Paige Claassen – Precision Footwork

If you’re serious about climbing harder grades with reduced fatigue, then improving your footwork will help you accomplish your goals—and send your projects. Climbing Magazine and pro climber Paige Claassen have teamed up to create this 7-week online course, which focuses solely on footwork, one of the most crucial—but all too often overlooked—aspects of rock climbing. Don’t be a myopic climber who’s so focused on upper-body strength that you neglect some of the strongest—and most useful—muscles in your body: your legs. Learn to power your movement from your toes up through your legs and core to send your very best—and hardest.

Improving footwork is one area many climbers neglect, yet it’s one of the best ways to progress. In this online course, pro climber, footwork specialist, and master technician Paige Claassen will teach you how to up your footwork game; she’ll also explore why it’s important, and give you specific tips and drills to incorporate into your training program. If your feet skitter and skate as you struggle to find footholds, or if you often fail to integrate foot moves into your sequencing, then this course is for you.

How This Course Works

We know you have a busy schedule, so we’ve designed this course to be taken at your own pace. You’ll learn through a variety of interactive formats, including video instruction, photo descriptions, and more. Each lesson builds on the last, and, while we’ve designed the course to be 7 weeks long, you can take it as quickly or slowly as you want. Plus, once you purchase the course, the lessons are yours forever.

Syllabus:

Course Intro

• How improving footwork has helped Paige’s climbing
• At which point in her career she realized the importance of footwork
• Why she addressed it
• Specific gains she saw as a result of the footwork focus
  

The Importance of Good Footwork

• Why is footwork so important?
• Crucial component of integrated beta
  • Pull harder moves using less strength
  • Efficiency & energy conservation
  • Eliminate “reachy” moves
  • Injury prevention
  • Preserve your climbing shoes
• Why is footwork often neglected?
• Homework

Analyzing Your Footwork

• What does it mean to have good footwork?
• What does it mean to have bad footwork?
• Self-Analysis
• Homework

Dialing in Climbing Shoes

• Anatomy of a Climbing Shoe
• Proper Fit
• How tightly to size shoes based on goals and intended usage
• Shoe break-in tips and tricks
• Consider if your objective requires specific foot techniques
  • Toe hooking, need toe rubber
  • Heel hooking, need a well-fitting heel, might be narrow or ball shape
• Homework

Improving Body Position

• Analyze where footholds are in comparison to your body and your desired direction of travel
  • Feet under body = move up
  • Feet to the sides = move laterally
• Turn outer hip into the wall and stand taller (outside edge, drop-knee)
• Pull center of gravity over foot (heel hook, toe grip)
• Homework

Honing Technique

• Edging (inside and outside)
• Heel hook (and outside heel hook)
• Toe hook
• Drop-knee
• Flag (inside vs. outside)
• Smear
• Stemming
• Match
• Foot cam
• Bicycle (and reverse bicycle)
• Kneebar
• Toe drag
• Pogoing/Moon kick
• Homework

Applying New Skills

• Quiet feet = accurate foot placements
• Repetition
  • Traversing with only smears
  • Toe hooking up the Moonboard/systems wall/corner
  • Choose technique you want to practice and repeat it for an entire route
• Roof hangs
• Choose technical routes
• Ankle weights
• Hovering feet/lockoffs for feet
• First foot placement
• Observe others
• No-hands climbing
• Other exercises to practice
• Homework

Core + Supplemental Exercises

• Strong core = control over feet
• 5–10 core exercises for better footwork
• Strengthening toes/arches
• Strong hands/fingers allow you to focus on feet
• Homework

Course Wrap-Up

• How to apply the concepts
• Improving footwork is a lifelong endeavor