This time, we’re going to talk about Half Crimp Vs Full Crimp. There is a lot of information about Open Hand Grip on the internet, of course. Social media are getting better and better quickly, which makes it easier for us to learn new things.

Finger Crimp and Finger Crimp are also linked to information about How To Crimp Climbing. As for other things that need to be looked up, they are about Three Finger Drag Climbing and have something to do with Crimp Hold. Half Crimp Vs Full Crimp - How To Crimp Climbing

64 Things About Half Crimp Vs Full Crimp | full crimp vs half crimp vs open hand

  • Crimping is really popular with new climbers because it requires a lower skill level than dragging—witness the rampant sloper-phobia in any climbing wall. You can pull downward, outward and a little left and right on a crimp. Using the same hold in a drag means you can only pull downward, and it only takes a little outward pull to make it feel insecure. The trick to making slopers work for you lies in careful body positioning, whereas making a crimp more effective is often simply a matter of holding it tighter. Without the skill and familiarity that comes with purposeful sloper use, crimps can easily appear to be more useful holds. - Source: Internet
  • I appreciate all the great advice. I’ll try MRP last on my next cycle. Any suggestions on what grip to add if I put in MRP and take out the semi closed crimp, rather than adding MRP to the end of the list in the first post?I have the comfy crimps on my wall, I’ll have to test it out.I appreciate all the great advice. - Source: Internet
  • Ask every climber and they may tell you something different. I, for one, despise crimps and find myself quite at home on slopers. I’ve also met plenty of climbers that think the opposite! Regardless of your favorite hold, slopers are tricky, rounded holds that come in all shapes and sizes. The key attribute of a sloper is the lack of any lip or edge to gain purchase on. For this reason, gripping a sloper relies entirely on surface contact. - Source: Internet
  • Much depends on finger anatomy as Mark points out. My wife cannot do a “proper” SCC because here pinky is so much shorter than all 3 of the other fingers. I end up rotating my forearms out slightly in order to get all four fingers on the edge in my semi closed crimp. If I do that I am able to get the joint angle combinations that Mark describes. - Source: Internet
  • An article on climbing injuries would not be complete without a discussion on finger pulleys injury. It is one of the most common and frequent injuries experienced by climbers. Finger injuries are mainly due to climbers exerting great force on the finger tendons which load on the pulleys. If the force exerted is huge enough it can result in a rupture. Most climbers get pulley injuries from crimping. - Source: Internet
  • Just like a full crimp, half crimps are ideal for use on narrow edges. This crimp is not to be utilized regularly during your climbing sessions. It would be best to use it on smaller and narrower holds. - Source: Internet
  • The best grip on a climbing hold is always going to be the grip that maximizes contact with the hold. More contact = more friction. And more friction = feeling more secure on the hold. This rule applies to all types of climbing holds: jugs, crimps, pockets, pinches, and slopers. While there are techniques that apply to specific holds, maximizing contact with the hold will always be the number one priority. - Source: Internet
  • Aside from the stuff I mentioned in other posts, climbing non-maximally like ~V4-6 range if you can put down ~V7-8 in a session tends to be helpful to mine as well as long as I don’t dry fire or full crimp. Basically, climb in your flashing range. If I do this for a while it can conceivably be reduced to nothing I think. - Source: Internet
  • I started progressing through climbing and even got over my fear of heights by top roping and lead climbing! But I still found that any route with crimps and thin edges would totally throw me for a loop. I’d try and use my height to reach past them without using them. But in the back of my mind, I knew I was only hurting my technique in the long run. - Source: Internet
  • A half crimp is halfway between the open and full crimp. I use my thumb as the measuring stick to see where I’m at in a half crimp. In open grips, my thumb will feel relaxed and is peacefully dangling off to the side. But when I engage my thumb and it begins to move up closer to my fingers, I start to enter the half crimp. - Source: Internet
