Making fingers stick in a splitter

One of my big goals for this year is to improve my finger crack technique. I climbed touchstone with some friend back in February, and was humbled by every fingers section I came in contact with.

I recently constructed a crack machine with this training purpose in mind (see here) . It is now vertical and climbable.

It climbs well but I am struggling with my fingers slipping out when I need to pull in a direction other than tangent to the crack i.e. when I need to provide counter pressure to my feet that are purchased on a small feature. I have tried thumbs up thumbs down etc, I tape using steph davis' method.

So any tips for me on how to get better purchase in a splitter finger crack? Do your knuckles lock you in like when you do finger locks with constrictions, or do you end up providing a lot of counter pressure with your fingertips (similar to a tight hands scenario)? Also any recommended crack sizes when learning splitter fingers? Currently I'm providing jib features on the sides of the crack for my feet so I can focus on finger technique. Once I have the fingers down I will move to feet. I realize I probably need to build up some muscles that are under developed, but I want to get some tips so I don't waste reps building worthless muscle memory. I have the crack climbers technique manual, and I've watched the wild country crack school vids. It always seems like they just lock in on their knuckles, and I keep slipping out even when I torque the hell out of my fingers. Sometimes I over torque them to where the pop out from that.

Also if someone in Phx, AZ wants to mentor me with finger cracks I'd love a little help. Unfortunately, I can't get outside too much lately (new baby, finishing graduate school), but I'm super dedicated to training on my new crack machine, and I'll be a much better outdoor partner by the time the weather cools off.

Hmm..."fingers" is a little broad. Do you know what size, specifically, you're having trouble with? Tighter fingers will definitely lock in with the knuckle...stick it in and twist. Wider/off fingers...that's where things get complicated. Do you know how to do ringlocks? I highly recommend checking out Kent Pease's Crack Climbers Manual:

fixedpin.com/products/the-c…

Yeah I'm mainly going tighter fingers for now. My goal is to get to wider fingers, but starting at the more secure end of the spectrum. There was a 15 foot section of baggy fingers on p4 of touchstone that completely shut me down and I had to aid through it.

I just finished a climbing session and I think my crack might be flexing a little. Right now I feel just about as solid on ring locks as I do on tight-ish fingers.

vimeo.com/40346006

Pine sap

Ring locks and torque like hell...that's for rattlers, For tighter try both thumb up and thumb down techniques,,, sometimes both hands thumb up sometimes one.

There's always laybacking

I have been trying to hone thumbstack/ringlock technique myself and have gone through lots of articles and most recently Kent Pease's Crack climbing book. While having good technique is important and will get you through short crux in the end it's muscle strength and power that help your fingers stick longer. I have identified two major groups -let's call them 'splitter' muscles:

1. pinching muscles between thumb and index finger: paulmanley.co.uk/Thumb/then…

2. forearm pull-up muscles - generally in the upper 5.10s range you have very little good feet so your forearms will have to do most of the work.

I'm starting a light hangboard training routine (10s on/5s off with pulleys to take off some weight) placing emphasis on pinch grips. Let's see how that goes when I go to Squamish in July.

cheers

vgw wrote: I'm starting a light hangboard training routine (10s on/5s off with pulleys to take off some weight) placing emphasis on pinch grips. Let's see how that goes when I go to Squamish in July. cheers

You might want to try blocks for training pinches, it's easier to cheat the pinch form on most hangboards by just compressing with your shoulders. A video on the blocks:

stevemaischtraining.com/fin…

dont tape....grow balls and learn pain tolerance

I'm surprised how much acceptance there is of heavy taping. Seems a little like cheating to me. It;s a huge advantage that's for sure.

Gaar wrote:dont tape....grow balls and learn pain tolerance

says the guy who has 4 photos of himself with taped gloves on.

says the guy who climbs on sandstone. Come out to Vedauwoo with me..

Tape is aid.

apoet wrote:Tape is aid.

Oh wow - if tape is aid, then shoes are too.... So, by extension, FFA only counts if done naked, without chalk.

Kevin Ranck wrote: Oh wow - if tape is aid, then shoes are too.... So, by extension, FFA only counts if done naked, without chalk.

I don't know about naked but yea shoes are aid! I climb barefoot all the time and love it. Problem is if it is a long multipitch wall in the sun it can get hot and I have burned my feet before.

Ray thats not me, it's a friend....Sorry, I took that photo

This is me

Friends that climb with people who tape are just using their partners for aid!

Finger jams and flared jams tend to be pretty body position dependent. Like slopers, they don't really like being pulled out on. Instead, focus on placing and weighting feet while your hands are high and your hips close to the wall. Since your better finger jams will be in the thumbs-down position, this will also mean you are hanging from the best jam possible when you move your feet. Use a thumbs up jam for your low hand, and maybe try pinching any small constrictions between thumb and forefinger for a little more inward pull.

And don't tape for finger cracks if you can avoid it. It just gets in the way.

/totally tape at Vedauwoo, if your whole hand is going in there
//and get the tape punch card from the Laramie gear shop

Thanks Brian. Solid advice. vgw, yeah I probably also need to get stronger. I'm trying to train more of these muscles.

As for the tape or no tape debate, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. A MP posted opinion that I'm aid climbing because I'm taped up is not going to stop me from enjoying the line I'm on, or cause me to double check my testicle status when I get home.

If you manage to find finger cracks 5.10 and under you'll find tight fingers. Sometimes finger cracks can be lie backy but sometimes you'll get good ones to jam up. In terms of your question it comes from torque. Either your knuckles turning, fingers rolling over ones another some, or a combo of the 2. Ring locks are tricky and require lots of technique. Off the top of my head if you ever in the creek hop on petrolli motors on blue gramma wall. Great 5.10 locks.