UKH

Does any one have some good tips for improving sit starts? Either technique or training, both would be appreciated.

Also, out of interest, do other tall people find sit starts tricky?

Cheers

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

As a shorty, I love an SS.

My tips are (feel free to ignore if super obvious / sounds dumb)

Hips sideways. Never face on.
One foot on, one foot off sometimes helps if it's awkward
Engage that core
Get up and established - you don't always have to be popping for the next hold...
... Having said that. Sometimes a dynamic sit is the key.

Hope some of that is useful in some way. I suspect you know all this already though!
In which case... Do some yoga.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:


I'm not massively tall, but when faced with some stupid sit start I feel like my legs are usually far too long for this ludicrous activity.

Would you honestly train for doing sit starts? I think it's perfectly fair to say that sit starts are *literally* the lowest form of climbing!

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Struggled with one this evening. Managed the sit start and the following couple of moves then just couldn't do the sit start when I attempted the problem again. It was on an overhanging wall and I think sideways on might have been better!

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

The problems where the crux is just getting off the ground are always the worst. Not a fan. Pick another problem!

In reply to Jon Stewart:


comps?

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Sit starts are a dastardly conspiracy on the part of shorter climbers designed to humiliate those of us who are tall.

They don't really exist in real climbing so feel free, as I do, to ignore them.

But if you are over 6' tall and you really must, then consider equalising things by first sawing your legs of at the knee

In reply to colin struthers:

Bouldering not "real climbing" then?

In reply to Jon Stewart:


Actually you have forgotten the über slick and classy liedown starts (ear to the ground). They are even lower than an assis...

Oh, and assis starts are made indeed to balance things out for the shorties (that can't reach the good holds without using bad footholds as intermediates).


Being not that tall, I simple love them... the more crammed, the better

In reply to bouldery bits:


This does make pulling onto the wall difficult sometimes...

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Best tip I can give you is to stack as many pads as possible so you can reach better holds, like they do in Yorkshire.

Or rather than sit, when your mate is not looking, actually crouch start it. Then declare it piss and look mighty confused when he fails on it.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

My kids think sit starts are a little odd, not like proper climbing and they usually don't bother with them and make their own line. I think I may have influenced their opinions over time though.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

I find standing up helps enormously.

In reply to colin struthers:
Apart from sit start extensions on some famous boulder problems (and many not so famous ones).

They can be a good way to train strength/power. There are other ways of course. As well as simply adding at least a couple of moves to the problem, thus making it harder and thus better training.

In reply to HeMa:
hard to beat this one:
vimeo.com/122532859

In reply to bouldery bits:


Yes, me too!




The real key here to get your hips as close to the wall as possible. As mentioned above, turning sideways to the wall rather than straight on and leaving one foot off are both methods of achieving this. Sometimes you have to be straight on, in which case working on your hip mobility helps.



Yes, agree with this one too.

In reply to bouldery bits:


It depends if you have short legs or short arms.

Generally I find them infuriating. At least if I can't reach the first good hold on a normal start (frequently) I can usually kind of bounce for it, but not having prehensile buttocks my main technique for sit starts is to use a thicker pad.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Yes, I'm 6'1', and have always found some SS's desperate.
The situation is improving with lots and lots and lots of pull ups using different grips.

In reply to bouldery bits:

Cheers I'll give them a go. Sitting side on sounds promising.

Some yoga is probably a good plan as well.

In reply to DerwentDiluted:

Good idea.

It's got to be better than sitting down beside some rock, shaking my head and then getting up again.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

They have their point on undercut/steep starts otherwise I ignore them. Can't see the point in doing moves I'll never meet climbing

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

yes


I don't like 'em (I'm tall). They all feel a bit the same - crunched up heaves and then reach for holds that I could simply step onto from standing. They rarely add much joy to a route.











But then I mostly do alpine.

In reply to Dave Garnett:


Good tip and presumably helps avoid any embarrassing leaks?

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

I avoid them. Stop me reaching the top hold in half a move.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

This might sound quite obvious, but I often find some sit starts feel stupidly impossible in the starting position until you actually try and pull on, then it really eases. Basically don't write it off by just sitting and thinking, "No way can I do this". Just try and pull on, and when I say try, I mean really try hard. It's usually quite surprising what you can do from a sitting position.

In reply to Martin McKenna - Rockfax:


If I'm honest this is probably the main problem.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:
Using a sling step through and stand on the bottom. Grip the top and pull as hard as you can. Alternate between 60 and 120 for different compression settings. Really frustrating as obviously you can't move the sling but it's really good at replicating the strain and thus training the same "crunch" muscles you use in a sit start.

In reply to Dave Garnett:

Yes .


To be honet, sometimes the assis feels next to impossible... but then you find a helpful heel- or toehook or a good flag and then it feels rather easy.

So always look around for other foot holds (also hooks), than the most obvious ones. This also helps with taller d00ds & gals.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

This would be better demonstrated than written, but here goes:

Often people try too hard to pull themselves on to the wall, essentially doing a big row/pull up.
In many cases rocking over so that your weight, or more of it, is pushing directly over your feet means that you need to do a lot less pulling. This is less obvious on really steep ground, but still often true.

So... try finding a position where you can lock off your arms relatively easily then see how much of the first move can come from your hips (rocking over) or core (doing a sit up/crunch/twisting).

Sometimes a flag or drop knee rather than a rock over is what's required, but either way it's all about getting your weight onto your feet.

Good luck!

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Hip flexibility really helps. It allows you to get your main mass in closer and over your feet more quickly.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

The minor irritation that a tall boulderer may feel on a sit start, is nothing compared to the frustration that a short climber feels when they simply cannot reach the next hold, due to lack of reach

Hooray for sit starts.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

For me, sit starts are only any fun on steep rock. Otherwise (as a person with long legs) they just result in some ridiculous positions and falling over backwards.

In reply to Jimbo C:

True, sit starts on proper slabs are somewhat contrived...

But on vertical terrain, they can already be good. And absolutely stellar on roofs & overhangs, provided they make some sence (not F7A move to F5A problem).

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Only tip I can add is that using a heel (if possible) scrunches your leg up a lot less than a toe on would, and is often key to not being pushed out from the wall.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Maybe it's me, but I find the very nature of sit starts even more pointless than trying to boil water using the heat generated from farting

In reply to Goucho:

Don't go to The Cuttings boulderfield. Not that you were a particularly likely candidate, but... just... don't.

Mick (who isn't going back there, either)