7 Lessons to help you improve on Slopers

A few years back Nikken dubbed me "Mr Sloper Daddy", and today I'm taking that name to heart to present this video to you. 7 lessons, and a bunch of reflections, on slopers, slopers and more slopers.
I go through what I think is important when hanging, climbing and training on them, and I also share some comparisons to boulders I've climbed on in the past.
Instagram:
/ abrahamssonen
Music from Musicbed.com

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Heyo everyone, I’m back from a short hiatus of off KZbin. Been working a ton on getting the van ready, and today we’re actually spending the first night in it. Still got some minor things to fix in it, but then we’re off!

[@Productionbrikfilm]

Cool cant wait to watch this video

[@dantelaw7759]

Emil, when your section on force distribution across the hands (including diagrams) was genius. I've seen literally no one speak about this stuff like this before. Thank u thank u, keep going 👊

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Thanks mate, I really appreciate it :-)

[@WideBoyz]

Nice vid Emil, good to see you back with a vid 😀 Really liked the hand prints on the big island part. That was a great little touch. Good luck with starting the van touring 🤙

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Thanks, good to be back :-) Really hope we can meet up somewhere along the road!

[@trachtigetanne1197]

More of this nerdy stuff please!! And Dude, how you visualized the force distribution on your hands was sick. It is definitely the best technical/explanatory video you did so far. I hope you have a pleasant start into your adventure

[@deslomator]

The hands graphics are genius.

[@Moache]

Us subscribers are but sloper children following the wisdom of the one called Mr Sloper Daddy.

[@dave_h_8742]

He's the daddy 😀

[@ceciliamcalear]

As a crimp addict / sloper hater, I needed this. Such a good video. I really liked the hand diagrams and appreciated the tips.

[@theclimbingfarmer2267]

As a coach, I'm obsessed with the Big Island edit. This is the best visual breakdown I've ever seen. If you did this with all hold types, I would definitely not be sad:) Awesome video, and so great to show the kids.

[@farideh2]

A video on what you did to help with stabilizing our wrist would be appreciated :)

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

It's a fairly short segment, but I've been thinking about making a video about the strengthening things I've done that really changed my climbing, and that would surely fit in there :-)

[@tylerheitmann1758]

Agreed! Just getting over a TFC injury myself. Hoopers beta has a good video on it as well.

[@svsoke]

I've always had hyperflexible joints, that would help a lot! Especially my wrists suffer under odd-angled slopers

[@joshuavanwyk6650]

@@EmilAbrahamsson Such a video would be extremely helpful and appreciated!!

[@tomcharoy9919]

@@EmilAbrahamsson really good video idea, can't wait to watch it :)

[@hNsGregrz]

you have the vocabulary, climbing skill and editing skills to make this very informative and interesting. Thanks for making these!

[@maximebarber3780]

Great video Emil! I love these technical insights, it really helps with awareness of what I should be doing on the wall!

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Thanks mate! I'm glad you liked it

[@geodesicmonkey]

A small nugget to add.. developing the mind muscle connection with the muscles of the back takes time and focused effort. You can’t see the muscles, so it’s all about feel. I would often close my eyes when doing back days at the gym to really build the neuromuscular connection so that I could flex my back at will.. Great video!

[@yankozvonaric4759]

I needed this video so badly - I recently injured my wrist on a sloper and have always hated these holds but this video has revived some hope in me to get better with slopers.

[@iibnick]

One of the best videos I've seen about getting better at climbing. Got me psyched for slopers!

[@timwiesenfeld8031]

This was an incredibly well made and explained video with prime explanation and video material. Especially the break down with the hands on the island boulder was exceptional! While slopers aren’t my game, I am now fascinated by them.

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Haha that's great to hear, cheers

[@bryandelledonne3029]

Never thought about sloppers in this way, really opened my eyes and will be a huge point of my training for some problem boulders of mine! Thank you so much!

[@zackklapman3569]

Extremely helpful. These lessons on body mechanics, tension, and the physical forces, are so clarifying.

[@awkwardturtle77]

This is the best description on how to engage with sloper I've come across! Thanks!

[@alanbarlow5136]

Awesome watching you climb and even better that you share such vitally important and useful info for us mere mortals, stay strong brother.

[@peterkroner2630]

Really enjoyed the breakdown of your movement and specific muscle engagement. Nice work!!

[@qawi272]

I love the first minute of this video! The shots are so good, and you take enough time to show your brakes - thats like...awesome!

[@applepointy]

This analysis is really excellent and fun to watch, thank you for sharing!

