Climbing Technique Tips: How do I stay on slopers?

Slopers are tough for all of us, but they don't have to be!
One of our trainers walks you through what makes slopers hard to hold (spoiler alert: they are round and bulbous shaped holds that you can't pinch or wrap your fingers around. Grabbing one is a lot like palming a basketball) and how you can improve staying on them.
There are three things to keep in mind when you use slopers.
1) You want to grab as much surface area as possible. Slopers require friction, so the more surface area you use, the more likely you are to stay on.
2) Body positioning is incredibly important and the goal here is to position your body so that you're pulling on the hold as little as possible. Position your body below the hold-if you pull straight out, you'll pull yourself right off the hold.
3) Slopers can still be hard, even with the best technique. It helps to build hand and wrist strength and you can do that by practicing slopers.
To do so, head over to a training board and adjust it to vertical. Find a sloper that feels friendly to you. Find good footholds and a good hand that allows you to hold the sloper with one arm straight and your weight directly beneath it. Hold this position for 10-15 seconds at a time.
Rest and repeat this exercise for up to 5 times per side. Repeat once a week. If the exercise starts to feel easy, find a harder sloper to train on and/or increase the wall angle.
For more technique tips like this one, check out an upcoming class near you: movementgyms.c...