> preferably without depending on height/reach or overly specific strengths. How do you attain this? From an amateur hobbyist eye it seems that bouldering as a sport favours lean + tall builds -> Reach + light-weight advantage. How do you set routes that disadvantage this type?
As a lean and tall bouldering amateur, anything where my feet gets close to my hands will be extremely hard to keep. Sample size of 1.
Make that two :). To elaborate: different body sizes give you different balance points, different leverage and different angles of attack. That can make specific moves harder for taller people.
I'd recommend anyone curious about bouldering get into simply top rope climbing first. Bouldering is HARD which isn't so much the real problem, but it can also be frustrating. Some problem solving strategies like throwing yourself into the problem (metaphorically)can result in nasty injuries and a short bouldering career. Get some easy climbing mileage!
Bouldering is HARD It's as hard as you want it to be. Here in Fontainebleau, there are bouldering circuits in the forest set for the level of our three year old. (Seriously. Painted with little pink hearts next to the arrows). They get used, too. Even for me, climbing pretty hard these days, I'll often run off and do an easy Blue or even easier Orange circuit just for the joy of movement over 40-80 nice problems, few…
Can we compare difficulty levels with children? They seem to be naturally better at climbing at that age. Faster recovery period and their tendons and ligaments seem to be able to handle their small weights well.
I recently got into climbing (+ bouldering). Although I get super bored at regular gyms, I never bore of climbing, I think, because it's like programming -- for the body. Problem solving applied to an element that is both sociable and physical.
I also got bored at regular gyms, and realized that combat-oriented martial arts may be the ultimate problem-solving challenges. You have to muster all your intellectual and physical capabilities "against" an intelligent opponent who acts/reacts "in realtime", but also is prepared to it (the boulders layout is carefully crafted beforehand, but it doesn't react!). Jiu-jitsu may be one of the most adequate because it s…
Agreed with the combat-oriented sports being the ultimate problem-solving challenge. Used to box (still occasional do), have never obtained the same technical satisfaction anywhere else. There are so many different facets to it. Ring generalship, creating angles, stances that gain or lose out on defensive or offensive capabilities, psychological game by use of feints and disruptive rhythms. It's not called the sweet science for nothing. Should hold true for other combat sports as well.
> preferably without depending on height/reach or overly specific strengths. How do you attain this? From an amateur hobbyist eye it seems that bouldering as a sport favours lean + tall builds -> Reach + light-weight advantage. How do you set routes that disadvantage this type?
Surprisingly, there's a bit of a bell curve, maxing out at 5'9" being the ideal height. But it only makes about a single grade of difference. Short folk have incredible strength to weight ratios and fine motor control from short levers. Tall people can reach farther, but can't apply the necessary force or use tiny holds as well. It all evens out in the long run, though you'll see big differences for individual lines…
Agreed with tiny holds causing problems. But I presumed it was a grip strength problem, which still doesn't take away from my advantage as a tall-leaner. Though it could also be because I must've not done challenging routes.
I think this article doesn't really explain what the setters are focusing on here, and it's actually quite interesting. When setting for a bouldering competition, the problems you create must satisfy very precise constraints: namely, create good separation between competitors, but still be entertaining for spectators. Separation is the hard part. In finals you have a handful of competitors doing a handful of problems…
Are you familiar with Teknik Holds? A guy I've known from around the gym most of my life founded the company. I'm getting back into climbing after a long hiatus, and I ran into him a few weeks ago. Later on I looked up his company and apparently there are a lot of competition routesetters out there who swear by his holds, and that the style of holds he shaped were quite influential. I'm not sure if I got the right impression or not.
Having seen a national level competition up close and personal (and seen very good boulderers do V13+ on real rock), the most impressive thing to experience is their sheer determination. Yes, you can tell they are trying hard when watching a video, but it's just different seeing it in person.
I totally agree. One of the spider monkey's at my gym explained that my basic 'problem' was I can't will myself to deploy more force when I need. I asked how to fix that and he kinda shrugged and just said 'I mean you just pull harder'. That was disheartening.
You might benefit from reading Eric Horst's Maximum Climbing [0]; it covers precisely this just-pull-harder mentality and provides exercises to unlock it.
I think this article doesn't really explain what the setters are focusing on here, and it's actually quite interesting. When setting for a bouldering competition, the problems you create must satisfy very precise constraints: namely, create good separation between competitors, but still be entertaining for spectators. Separation is the hard part. In finals you have a handful of competitors doing a handful of problems…
> preferably without depending on height/reach or overly specific strengths. How do you attain this? From an amateur hobbyist eye it seems that bouldering as a sport favours lean + tall builds -> Reach + light-weight advantage. How do you set routes that disadvantage this type?
Ideally, setters should put up a variety of moves and problems that slightly favor different body types. Also ideally, have forerunners of different body types, and fix the problem if it takes discrimination too far (eg. a move that's literally impossible if you're a bit too short).
Surprisingly, there's a bit of a bell curve, maxing out at 5'9" being the ideal height. But it only makes about a single grade of difference. Short folk have incredible strength to weight ratios and fine motor control from short levers. Tall people can reach farther, but can't apply the necessary force or use tiny holds as well. It all evens out in the long run, though you'll see big differences for individual lines…
Agreed with tiny holds causing problems. But I presumed it was a grip strength problem, which still doesn't take away from my advantage as a tall-leaner. Though it could also be because I must've not done challenging routes.
It is. But again, with longer fingers you need more strength to produce the same force at the fingertip (because you're applying muscle force to the short end of the lever). Combined with the extra weight from the rest of a longer body, it makes pulling on small holds a lot harder for tall folk.
But then we can often simply reach past those small holds to the big jug beyond, so it tends to work itself out.
I think this article doesn't really explain what the setters are focusing on here, and it's actually quite interesting. When setting for a bouldering competition, the problems you create must satisfy very precise constraints: namely, create good separation between competitors, but still be entertaining for spectators. Separation is the hard part. In finals you have a handful of competitors doing a handful of problems…
Are you familiar with Teknik Holds? A guy I've known from around the gym most of my life founded the company. I'm getting back into climbing after a long hiatus, and I ran into him a few weeks ago. Later on I looked up his company and apparently there are a lot of competition routesetters out there who swear by his holds, and that the style of holds he shaped were quite influential. I'm not sure if I got the right im…
Totally! Teknik is one of the most popular makers out there. A while back I set a steep problem with only holds from their "geomatics" series, they're great to work with. (PS I'm out for tonight)
Are you familiar with Teknik Holds? A guy I've known from around the gym most of my life founded the company. I'm getting back into climbing after a long hiatus, and I ran into him a few weeks ago. Later on I looked up his company and apparently there are a lot of competition routesetters out there who swear by his holds, and that the style of holds he shaped were quite influential. I'm not sure if I got the right im…
Totally! Teknik is one of the most popular makers out there. A while back I set a steep problem with only holds from their "geomatics" series, they're great to work with. (PS I'm out for tonight)
Awesome, that's great to hear. I remember when he brought his first batch out to the local gym in the late 90s, and those holds exploited all kinds of weaknesses I didn't know I had. They were totally different from any plastic I had climbed on before, and now the gyms are dominated by holds like what he was making. I was never sure if he was following a trend, or setting it.