  • Anxiety is another contributor to habitual crimping as fear encourages cautious movement, resulting in long slow reaches and deep “lock-offs.” These require pulling outward on the locked-off hold as it moves below your shoulder, again encouraging crimping. There are plenty of times when cautious movement is a good idea. However, if it is your habitual style when three feet above a thick pad or safely by the sixth bolt, then you risk fast-tracking finger tweaks. - Source: Internet
  • As a confident climber with years of experience, crimping may have embedded itself in your mind early on and still be a habit even when calm and focused. However, with skillful body positioning and utilization of the core, drag (sloper) grips become far more versatile and attractive to use. With regular use comes the confidence and physical understanding that allows even further use, so crimping habits can be broken before the finger tendons themselves. - Source: Internet
  • Climb the route using the three-finger drag grip position, where you use only the ring, middle and index fingers. Pinkies and thumbs are banned, half or full crimping is prohibited and wrapping your fingers all the way around jugs is illegal. Think three-toed sloth. - Source: Internet
  • I did the above 2 things for about a month or two, then I slowly started working in some full crimp climbs. Maybe 1-3 climbs per session at most and not full effort.. so V4-5 full crimping as opposed to something like V8-10+ full crimping. My fingers ‘felt’ it in the same exact areas, but the volume and intensities of the climb was enough that it didn’t start a cascade of aggravation. Eventually after a week weeks I was able to add in 1 or 2 more full crimp bounders. - Source: Internet
  • You’re absolutely right. I always get those two mixed up… not good with acronyms! I’ll go edit my post now…The only thing that makes me feel better is that you do have freakishly long thumbs!Here’s my half crimp. I don’t usually keep my thumb straight, but did so in the photo to show how short it is… - Source: Internet
  • Crimping… you shouldn’t full crimp, right? Its dangerous… Tell that to virtually any climber trying hard and pushing themselves. This concept is outdated and needs to be revisited. - Source: Internet
  • And in full crimp PIP is slightly less than 90, and DIP is overextended to past straight line, and again they add up to 90. You’re absolutely right. I always get those two mixed up… not good with acronyms! I’ll go edit my post now… - Source: Internet
  • There still seems to be much confusion on this topic so please find some more detail below. It is common knowledge that ‘full crimping’ is a dangerous grip to use repeatedly for campus & fingerboards. Full crimping is when the fingers are bent acutely closed at the joint nearest to the hand and hyper-extended (bent back) at the joint n - Source: Internet
  • Work full crimp back into your climbing regimen very slowly over weeks starting with low to moderate intensity and volume. Start on sub-maximal larger crimp holds with only about 50% force to get used to the finger positioning without the high intensity to prevent any aggravation. You can feel it during, but you shouldn’t feel it after the climb or the next day. - Source: Internet
  • To open crimp, place a single finger pad on the hold and extend the knuckles as far as possible. This provides very little contact with the hold and therefore is the weakest way to crimp. However, open crimping is also the healthiest for your fingers as it causes the least amount of stress on your tendons. I suggest open crimping for any training but it is not entirely practical on the wall. - Source: Internet
  • Pinches are another hold that has a lot of surface area for our fingers to crimp on. Just because our thumb is separated from the rest of our entire hand, doesn’t mean we can’t crimp on the hold. Again, it’s the angle of our fingers and knuckles that we are concerned about. Just because we can’t use a thumb lock doesn’t mean we can’t crimp. - Source: Internet
  • Member Back to Top Post by avaserfi on Well, I just went back to my board. A “proper” semi-closed crimp isn’t happening for me. I’ve been feeling like the full crimp and “half-crimp” I have been doing are very similar and probably wasted effort to do one and the other. If I nix the SCC, does anyone have any suggestions on what grip I should add based on any glaring gaps my routine above? I’m not necessarily training for any specific climb, just trying to get generally strong. - Source: Internet
