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unsunken
Feb 25, 2011, 11:10 PM
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Hi guys!
I'm a beginner who just started going to a bouldering gym. My biggest problem (aside from lack of strength, flexibility, and technique -- but I figure that will come with time) is that I don't know how to jump/land from higher than ~5 feet.
If I'm more than 5 feet off the ground and don't feel 110% confident in reaching the next hold or in being able to downclimb, I'll just climb back down. Jumping down hurts the outer part of my knees.
How do I learn to land better? I could reactivate my muscle memory for rolling, but that seems silly for a 5ft jump onto a squishy pad that no one else has seems to have problems with. I don't like limiting myself to low routes and routes that I can downclimb but I'd rather not tear a ligament this early into the sport.
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esander4
Feb 25, 2011, 11:17 PM
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unsunken wrote: Hi guys! I'm a beginner who just started going to a bouldering gym. My biggest problem (aside from lack of strength, flexibility, and technique -- but I figure that will come with time) is that I don't know how to jump/land from higher than ~5 feet. If I'm more than 5 feet off the ground and don't feel 110% confident in reaching the next hold or in being able to downclimb, I'll just climb back down. Jumping down hurts the outer part of my knees. How do I learn to land better? I could reactivate my muscle memory for rolling, but that seems silly for a 5ft jump onto a squishy pad that no one else has seems to have problems with. I don't like limiting myself to low routes and routes that I can downclimb but I'd rather not tear a ligament this early into the sport.
Jumping down onto a padded gym floor doesn't hurt at all. Sometimes if I feel like I jumped off awkwardly on accident I'll just raise my legs up and land on my butt. Doesn't hurt at all.
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unsunken
Feb 25, 2011, 11:19 PM
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esander4 wrote: Jumping down onto a padded gym floor doesn't hurt at all. Sometimes if I feel like I jumped off awkwardly on accident I'll just raise my legs up and land on my butt. Doesn't hurt at all.
Landing on my body doesn't hurt at all but trying to land on my feet does. Should I just never bother to land on my feet then?
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esander4
Feb 25, 2011, 11:35 PM
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NO. Not at all what I'm saying. But as long as you feel like you'll have a solid landing, landing on a padded floor shouldn't affect your knees (you should take that with a grain of salt since I don't have bad knees, and I don't know how bad your knees really are)
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csproul
Feb 25, 2011, 11:53 PM
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esander4 wrote: unsunken wrote: Hi guys! I'm a beginner who just started going to a bouldering gym. My biggest problem (aside from lack of strength, flexibility, and technique -- but I figure that will come with time) is that I don't know how to jump/land from higher than ~5 feet. If I'm more than 5 feet off the ground and don't feel 110% confident in reaching the next hold or in being able to downclimb, I'll just climb back down. Jumping down hurts the outer part of my knees. How do I learn to land better? I could reactivate my muscle memory for rolling, but that seems silly for a 5ft jump onto a squishy pad that no one else has seems to have problems with. I don't like limiting myself to low routes and routes that I can downclimb but I'd rather not tear a ligament this early into the sport. Jumping down onto a padded gym floor doesn't hurt at all. Sometimes if I feel like I jumped off awkwardly on accident I'll just raise my legs up and land on my butt. Doesn't hurt at all.
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erisspirit
Feb 25, 2011, 11:54 PM
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Ideally you just let your knees bend and either be like shocks, or just collapse down until you are sitting.
Do your absolute best to not let your feet plant firmly with the leg(s) straight... especially if you are twisting... If you're like me... it won't end well
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vegastradguy
Feb 26, 2011, 12:06 AM
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erisspirit wrote: Ideally you just let your knees bend and either be like shocks, or just collapse down until you are sitting.
bingo.
i pretty rarely land dead on my feet if i pop off- usually, i just let my legs buckle and roll onto my back (in a controlled manner).
once i top out, i generally will either down climb or do a controlled release onto the mats below.
that said, note my username- im not much of a pebble wreslter. too hard on my already weak shoulders.
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robx
Feb 26, 2011, 5:19 AM
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If you land flat footed and role back, it puts more pressure on your knees.
try landing on your toes and see if it feels better.
in a perfect world, you should land on your toes and roll across your shoulders. I know it's not the same, but if you look up scientific studies of force created and diverted by parkour athletes, it's pretty surreal what landing forward, on your toes, and tucking will do to the level of pressure created.
