Why You Should Give Drop Knee a Try When Rock Climbing?

Katherine Thomas Health

Drop knee is a footwork technique which is used in climbing and bouldering where tension is built between two footholds on where your feet are sitting and you drop down either of your knees inwardly while turning your hip towards the wall so in order to get yourself ready for the next hold. When you finally ace at this, the drop knee move accumulates enough tension between the feet to pressure put on your arms so that you can aim for next hold that can be done on the same side as the dropped knee and inwardly turned hip. Here are some good reasons to try this while rock climbing.

  1. It helps in improving your stability

When you have a good drop knee, it stabilizes your position for the next move. The more tension built, the more it locks you in place.

  1. It helps in extending your reach

You may want to embrace this technique because it lets you reach for holds that are far away than you would usually be able to reach for. This happens as you move your one side of your body closer to the wall and getting your knee hip and shoulder closer simultaneously. So, this makes your larger as you bring cut down on the gap between the hand, hips, and feet.

  1. It helps in saving energy

When you build external tension between your feet, you relieve your arms from some weight and also hang from extended arms for as long as possible until you grab the next hold. When you hang from your extended arms, it saves so much energy in your body when compared to bent arms.

Drop knee could be risky too

Never use drop knee if you haven’t warmed up properly. Here are some risks involved.

  1. It strains your knee

It causes a minor stretch in the ligaments in your knees. This can be healed in a day or two. The injuries caused to the meniscus and knee ligaments are called the unhappy triad. You may not want to cause problems with meniscus.

  1. Knee dislocation

This happens when dropknee is furthered by a dynamic move or when you lose balance and fall weirdly. Drop knee must never be used when you get such injuries. Hence, prevent them altogether. Always know the risks involved and take proper measures.