Smearing

[juliet]

It has become increasingly clear that my smearing kinda sucks (it's OK in bridge-type situations, but on faces, not so much), and that I am also reaching a point at which this is causing issues (i.e. there's stuff I can't climb because either I will actually slip, or I *think* I will).

Any suggestions for improving this? I'll go back and look at my how-to-climb-better book, but if anyone's got any personal tips I would appreciate them!

Comments

[wpadmirer]

I've got a friend who smears a lot, and what we've realized (me and my other partner watching him, and him from listening to us) is that he smears rather than trying to place his feet in a position to reach the next hold. That he's using muscle instead of technique.

So we spend a lot of time yelling up at him, 'Feet first!" Meaning, looking for good foot placement before you reach up to the higher hold. I don't know if that will help you, but the people teaching me keep telling me over and over and over that footwork is the key - that if I move my feet first, I won't have to smear as much - because I won't be stretching so much for a hold.

[juliet]

I do have a slight tendency to reach up first and then use my arms for hauling, and I should watch that -- but I don't normally wind up smearing in that situation (I just get straight on up to the next foothold!).

I will contemplate this morning's (V2) problems a bit more, but I am pretty certain that at least some smearing is required :-/

[wpadmirer]

Smearing is definitely sometimes required, but I think if you rely on it too much you can wear yourself out unnecessarily. Sometimes there's nothing to do but smear!

[miss_s_b]

This is an issue I have too, so I hope you get lots of responses...

[cofax7]

It's likely to be a technique issue, at least in part: you are using the ball of your feet, right, planting your foot so the greatest amount of rubber in is contact with the wall? And you have to commit to smearing: you can't do it half-assed, or you WILL SLIP. Try to make sure as much of your body-weight as possible is above the foot you're smearing with: you need that force of gravity to increase the friction.

The other issue is that you might want to consider getting your shoes resoled, this time with stickier rubber. Softer rubber is stickier, however it rubs off more quickly so you'd have to resole more often. If you have two pairs of shoes you could get one of them resoled with stickier rubber, and just use them for routes you think need a lot of smearing. Just a thought.

Good luck!