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Daggers
Oct 19, 2012, 1:47 PM
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So a couple months ago I had posted a topic asking if my shoes were holding me back (i had tarantulas) and the general opinion was no. But just recently I received a pair of futura's and solutions. They work so much better! I broke through my plateau and got my first v6 3 days after getting the shoes! My feet almost never pop off now and i'm able to flash so much more than before. I guess shoes do make a difference!
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edge
Oct 19, 2012, 2:04 PM
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Daggers wrote: So a couple months ago I had posted a topic asking if my shoes were holding me back (i had tarantulas) and the general opinion was no. But just recently I received a pair of futura's and solutions. They work so much better! I broke through my plateau and got my first v6 3 days after getting the shoes! My feet almost never pop off now and i'm able to flash so much more than before. I guess shoes do make a difference!
Well, according to that last post you had been climbing 6 months, and that was 2 1/2 months ago. You may have found shoes that fit you better and are slightly better for the type of climbing you are doing, but I would venture to guess that the rise in grade (you only mention doung one Vblah so far) are more due to improvements in your technique.
Still starting out you are. Much to learn still there is. [/Yoda]
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csproul
Oct 19, 2012, 2:05 PM
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Daggers wrote: So a couple months ago I had posted a topic asking if my shoes were holding me back (i had tarantulas) and the general opinion was no. But just recently I received a pair of futura's and solutions. They work so much better! I broke through my plateau and got my first v6 3 days after getting the shoes! My feet almost never pop off now and i'm able to flash so much more than before. I guess shoes do make a difference!
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lena_chita
Moderator
Oct 19, 2012, 3:31 PM
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Daggers wrote: So a couple months ago I had posted a topic asking if my shoes were holding me back (i had tarantulas) and the general opinion was no. But just recently I received a pair of futura's and solutions. They work so much better! I broke through my plateau and got my first v6 3 days after getting the shoes! My feet almost never pop off now and i'm able to flash so much more than before. I guess shoes do make a difference!
The gist of the replies to that other thread was that WELL-FITTING shoes make a difference.
But you do have to take into account the fact that as a beginner, you are likely improving very rapidly, and 2.5 months is ~1/3rd of your entire climbing "career" to this date. A lot can happen in that time.
Anyway, congratulations of finding the shoes that work great for you, and getting your first gym V6. Pretty cool.
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curt
Oct 19, 2012, 4:46 PM
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Daggers wrote: So a couple months ago I had posted a topic asking if my shoes were holding me back (i had tarantulas) and the general opinion was no. But just recently I received a pair of futura's and solutions. They work so much better! I broke through my plateau and got my first v6 3 days after getting the shoes! My feet almost never pop off now and i'm able to flash so much more than before. I guess shoes do make a difference!
Just buy a new pair of shoes every month then and you should be bouldering V12 in half a year.
Curt
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bearbreeder
Oct 19, 2012, 5:05 PM
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a good fitting shoe will make a difference ... as will a shoe more suited to the style of climbing ...
BUT its not the shoe thats holding you back generally until you get to a higher level .... especially not if yr just new and doing low 10s and below all day ... nor indoors either as the holds are generally quite big compared to outside
whats holding new people back is more often the lack of technique
i do love to hear people complain about how they cant do a climb because they dont have aggressive enough shoes ... then someone does and does it in crap/approach shoes or barefoot ...
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Daggers
Oct 19, 2012, 5:25 PM
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I'm sure it was the improvement in technique that helped also. I only broke the plateau though when i ditched the horrible shoes I had earlier. The toes wouldn't even fit into some pockets that my current ones can so there is definitely some difference there. I am trying to get better technique too. I'm concentrating a lot on my footwork now and realize now just how important that is!
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bearbreeder
Oct 19, 2012, 5:35 PM
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there this guy who boulders probably v8/9+ and he wears 5.10 spires ...
when ever i struggle and want to blame my shoes, i just look at his feet and stop making excuses
if yr shoes fit then use em ... i used to think that miuras are da bomb and that i couldnt climb without them ... then i went and redid some of my redpoints with my approach shoes ... and im a lazy weak ass climber 
heres my lazy phat azz on a soft 11d in my guide tennies ...
shoes can make a difference, but like anything in climbing it can be used quite often as an excuse for poor technique or other weaknesses ... especially by beginners ...