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Daan
Feb 26, 2011, 12:32 PM
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Strengthening your upper legs might help to absorb the impact. It's always bad if you let your joints do the work. Absorb with muscle.
And yeah like said earlier, key is to keep your legs slightly bended when landing. Rolling on your back or side helps too.
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jbro_135
Feb 26, 2011, 2:49 PM
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If you have bad knees bouldering may not be the best activity for you, you should think about getting on a rope sometimes. Otherwise there's some pretty good advice in here, be careful and use lots of padding.
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MS1
Feb 26, 2011, 4:51 PM
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unsunken wrote: Hi guys! I'm a beginner who just started going to a bouldering gym. My biggest problem (aside from lack of strength, flexibility, and technique -- but I figure that will come with time) is that I don't know how to jump/land from higher than ~5 feet. If I'm more than 5 feet off the ground and don't feel 110% confident in reaching the next hold or in being able to downclimb, I'll just climb back down. Jumping down hurts the outer part of my knees. How do I learn to land better? I could reactivate my muscle memory for rolling, but that seems silly for a 5ft jump onto a squishy pad that no one else has seems to have problems with. I don't like limiting myself to low routes and routes that I can downclimb but I'd rather not tear a ligament this early into the sport.
I came to bouldering from a background of gymnastics and aikido, so I've been falling from high places and odd angles for much longer than I've been climbing. Add in the fact that I now have bad knees from skiing, and this is a subject I think about a fair amount.
The way I see it, there are three stages (with increasing difficulty and subtlety) to developing good bouldering-fall technique.
First, you need to get good at taking controlled falls over clean, well-padded terrain. The main skills needed here are being able to identify where you will land, figure out how fast you will be moving when you start to touch the ground, and prepare your body accordingly. Short to medium length falls can be comfortably landed by dropping into a crouch as you land. The key here is to use muscular resistance in your legs to resist the crouch without locking your knees. It is the energy dissipation of this resisted crouch that takes the pressure of your ankles, knees, and back. For higher falls, you may want to end the crouch by dropping onto your back or side, but an important part of this phase of fall learning is to develop an awareness of whether it is safe to roll in a particular direction. Is your roll line padded and free of obstructions? In the first stage, you should be making all of these thought processes automatic, so that your body just responds appropriately when you spot a landing and drop down to it.
Second, you need to develop the ability to apply those skills when you are pumping out on a hard problem. As you climb, you should become continually aware of fall zones without having to think about it. You should learn where your body will go if a particular point of contact with the rock slips off. And as you start to peel, you should develop an ingrained instinct for spotting your landing so that you can crouch or roll as appropriate.
Third, you need to develop the hardest skill of all: How to fall well when you come off in an uncontrolled way, or onto awkward terrain. At this point, careful crouching goes out the window, as you may be spinning or falling head-first. The main goals here are to protect your head and spine, avoid landing palm first and breaking your wrists, and do your best to land as softly as you can given obstacles and your alignment in space. (To the extent there is any conflict, always choose to protect your head and neck!) This is almost impossible to teach; it comes through years of pushing your limits and falling at weird angles. Some good climbers have it, but I've seen plenty of strong boulderers respond badly to a spinning fall.
Having written too much at this point, I will now shut up about falling.
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unsunken
Feb 26, 2011, 7:48 PM
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Wow, thanks for all the great info! Will definitely think about these things the next time I hit up the gym. 
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Greggle
Feb 27, 2011, 11:24 AM
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unsunken wrote: Hi guys! I'm a beginner who just started going to a bouldering gym. My biggest problem (aside from lack of strength, flexibility, and technique -- but I figure that will come with time) is that I don't know how to jump/land from higher than ~5 feet. If I'm more than 5 feet off the ground and don't feel 110% confident in reaching the next hold or in being able to downclimb, I'll just climb back down. Jumping down hurts the outer part of my knees. How do I learn to land better? I could reactivate my muscle memory for rolling, but that seems silly for a 5ft jump onto a squishy pad that no one else has seems to have problems with. I don't like limiting myself to low routes and routes that I can downclimb but I'd rather not tear a ligament this early into the sport.
Parkour, brah. It's, like, tooootally your calling...
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saint_john
Feb 28, 2011, 1:48 PM
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as long as you're in the gym you should downclimb as much as possible. it's great for strength and technique.
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