  • c.) full This is a good picture, but I believe that in b) they bent the thumb down to show the position of other fingers, but it’t not the actual half crimp. If you extend the thumb up, without changing the bend angle of the other fingers, it would naturally rest on the SIDE of the index finger. Not on top, as in the full crimp, but still it wouldn’t normally be hanging down the way it is shown in the picture, because why? It’s a crimp, not a pocket. - Source: Internet
  • It’s a fact that every strong climber uses the half-crimp grip regularly in training (although many do not use the full crimp). It is completely untrue to say that modern elite climbers open-hand everything. Whilst they may ’try’ to open-hand certain holds to save energy, they still have to half-crimp when the chips go down! Here’s a quote from Dan Varian from Beastmaker: “If you avoid crimps you will be at a loss on 90% of the world’s hard routes and boulder problems”. To me, this says it all. To tell climbers not to half-crimp is like telling sprinters they’re not allowed to run fast. - Source: Internet
  • To hold on to a small hold you’ll require a crimp grip. Below are 4 types of crimp grips. Using an open hand and half crimp has less impact on your fingers joints. Whereas using full and closed crimp can result in injury to your pulleys as these grips can exert huge force on your finger joints. - Source: Internet
  • A full crimp grip is going to put a lot of stress on your fingers. One of the most common climbing injuries is straining or rupturing your A2 pulley tendon. This injury can keep you out of climbing for 6-8 weeks. I always say that it’s better to voluntarily take one or two rest days instead of being forced to take 6-8 rest weeks. - Source: Internet
  • The closed grip, or full full crimp grip, has a few different things going on. For starters, the angle of our DIP joint is going to be bending up or outward. The upward push of our finger tips on the crimp makes the bend happen. - Source: Internet
  • In the worst-case scenario, you might suffer from chronic finger injuries that could mean you never climb again. If you twist your fingers when trying to crimp climb, it will help if you take a break from climbing until you recover fully. Take several days off to avoid long-term injuries. - Source: Internet
  • Also, totally agree with Ted’s comments about the weaker pinkie. I actually just sprained a pulley in my pinkie, and unfortunately, I think part of the cause might have been from using a full crimp grip on the HB. Basically, my pinkie was even more hyper-extended than my other fingers when I full crimped, which I think put more strain on the tendon relative to my other fingers. I didn’t actually sprain it until I was bouldering outdoors, but I think my HB phase had weakened the pinkie to the point where it was primed for injury =/ - Source: Internet
  • There are actually three different types of grips we can use when crimping: open hand grip, half crimp grip, and full crimp grip. The openness of a crimp grip refers to where our thumb is while crimping, and the angle our fingers and knuckles make while we crimp. In an open hand crimp, the fingers will be laying flat and ergonomically. - Source: Internet
  • Feeling relaxed and comfortable with an open-handed grip is a key skill for all climbers. Without this familiarity the mind will often shy away from opportunities to use this grip, preferring crimp-based grips instead. This drill isn’t meant to represent the easiest way to climb but it fast-tracks drag grip mileage to redress grip habit imbalances. Choose an easy wall and if possible avoid leading on the first few ascents - Source: Internet
  • Member Back to Top Post by MarkAnderson on Ya, I think it’s smart to avoid like grips back-to-back. Your choices seem to be to do it last, or do it after MR. When I did MRP I was half-crimping my MR fingers. If you do that, then from a joint angle perspective it would be quite a bit different from MR. I recommend you try doing it last, and if that feels to late in the workout, then try it after MR. - Source: Internet
  • Another consideration is that the half-crimp is a more active grip, meaning that it relies more on strength (to resist leverage) and less on friction, so in an overall sense it will get you ‘stronger’ than the open-hand grip. The half-crimp will build strength for open-handing and full-crimping (to a limited degree) whereas the other grips are exclusive to themselves. In other words, the half-crimp is virtually a one-stop shop for grip training. This is supported further by a key theory of isometric / static training which states that strength gains are limited to a narrow radius around the chosen joint angle. - Source: Internet
  • Generally, crimps put plenty of stress on your finger tendons and joints. For this reason, it is most suitable to rely on this climbing mechanism when necessary. This means you can avoid long-term finger injuries in the long run. - Source: Internet