[@frelli177]

Next level stuff with the hand pressure visualization. Really appreciate your videos!

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Thank you very much!

[@grennangoeshiking]

Thanks for another tip n’ technique video. You’re much more advanced than myself, but it’s nice to hear your concepts too. In fact I was excited when you and Felix put out the video about finger boarding even with your feet down. Something I use at home to try and gain strength healthily. Keep these up, also more van content.

[@omgwateverlol]

Thank you for that very innovative hand force distribution it was very informative!

[@direcolasal]

This was great! Thank you so much, Emil. You're going to help me level up here!

[@anthonymoenich9533]

Please keep doing these technical breakdowns, they're great!

[@makafuniruni]

Great video! Really nice work with the hand graphics. Must be the best visualisation i've seen on how specific holds feels like:) Helps close the gap between the information you can actually get by watching a boulder on video ,and the stuff you can only try to explain in words. Awesome👊

[@jondohnson8417]

The illustration of the distribution of force on the hands and fingers is very instructive. Great work!!

[@heididixon165]

I just watched a whole bunch of videos on training slopers. This is by far the best!

[@FraserCorrie]

Love this video and format.

[@RiversideM]

Interesting! I went from touching the 45° thing on my hangboard and thinking "this is impossible" to hanging from it on my first try after watching the video lol Can't hang on one hand because I'm too weak but one hand on the sloper one hand on a bad hold works! Can't wait to try all the slopers at the gym tomorrow, thanks!

[@meganwong9508]

Very, very cool! I love the break down especially on the Big Island. It was interesting to see the hand visuals and watch you climb, because knowing after I understood the your approach to it and what to look for, I could read what your hands were doing! Super awesome. Thanks so much for the vid and best of luck with that van!

[@VIEW-ut3bu]

Guy, A GODSEND!!!! perfect instruction!

[@tinachang2657]

This was so helpful. Thank you!

[@boulderingbreakdown]

Cooool. Thanks Emil - Gave us lots to think about. Definitely got me stoked to play around on the BM2 45s some more !

[@theenvisionary]

Great video Emil, thanks

[@tcchen4523]

Really good suggestions! Thank you

[@whelmking6497]

So good. Thank you!

[@Productionbrikfilm]

Realy great high quality video! Thks

[@phill1304]

Faaaaark just started climbing, and this is soooo helpful!!!!!! Thank you so much!

[@davidzeez]

What an intro! And your video came right after I realized I need to work overhang and big slopey holds more than crimps!

[@HeitorxD1]

Pure Masterclass! Thank you for the video, and I loved the hand diagrams to show the force distribution haha gainz are comin

[@Bobbzorzen]

Super informative, makes me reallize i have no clue how to tense my back muscles :D More of this type of videos please and thank you!

[@hj40]

Not as simple as it first seems this sloper business. Awesome vid thanks!

[@monawoka97]

Man this is extremely informative. So much more thorough and useful then most "x tips for x thing" videos.

[@gryphon940]

Thanks for the tips! Only been climbing for about 2 months and any Boulder problem with slopers I generally avoid because they just feel way to slippery to me. Gonna apply some of these changes for my next outing! Climbing is the only sport I've tried where I notice improvement literally every sessions I have. I'm addicted to that improvement!

[@janzimmermann5861]

Pure Gold this is

[@marc5279]

i think climbing technique is very difficult to explain in an understandfull way, but clearly you got around that very very well. Great video, and thanks for putting it out!

[@nicohaba2203]

This video was so helpful! The force distribution diagrams were so sick I've never seen anyone explain it like that before. I did the tensing my shoulder muscles thing on my project after seeing this video and it helped me send the other day :)))

[@jorgecanelon8794]

Loved the use of the hand illustrations

[@joshuaraysummey7679]

Great vid! I'm just starting to deal with slopers! This is hugely helpful!

[@cameronline3780]

This is exactly what I needed thank ya

[@ryanpenny8272]

Super informative! Great video Sloper Daddy

[@ethananweiler9446]

This lesson today brought to us by: "sloper daddy"

[@tylerheitmann1758]

This came out a few hours after my trip to Chattanooga climbing on some sweet southern sandstone slopers. Very timely.

[@SendStory]

Awesome video. Good VO work here, nicely shot. Solid tips. Thanks dude.

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Thanks friend!

[@timothywilkinson6745]

This was such a good explanation! You should definitely do more technique videos!

[@RoadtoV11]

Great insight, I love crimps and hate sloppers and shouldery moves. This was really helpful.

[@kylerey09]

Hand editing for big island, pure genius!

