It didn’t take me long to realise that climbing was not designed for me. My body type simply is not what you’d consider useful. My short arms were constantly letting me down, and it was easy to feel frustrated. But I didn’t let that stop me from indulging. Indoor climbing is so much fun, and I wasn’t about to give that up just because of my poor reach. I wanted to make these tips for short climbers to help others who find themselves in my position. I wanted to make these tips for short climbers to help others who find themselves in my position.
There are two relevant measurements – height and ape index. Ape index is simply the ratio of your height to wingspan. The definition of a short climber isn’t set in stone. But if you’re below 5’5, or you have a negative ape index, then you may find yourself struggling because of your height. The shorter you are, or the shorter your wingspan, the more trouble you’re likely to have.
If you’re a beginner feeling intimidated by difficult climbs, I’ve got you covered. As a climbing instructor, I’ve helped plenty of beginners in person, and now I’m moving that to an online platform. These tips and tricks will help shorter climbers soar to new heights.
Acknowledge Your Weaknesses and Strengths
A lot of tall or average climbers like to downplay the struggle of being a short climber. They may even point out the fact that a lot of the Olympic climbers are on the shorter side. Firstly, the Olympic climbers often are average height rather than actively short. But more importantly, climbing is a whole different beast at that level. You can’t compare professional climbing to beginner or intermediate climbing.
The fact of the matter is that it is harder for you and you will struggle with climbs that other people find easy. The sooner you can acknowledge that, the sooner you can overcome it. The beginner climbs will be difficult for you, and you’ll progress much slower than your taller counterparts. This doesn’t mean you’re a bad climber. It’s not a failure on your part, it’s simply the result of your body type. And it’s also okay.
Thing is, whilst you’ll struggle at the beginner levels, you’re also developing valuable skills. A lot of taller climbers will be able to rely on height or strength, whereas you will have to build technique early on. So by the time you reach intermediate climbs, not only will you catch up to the taller climbers, you have a real chance of overtaking them. You’ll have built a solid foundation of skills, and you’ll really understand how your body moves. So never compare yourself to other people. Embrace your own body and what it can do.
Embrace Dynamic Movement
As a short climber, dynamic movement is your best friend. It can feel a little scary at first, but in many cases it’s your only way of being able to send a climb. The sooner you can get over your fear of dynos, the easier it’ll be.
A dyno is a climbing term for a dynamic jump whilst on the wall. Some people insist that it only counts if all of your body leaves a hold. However, many would agree that it’s still a dyno if you keep only one point of contact. Usually this will be one of your feet propelling you upwards.
Even if you’re not doing a full dyno, moving dynamically will help you harness momentum to your advantage. Often you won’t be able to reach holds when moving statically. So instead, get used to squatting down and pushing from your legs to move upwards. Try to generate momentum from your hips as this will give you a big boost.
If you’re nervous about falling, practice falling! Developing proper falling technique will not only give you confidence, but it will keep you safe when projecting tricky climbs. Try just falling backwards right on the mat to get used to the correct way of landing. You want to make sure you keep your hands in front of you, or crossed over your chest. Then you want to bend your knees and fall backwards onto your butt, then roll onto your back.
Get Flexible
Asa shorter climber, you’ll have to contort your body into some interesting positions to send climbs. You won’t be able to just reach up like the taller climbers can. Things like drop knees, high knees, mantles, etc. will be much more common for you than other climbers.
To get into those positions, you’ll need to train your body to be more flexible. This will come with time and practice. However, a great way you can speed the process up is by stretching. Getting your body limber will make high knees and moves like that feel so much more comfortable. Try to get in the habit of stretching daily regardless of whether you’re climbing. You’ll especially want to do stretches that focus on your hips. Squats are also excellent for improving flexibility. Your efforts will really add up over time, and you’ll likely become more flexible than other climbers. I have a reputation at my climbing wall for being able to kick incredibly high. After I’ve stretched, I can kick up to a foot above my own head height!
On the wall, a good challenge you can do is foot-first climbing. This is a climbing game where you have to touch a hold with your foot before you can touch it with your hand. The idea is to try and climb all the way to the top touching every hold with your foot before you touch it with your hand. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it’s fantastic for stretching out your body and becoming more flexible. And secondly, it’s just so much fun!
Train Your Fingers
Most climbs are not set with us in mind. The holds will be set for an average climber and we might not be quite able to reach them… Not with our whole hand anyway. Instead, we’re going to find ourselves relying on our fingertips a lot more than the average climber does. While most climbers only really have to rely on their fingertips for crimps, we might have to use them even for jugs in certain circumstances. If we’re on tiptoes and we still can’t get our hand over the top of the hold, then fingertips will have to do.
As such, training your fingers to be strong enough to hold your weight is imperative. Not only will it help with sending climbs, but it’s also a safety matter. The tendons in our fingers are sensitive and if we don’t train them properly, we could risk pulling them on a difficult climb.
The ideal way to practice is with a hangboard, which many climbing walls will have. This allows you to practice putting your weight on your fingers without having to fully commit. However, you don’t want to do this right after you first start, as otherwise you risk injury. You should have a couple of weeks of climbing under your belt before you start hangboard training. Try and use the thicker portions of the hangboard first where you can get at least two knuckles in. If it’s available try to also use footholds. Start with two feet on, then transition to one foot when you’re ready. Even if you can only do it for a couple of seconds at a time, it will help.
Consistently training your fingertips will condition them to be able to hold your weight easier.
Get Used to Flagging and Smearing
There will be plenty of times where you won’t be able to reach a foothold. However, this doesn’t mean there’s nowhere to put your feet. The wall itself is like one giant foothold, use it to your advantage. Depending on the climbing wall you go to the wall can actually be a pretty decent texture. You can find a lot of friction when applying the right kind of pressure and it’s almost as good as having a real hold.
Smearing is a climbing term where you place your foot against the wall to gain traction. To do this effectively, you want to push into the wall with the tip of your toes, and have your heel dropped low to increase the friction. The more you trust it, the better the grip will be. It sounds counterintuitive but the worse the hold, the more trust you have to put into it. So when there’s no hold at all, it means you need to full commit or it won’t work. Your foot should be as close to vertical as you can get it, if it’s at an angle, you’ll get less grip.
Flagging is another technique that uses the wall. It involves placing one of your feet against the wall at an angle that gives you extra balance. There are different kinds of flags depending on the move, so the angle can change. But essentially, you’re pushing into the wall to avoid from falling off of a hold. It gives you extra balance, and can also give you extra reach.
Conclusion
Hopefully these tips for short climbers have given you the confidence to get on that wall and do your best. Despite our genetic disadvantage, there’s nothing stopping us succeeding as climbers. It’s such a fun sport and we shouldn’t let our bodies be a barrier to entry. Whilst your struggle at the beginner levels, the techniques and skills you’ll learn will help you so much when you become an intermediate.
What advice would you give to other short climbers? Let me know in the comments below! Also, please follow our Instagram to keep up to date with my latest hobby adventures, including climbing!