  • Crimping while rock climbing comes more easily than you might expect. I tried to avoid the tiny credit card sized holds when I first started climbing, but it’s actually possible to use crimping grips on other holds, like slopers and pinches. Even in hand cracks, my fingers have felt tired from pushing against the side of the wall. - Source: Internet
  • A full crimp is more dangerous. If you utilize the full crimp often, you risk developing traumatic finger injuries that might never heal fully. It would be best to restrict the full crimp to circumstances where no other hand placement will work. - Source: Internet
  • In this photo, the index finger is coming downwards to the hold and then the tip is coming up where it makes contact with the hold. The second part in the full crimp is what our thumb is doing. Your thumb will come on top of your fingers and press down, this locking mechanism gives the full crimp grip its other name of the closed grip. But you can still full crimp without completely locking the thumb on top of your other fingers. - Source: Internet
  • First, choose a comfortable edge size to hang on in a full crimp position. Then, hang on he edge with your legs relaxed but still resting on the ground. With this progression, force through the hand and fingers is again, easily controlled and is therefore a great transition toward a full hang. - Source: Internet
  • Whilst I may not have physically collected data here, I can honestly vouch that in 15 years of coaching full time, I have never seen anyone blow a finger tendon or pulley using the half-crimp grip whereas I’ve seen countless major injuries both full-crimping and using the open-hand grip. This is also true of my own climbing and virtually all my friends who climb hard. The only injuries I have heard of or encountered from half-crimping have been relatively minor - the sort which can usually be ‘climbed through’. - Source: Internet
  • Plus, this aggressive hand placement can secure your hold on the narrow edges and hinder you from falling off. During a crimp grip, all the tension accumulates on the finger tendons and joints. For this reason, if it’s not done right, it could lead to injury. - Source: Internet
  • Just a little anecdote - I’ll always remember when I was testing Ethan Salvo … he was setting up for measuring a full crimp pull, and once he wrapped his thumb over, he said something to the effect of “yes!!, now that feels good” and proceeded to pull heinously high numbers very close to his standard half crimp pull (which was also on a larger edge btw). No, I am not saying let’s all do exactly what Ethan does, but that did have an impact on me. If we want to push ourselves hard, especially outside on ‘gross’ holds, then we need to push our bodies to be prepared and comfortable with the full crimp! - Source: Internet
  • So far, this is the most aggressive crimp position. This means that it provides the most power and strength, and at the same time, it is the most high-risk position. For this reason, you shouldn’t underestimate it. - Source: Internet
  • Watch the video below and get your mind blow… but, keep in mind - this is something like 20 years in the making. In all seriousness, if this is the goal, you will want to bridge the gap with assisted 1-arm full crimp hangs. - Source: Internet
  • The finger joints and tendons. Because the finger joints and tendons take all the pressure when performing crimp grips, it could result in finger injuries if it’s not done properly. Thus, it would help if you were careful when doing the crimping climbing technique. - Source: Internet
  • So I addressed my fear straight on. I dissected everything there are about crimps and I’ve spent countless hours training my crimp technique. One of the key takeaways I want to share with you is how to prevent injuries when crimping. The idea of putting all of my body weight onto my fingers makes me cringe, but with proper training, technique, and resting, the crimp has turned into one of my favorite climbing holds. - Source: Internet
  • Prevention is always better than cure. So it is necessary to pay attention to how you crimp. Technique always triumphs over strength. Women tend to climb with more technique while men tend to climb with brute strength. If you are a woman continue to climb like a woman, if you are a man try climbing like a woman 🤣. - Source: Internet