[@codyheiner3636]

I'm working towards hanging on the 45 degree beastmaker slopers right now (two hands), and I was just wondering all these things about body position, shoulder engagement, core engagement, etc! Wow, this video came at the perfect time! Thanks Emil!

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Great to hear, and good luck with the hanging!

[@MrChaluliss]

I am terrible with slopers right now, when I have to use them at my project grade they usually are impassible barriers. So I am really happy to get some tips on how to better work with them, as the techniques surrounding effective sloper use isn't something I have seen discussed before.

[@maathieu13]

Just realized that I've been trying to ''crimp'' slopers my whole climbing life by focusing only on the pressure of my fingertips. can't wait to try all of these tips on my next session !!

[@JasonLeath171]

Instant improvement, thanks.

[@locoenlacabeza6699]

Vlogs are nice but this is gold thanks for bringing back some technic on the menu Daddy it has been too long :D

[@alanlashbrook6442]

Very helpful.

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Thanks for this! I appreciate it

[@EtaiDvora]

Okay, Emil in a blazer drinking wine and calling out a very specific hold with that face got me. Instantly cracked me up, had to pause the video.

[@boulderfighters2590]

Great video Emil! And great work with the hand distribution and the explanations in general. I was waiting for this :-D (I was one of the many asking "How?" in your older videos haha). I will definitely watch it again (and maybe again and again) to better understand the different parts. Would you say that training open hand crimp can also help in improving sloper strength (as the open hand crimp looks a bit similar to how you hold a sloper)? I will definitely try to integrate some wrist exercises.

[@mustafaanderson279]

fun fact: if you apply the same ammount of force to a small and a big surface area will get the same ammount of friction. the reasons why this feels counterintuitive are that you often are abled to apply more force if you use more surface and also its less painfull to evenly distribute force.

[@bobbyatopk]

Good points. A bigger contact patch is also good if one of the surfaces can become damaged, like with rubber if the contact patch is small you just remove layers of rubber and slip off.

[@slobodanbulovic9385]

I am amaized with info i have got

[@ryanquinn4099]

great video

[@AmirNickname]

I notice people who are relatively good at slopers also seem to be relatively good at open hand holds and compression. Have you noticed this as well? I fall into this category, and I always seem to struggle with crimps. I Wonder if you have any tips for improving crimps for people like me who just grab everything open..? :)

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Oh yeah, 100%. My theory is that because slopers are such a "bad hold" in the sense that you really can't pull very much on them, the compression is required in order to get you close to the wall and therefore put you in an OK position relative to the hold. I'd say sloper strength => Heel/toehook strength and compression, Crimp strength => >Body tension. Very rough breakdown, but hopefully you get my point :P My tip would be to work on body tension and then finger strength applied on the wall. I used to do dedicated "crimp"-sessions a few years back, where I'd climb extremely easy crimp lines with full body control, and that definitely kickstarted something in me!

[@Nykinkanava]

@@EmilAbrahamsson Seems like a legit theory! I'm going to try those crimp sessions.

[@HaraldNilsson]

Maybe you got big hands. They usually work well on slopers and pinches but are weaker on crimps

[@TheDopoqob]

1 million subs youtubers: "I never warm up" Mr. Sloper Daddy: "First step to getting stronger is training" Words to live by!

[@oliviermessier8033]

Put some respect on Magnus!

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

True, but Magnus just jumps straight into the training. He knows where the gains are at

[@alexround2043]

I just want to say as someone who is trying to learn a language, apart from the crazy climbing knowledge your English is perfect man it’s ridiculous 🙌🙌

[@DanielChavez-mt7xq]

A masterclass👌

[@giorgiogrosso5466]

Pure fking gold

[@Kcres11]

Love the video. Any advice on friction for a home board? I can hold the 45° at the gyms but I can barely hold the shallow angle at home just slips right off.

[@adamryan5039]

hell yeah improve my sloper game! Have to be the hardest holds!

[@Bartholomew_the_smart_fella]

Thanks

[@bestagerunner766]

Great insights. So, do you use the hangboard to build strength for slopers as well as crimps?

[@j.k.7985]

My hands got sweaty just from watching. Every time I have to hold a sloper, I get nervous, get sweaty palms and just slip right back down.

