Hover feet for climbing: how to do it

How to do it

Pick 6 boulders about 2-3 grades below your flash level. Climb each one with one rule: before every foot placement, hold the foot still for 1-2 seconds just above its foothold, then set it down exactly where you looked. If you can't hold the hover without your body swinging, your hips are in the wrong place: shift them over the foot you're standing on before you lift the other one. Keep your hands as light as the position allows. Rest about a minute between boulders. If it's easy, hover for 3 seconds or pick a boulder one grade harder.

Who it's for

Climbers whose feet land near the foothold and then shuffle into place. The hover shows whether your weight is really over the foot you're standing on before you move the other one. If it isn't, you'll feel it straight away.

Common mistakes

Picking boulders that are too hard. On harder ground you end up pulling with your arms to hold the hover, which trains the opposite of what you want.
Holding the swing with your hands. If your body swings during the hover, pulling harder only hides it. Move your hips over the standing foot instead.
Hovering without looking. Look at the exact spot first, then set the foot down there. A hover followed by a shuffle doesn't count.
Relaxing on the big footholds. Every placement gets the hover, including the easy ones near the ground.

How to progress

Longer hovers first, then harder boulders, then steeper walls or smaller footholds. The sign it's working is quieter feet on your hard climbs, when you're not thinking about them at all.

When it fits

The training periods this exercise fits into in Blok Sessions.

Base Lots of easy climbing, good movement and aerobic fitness.

Endurance Climb longer before you pump out, by moving efficiently.

Performance Peak for a trip or a comp: focus, reading problems, trying hard.

Deload Train less, let your fingers recover, keep moving.