  • Last we have the number one cause of finger injuries: the full crimp. To full crimp, place as if you are going to half crimp but wrap the thumb over top and bring the palm in toward the hold slightly. Full crimping maximizes your contact with the hold, but it places enormous stress on your tendons. This grip is not recommended for beginners and even advanced climbers tend to shy away from it. - Source: Internet
  • To half crimp, increase contact with the hold by bending 90 degrees at the middle knuckle. Half crimping stresses the fingers more than open crimping, but you will find that it is a much stronger grip. Unless you are really pulling on that project, I suggest half crimping for the majority of your crimps. - Source: Internet
  • earest to the tip. The thumb is then locked over the tip of the index finger. This grip intensifies the strains on the pulleys which hold the tendons flush to the bones and hence pulley injuries are common. Additionally, repeated full crimping places a lot of strain on the joint capsules and can lead to painful swelling. It is fair to say that this grip has been ‘phased out’ by many modern elite climbers. - Source: Internet
  • If you’ve never hangboarded before going straight to max hangs for a hand position you’re not familiar with might be dangerous. I’d never recommend the five minute fingers for people who have experience hangboarding (unless they can’t stick to any other hangboard program) but in this case it would allow you to work on the hand position without much investment in time but enough to begin to feel how to engage the fingers in a half crimp position. Otherwise a basic repeater in the half crimp position would work. - Source: Internet
  • Member Back to Top Post by MarkAnderson on It looks like the second photo is showing what some people like to call a “half crimp”. Your first pic doesn’t really show a SCC either IMO. I would call that an “Open Grip”. My “SCC” has the M and R fingers bent at the PIP joint, at ~105 degrees (so, a bit more open than 90 degrees), with the DIP joints straight, and the I and P are bent at the DIP joint, with the PIP joints straight. - Source: Internet
  • Yes. However, if you’re mostly doing open-hand crimp, there is no harm. Typically, crimp grasps are useful when climbing over small flakes and in-cut edges. - Source: Internet
  • One piece of advice I give to climbers starting to work on their crimps is to use the open grip more often than the full crimp grip. We’ll address this in further detail later, but the position of our thumb does put additional stress on our fingers. I like to save the full crimp grip when I’m climbing outdoors or when I’m trying to send my project. Otherwise, I’ll use an open or half crimp grip. - Source: Internet
  • My two cents, and it largely agrees with Mark’s points – I don’t think I ever use the grip from your first picture. It doesn’t feel natural when I’m climbing and it doesn’t feel natural on the hangboard. When I am training “the grip that is between a full crimp and an open hand” I basically just grab it the way the feels the most natural, which I think pretty much looks like your second picture. Whether that’s a SCC or half crimp, I don’t really care! - Source: Internet
  • Member Back to Top Post by jorgemendoza on I trained my pinky via MRP. I use the big 3 finger pocket, but make sure that I am just using the first pad of the three fingers in my hangs. In order to use just the first pads, I turn my forearms outwards for this grip ( and also my semi closed crimp as Ted describes it above – " I end up rotating my forearms out slightly in order to get all four fingers on the edge in my semi closed crimp."). I tried to train RP, but tweaked something in my palm, hence, stuck with MRP. - Source: Internet
  • Earlier in the article, we talked about how holding a basketball naturally would be our open grip. In rock climbing, we have our own basketball shaped holds… slopers. It is possible to hold slopers with a full crimp. Since the crimp is determined by the bend of our finger, we could modify our hand position so we could crimp a sloper. And surprisingly, many beginners default to a half crimp grip when grabbing slopers. - Source: Internet
  • While I have provided you with solid footing for understanding climbing holds, the best way to get to know these holds is to go out and use them! Play around with different holds. See which ones you gravitate towards and which you want to avoid at all costs. And spend more time on those you don’t like! You’ll find that as you learn the intricacies of each type of hold, you will start to feel more comfortable on those pesky crimps or lousy pinches that have been giving you trouble. - Source: Internet
