’s nothing

[AdamL_]

Another small tip for standing on volumes. Your foot placement also matters. If you put your foot high on the volume (close to the wall) you will generally push your hips out of the wall. If you stand at the extremitty of the volume, you will be able to bring your hip closer to the wall. And this will help decrease tension in the arms.

[choff-]

Timestamps for quick-reference!
0:13 - 1: Swapping Feet
1:32 - 2: Drop Knees
3:38 - 3: Standing on Volumes
4:31 - 4: Climbing Fast
6:12 - 5: Flagging
7:05 - 6: Dynos
8:34 - 7: Rock Overs
9:53 - 8: Heel hooks
11:19 - 9: Mantles
12:23 - 10: Putting it all together

[nilsp]

awesome gym - check
great instructions - check
perfect showcase - check
getting carried away because of having too much fun - check

this is it, the perfect climbing tutorial

now I have an idea for a collaboration:
- take two equally skilled amateurs
- separately coach each of them for one hour: one coached by Alex, one by Louis Parkinson
- have them compete afterwards with coaches cheering them on

[Ian_climbs]

Mantling is a uber important skill for outdoor climbing. I feel like you have to learn them or you’ll have a rough time outside lol

[AllegraClimbingPsychologist]

Another super useful tip I found is to use deadpointing as much as possible and as soon as possible as you start climbing! Deadpointing is when you use momentum to move, but you aim at having zero momentum at the time of contact. It means that you will have literally split seconds with zero force on your hands and is therefore the most efficient way of climbing. A big issue with a lot of people is that most people are risk averse and climb more "defensively" (controlled) rather than "offensively" (dynamic). But it's a skill as any other! Practice makes improvement!

[jacobeden]

On the heel hook section, I really wish y'all showcased rocking the heel into a hold to force as much contact as possible. It really levels up your footwork repertoire when you can lock in a heel like that for extra rubber engagement

[ahmedhallajian]

One tip I heard for drop knees is that you want to drop the same knee as the hand that you're reaching out for the next hold (i.e. if you're reaching with the right hand, drop the right knee) Anyway loved the vid Josh, been binging your vids keep it up :))

[friedrichwohler]

is this a brand new gym? Those walls and holds look super clean!

[MrTheHegemon]

Never heard this called an "inside-flag": 6:38. Inside flags are usually when your flagging leg is on the inside of your non-flagging leg.
This would be more of a back-flag.

[toddgreen]

No offense, but I have to agree with the others who feel that these are more "beginner/intermediate" tips than "pro" tips. (Even though the video is really well done.) Maybe a title of "Essential Climbing Techniques as Taught by a Pro Climber" would fit it better? (Yeah yeah, need eyeballs and the algorithm.) Anyway, the best part of the video (for me) is when you could see the pure joy of climbing from Alex as he started to dyno up and down just because it was fun. Nowadays we climbers spend so much time training and worrying about minutiae just so we can climb one harder grade, that we often lose our passion in the process. That small clip was a good reminder not to forget why we do this in the first place.

[AnHulha]

Fantastic Collab with Alex! With his skills, you guys were able to showcase these techniques in really tough boulders. That was fantastic to see, and the tips were absolutely spot on. In the future, if people ask me for a good video to get them started on technique, I will send them this video. 10/10

[CauseFTW]

This was an amazing video and a really easy watch as well. Never saw any of your content before, but will definitely be keeping an eye on your channel!!

[stefans.]

Alex is doing an amazing job explaining everything, that was great. And I loved it when he started dynoing! Great video. Took me a second to realize that this was one of the more serious ones, I was waiting for you to lose a bet or something :)

[danielledavenport]

Great tips, clearly explained. Well done Josh and Alex 👌🏻

[ryangross]

Yo great video guys! Super good tips, I find myself forgetting to heel hook sometimes, hopefully this video will help me remember more. I really like how TCH does their gyms and I wish we had one in Colorado!

[SimbyDimby]

This was really good. I've seen a few videos on flagging and drop knee but this was the clearest example of why they're useful

[eliasfellner]

i love alex so much!
i‘ll happily watch any video he‘s in :)

also great video as always josh! :)

[George_Climbs]

Superb video, thank-you! I love those "magic moments"... may well take the long drive to Reading just to experience that 'wall of tips'! Definitely going to be applying these more in my climbing...