How to stop missing deadpoints and dynos on boulders

"Why do I keep slapping off?"

Usually it's one of these:

• Your hips stay away from the wall, so you arrive below the hold or behind it.
• You go without choosing a spot, and your hand searches for the hold after it gets there.
• You catch too early, while you're still moving up, or too late, when you're already falling.
• On a deadpoint, your feet cut because your legs stopped pushing halfway.
• Your shoulder is loose when you catch, so the hold takes you by surprise.

All five come down to timing and position, and you can fix them on easy moves.

Deadpoint or dyno?

A deadpoint is a quick reach with your feet staying on. A dyno is a jump: your feet leave the wall, and usually both hands go too. You'll do far more deadpoints than dynos, so learn them first. The timing is the same, and it carries straight over.

How to set one up

1. Look at the target and choose an exact spot on it.
2. Sink a little with straight arms, so your legs are loaded and your arms are relaxed.
3. One bounce at most. Pumping three times wastes energy and ruins the timing.
4. Drive your hips at the hold, pushing with your legs and pulling with your arms together.
5. Let go with the lower hand about two-thirds of the way through the pull.
6. Catch the spot at the top of the move, with your shoulder engaged. On a dyno, keep your core tight as your feet swing so they don't pull you off.

Deadpoint generators give you three kinds of move to practise this on: straight up with a hinge at the waist, diagonal with a hip swing, and off a high foot.

How to practise it

Once a week, after your warm-up and before anything tiring. Dynamic moves need you fresh, and catches get sloppy when you're tired.

• No-impact dynos: touch the target and let go before you weight it. You train the jump without the load of the catch.
• Dyno practice: short jumps from two good holds to a big one.
• Stabilize dynos: catch, then freeze for 3 seconds with your feet quiet. This is the part most people skip.
• Paddle dynos, once single dynos are steady, if you climb competition-style boulders.

Rest a minute or two between tries. Ten jumps in a row with no rest is a fitness test, and each one is worse than the last.

Where it goes wrong

• Practising on small holds. Learn the timing on big ones, then make the targets worse.
• Only trying it on your project, where every miss costs skin and confidence.
• Throwing harder when you miss. Look at where you arrived first: low, or out from the wall, usually means the hips.
• Crowded mats. Make sure the landing is clear before you jump, and land on your feet.

Who this isn't for

If your shoulder or fingers hurt right now, leave the dynos out and see a physio. And if your boulders are mostly slabs and vertical walls, balance and footwork will move you further than dynamic moves for now.