  • Following a brief but strong warning to climbers on Gresham’s Facebook page he followed it up with this on his Master Class Coaching Acadamy Facebook page. Makes for interesting reading though forgive me if I’m preaching to the converted. Interestingly all my own finger injuries in the last 15 years, of which I’ve had about 3 bad ones all happened whilst using an open handed grip. I love dirty boney crimps and sexy slopey slopers in equal measure by the ways…anyways, here’s what Neil says: - Source: Internet
  • Even though friction is often utilized on slopers, the hooks come in handy in getting a hold of the jugs. Because your arms bend in a natural placement, this technique is more comfortable and less demanding on your joints. Contrary to the full crimp, the open hand grip doesn’t risk finger injuries. - Source: Internet
  • The open-handed grip is the grip used for pockets, or when ‘dragging’ on edges. It is a more passive form of grip because it relies on friction as well as resistance to tension in the tendons. HOWEVER, when open-handing (in comparison to half-crimping) it is much easier to apply a load to the tendons that is too harsh as the effect of friction may cause you to hang on, whereas with the half crimp you will be more likely to let go. Additionally, the open-handed places minimal load on the pulleys and hence if you don’t train it then you run the risk of them becoming dangerously weak. It is clearly unwise to avoid half-crimping in training, and then to be forced to use it on the crag. - Source: Internet
  • Finally realizing this problem, I decided to figure out why it happened. To get proper form on my SCC from this location my pinky doesn’t really end up on the hold so my SCC grip only trains IMR and I (perhaps subconsciously) started increasing the amount I crimped to get all my fingers on. In the pictures below the first shows what I believe to be a proper semi-closed crimp and the second is more along the lines of what I have been doing. - Source: Internet
  • Another person to support this is Rob Russell, the head coach at Westway who has coached more juniors to a podium position than any other coach in the UK. Here’s a quote from him: “Of course you shouldn’t tell juniors to open-hand everything! Get them to half crimp but do it slowly and gradually”. And here lies the message, to be a strong climber you need to be good at both grips, but the smart advice is to use the half-crimp as the utility grip for most training sets and to do a small and strategic amount of open-handing. It’s up to you if you want to trust a study which didn’t even test the key grip that all the pros use!! Additionally, you’ll note that some of the fingerboard manufacturers tell you to open-hand everything in their instructions, and this is presumably because they are paranoid about giving the wrong advice. Trust the Beastmaker crew, MCA and any good climber worth their weight! - Source: Internet
  • A lot of climbing forums say to stay away from the finger board until you’ve been climbing for at least two years. The rationale is that after two years of climbing, your tendons and finger joints have been strengthened just from using crimp grips in your day to day climbing. Also, hangboarding isn’t going to skyrocket you to higher grades. If you have poor climbing technique then finger strength alone will only get you so far. Focusing on climbing techniques is one of the best training plans you can do when you’re first starting out. - Source: Internet
  • Ever since about 2-3 years into climbing, the back side of my middle fingers (on both hands) would get aggravated fairly easily when crimping. This was more apparent in full crimp than half crimp, which is why I avoided full crimp for so long. This led to a weakness for outside climbing as you need full crimp for limit once the holds get exceptionally small. - Source: Internet
Half Crimp Vs Full Crimp - Crimping Bouldering Here are a few tips to help you find information about Crimp Hold: - Look for good places to get information about Open Hand Grip. This can be done in libraries, on websites, or even by paid journalists. - When looking for information about How To Crimp Climbing, it's important to know that there are different kinds of online sources, like Google and YouTube. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are also good places to look for information about Crimp Hold.

Video | Half Crimp Vs Full Crimp

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## Here are some crucial points concerning Three Finger Drag Climbing:
  • Half Crimp Vs Full Crimp
  • Half Crimp Full Crimp
  • Full Crimp Vs Half Crimp Vs Open Hand
  • Climbing Full Crimp Vs Half Crimp
  • Finger Crimp
Half Crimp Vs Full Crimp - Finger Crimp

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