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milesenoell
Oct 21, 2012, 7:51 PM
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It can also be like Dumbo's magic feather. When you get new gear that you are excited about and believe will make a difference... that belief may unlock some potential that you hadn't full realized before.
I used to feel that way when I got new road biking gear. When you spend way too much on some gram shaving part, you often find yourself cranking up the hills with a new found vigor. It's a bit like like the placebo effect.
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Daggers
Oct 22, 2012, 12:23 AM
Post #10 of 17
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it might also be the fact the my old shoe's toes could not physically get into some places that my new ones can lol the difference was pretty big
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bearbreeder
Oct 22, 2012, 1:43 AM
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milesenoell wrote: It can also be like Dumbo's magic feather. When you get new gear that you are excited about and believe will make a difference... that belief may unlock some potential that you hadn't full realized before. I used to feel that way when I got new road biking gear. When you spend way too much on some gram shaving part, you often find yourself cranking up the hills with a new found vigor. It's a bit like like the placebo effect.
possibly ...
like i said its not like shoes dont make a difference in some cases ... but there is also a lot of excuses on the part of new or poor climbers about how their shoes are holding them back on moderates ...
i see it all the time up here where you will find people who INSIST they need TC Pros to go climb a 5.8 ... buying new shinny gear for those climbs dont seem to make em climb any harder
there IS some gear that does make a difference ... but more often than not its used as an excuse ... and when this is pointed out and demonstrated, people get angry because youve just taken away their ability to blame something other than their own weaknesses
on the flip side one of my partners told me that the new shiny miura VS has likely allowed him to send 12d/13a trad this year and onsight 12a/b trad ... i believe him since he has decades of experience and can climb 11s+ barefoot anyways ...
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JimTitt
Oct 22, 2012, 9:35 AM
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milesenoell wrote: It can also be like Dumbo's magic feather. When you get new gear that you are excited about and believe will make a difference... that belief may unlock some potential that you hadn't full realized before. I used to feel that way when I got new road biking gear. When you spend way too much on some gram shaving part, you often find yourself cranking up the hills with a new found vigor. It's a bit like like the placebo effect.
Thatīs about it I guess. Donīt know how many new pairs of shoes Iīve had in the last 40 years but they all make me feel Iīm going to climb harder, reality tells me though that my hardest route was climbed twelve years ago in a pair of beginners shoes.
I want my money back!
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Kartessa
Oct 22, 2012, 4:00 PM
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Chewing gum makes me a better climber... And I'm not talking about your n00b trident bullshit.
Gimme 5 gum in the minty react flavour and I'll crush all your projects
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potreroed
Oct 22, 2012, 4:32 PM
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We all know some mutant who cranks 5.13's all day long barefoot, but for us mere mortals, yes, good shoes do make a difference. And by good shoes I'm not saying any one model is better than the others, it's how it fits your particular foot and is suitable for the type of climbing you're doing.
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bearbreeder
Oct 22, 2012, 4:45 PM
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to understand how good climbers make the most out of their feet ... and how old geezers in 90s non-aggressive flat shoes can boulder hard ... watch this ...
these days everyone would be using the latest shiny downturned shoes for that stuff ...
http://www.youtube.com/...G2NBkpTbY&t=8m4s
notice the lack of crash pads back then ... even the french were REAL men in those days
(This post was edited by bearbreeder on Oct 22, 2012, 4:50 PM)
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DemolitionRed
Oct 23, 2012, 6:08 PM
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I have flat feet and just can't wear the more technical shoes but I don't believe that has held me back.
As long as my shoes fit like a glove, are kept clean and can loosen off or tighten up quickly then I'm good.
I get told off for walking off the crag in my shoes. I forget I'm wearing them because they are so comfortable 
I even wear 'SOCKS'!!! if its a bit chilly or I'm going out that night and know Ill never get that stink off my feet by 8pm.
The only time shoes have held me back is when they were not well fitted. Shoes that are too big are a nightmare and shoes that are too small are just unnecessary torture.
I recently saw a guy in our local climbing shop trying to force his feet into size 7 Miura's. The assistant was telling him that his size 9's really didn't want to fit. It was like watching one of Cinderellas ugly sisters desperately trying to get into the glass slipper!
I got chatting to him about climbing and it turned out these were his first shoes and he had been advised to fit into as small as possible if he was going to be any good. 
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