[@samr2733]

Nice video 😁 for me I feel like training a lot of the rings is helping to get this full body strength you spoke about and even though it's not super specific it surely improved my game! And shoulder Mobility helps a lot to hold the beastmaker 2000 45 slopers imo but that's just training 😂

[@felix3821]

nice. I'm a crimper boy, and i do need to improve on sloppers. not really my jam though, but hey, being a good climber is so you gotta do what you gotta do you know ! thanks for the tips, i'll get that frying pan turning now lmao

[@spacescienceguy]

Slopers have been a weakness of mine for a while. I decided to train my weakness, and decided to include the beastmaker 2000 sloper holds into my fingerboard routine. Within a second I felt a discomfort in my wrist. It wasn't painful, and didn't have any lingering effects. It just felt like the bones/tendons were moving around or something. I've since understood that this might be due to a lack of wrist stability. I'm now just working on wrist curls and other wrist stabilising exercises. I like the pan one, I'll have to add that to my routine!

[@letsbefrank6832]

Have had the same feeling, almost like it shifts out of place in the joint. Stability but also mobility really helped me with this issue. I find the beastmaker revealed this issue more than any sloper on the wall.

[@spacescienceguy]

@@letsbefrank6832 Thanks, any mobility routines you'd recommend?

[@stitch3163]

Great vid, Emil. Just realized that I wasn’t subscribed… after thinking that I was. Fixed that just now.

[@MrThidious]

Emil: posts content Me: watch every time and like

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

you know what you are? one heck of a good person. Thank you (sincerely

[@MrThidious]

@@EmilAbrahamsson ❤ ✌

[@SnowmansApartment]

Thought i was the only one who always has wrist problems since starting to climb 🥲😄

[@karlderdelinckx]

Up to the beastmaker 2000 to test this so I can finally hang those 45deg slopers. Very well made video! I have the impression that having dry fingers makes it more difficult to hang on slopers. Any tips or thoughts about that? Tomoa is like using wet wipes for dealing with his dry fingers…

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

There's certainly something to "too dry" and "too wet" hands. But it always depends on texture of the hold, humidity, etc. On the BM 2000 a bit of moisture is definitely more of a necessity than on a fiberglass volume in the gym :-) My tip would be to really explore this as much as possible, do like a 20 minute condition-sesh on a BM sloper and see how different moisture levels affect your performance. I'm sure you'll notice a big difference

[@karlderdelinckx]

@@EmilAbrahamsson i did test this already. Wetness really helps on the BM. My problem is more in getting my hands in a wetter / softer state. I have the impression that most moisterizing cremes make my hands a bit greasy which doesn’t help. Just getting the fingers wet only works for a short time.

[@staibock5456]

Really nice video :) Cool to hear you van is almost finished, i hope we meet somewehre on your tour :) How much does the beard improve your stregth? maybe worth a video? ;)

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

I just shaved it off. tried to do a pull up but I couldn't lift my arms up to the bar anymore... 100% in the beard, growing it back now

[@days8973]

@4:21 Curious behind the physics of why full palm is better? Frictional force doesnt change with surface area so it should'nt be different unless he can exhert more force downwards with a palm...

[@siuyuatwong5848]

Hi Emil! From your last video on the system board with Frederik, what was the rule that you used for feet? It just seemed as though Frederik was using open feet on the small grey foot chips (rather than feet follow hands? If you did, why did you do this instead of the more traditional system board climbing where it's usually hands follow feet? And what sort of foot chips do you guys have on the system wall? Thanks!! PS: Good luck with the minor fixes to the Van!

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

We usually switch things around, sometimes the feet are "forced" on the black ones, and sometimes we do feet follow hands. Usually the smaller feet will require more body tension and footwork. I don't remember which brand unfortunately :/

[@johnlaszakovits7885]

While Emil is hanging on the crimps he has his shoulders completely disengaged and this can lead to injury. Great video and insight though

[@TheJuggernaut88]

practicing slopers are hard, because it relies on a lot of friction. i wear out the skin on my hands pretty fast if i stay on a sloper problem too long.

[@zurachas]

Strengthening lumbrical muscle would help but I don't know much exercise/conditioning on lumbrical muscle

[@TheXeeman]

how heavy and how many reps are you doing the wrist curls? also do you do reverse wrist curls? so back of fist goes up?

[@jonkimochi1117]

slopers: a full body experience

[@generichuman_]

I was at the gym sucking horribly at all the sloper moves, and thought to myself hmmmm, I should come up with a training plan to improve on slopers. Lo and behold, this video magically appears.

[@nonsensei1]

I've been drooling over the bm2k sloper but it seems so far out of reach! How did you get there? Do you feel like it's mostly wrist strength?

[@EMS01119]

Amazing,So hard

[@rookiemoves]

I know this video is not about crimp form, but are you not engaging your scapular muscles in the crimp/edge side of the comparison at 6:43?