By Alex Stiger

As a 5’0″ person on a tall day, I definitely get asked for short climber tips.  It is also one of my favorite questions to geek out about, so I wanted to share a few tips from a mental, physical, and skill perspective.

Mindset: Being Too Short Is Not the Real Problem… 

You are not too short! Being short should never be confused with being too short. Leave the excuse behind and get really disciplined about catching yourself in the act of blaming an uncontrollable (you can not control your height, but you can control how you think about it) factor for your climbing problems. 

If your thoughts are not so easily managed, I recommend working with a mindset coach so you have tools ready to be used to steer your thoughts back to a growth mindset. I’ve worked with Hazel Findlay and she helped me a ton. When I started to coach youth climbers I had to completely re-evaluate what I “knew” to be doable and not doable. Hint: 99% of the time it is doable! That said, you will often have to find your own way, which takes a lot more creativity and playfulness than one might realize, and both of those abilities are squashed by the “can’t” mindset!

Physical: Certain Moves Might Be Harder, But That Is Okay!

You might need to have certain strengths be over qualified for the grade, and that is okay! Here is my list of what I really focus on strengthening as a short climber:

Fingers: I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve been told I have strong fingers so I don’t need to focus on them… LIES. As a shorter climber I am always grabbing the worst holds, and being able to use them or not is a make or break situation.

Hip Mobility and Strength: So important for being able to use high feet. When you can’t reach something the solution is often using higher feet. Rarely do I have to jump, but I often get my foot above hip level or higher.

Core: Read my article and follow along with my TRX Core Workout on TrainingBeta!

Lock-off Strength: A very important strength for the smaller humans out there and often misunderstood or not trained correctly. My favorite drill for practicing lock-offs is 5-Second Hovers. In this climbing exercise, you simply hover over a hold for 5 seconds before grabbing it. You can do this on routes or boulders, and on as hard of grades as you can actually maintain the 5-second hover!

To summarize, it is possible you are not strong enough for the grade you are trying to climb, but your height is probably not the thing that is going to hold you back from ever sending it. I highly recommend seeking out a smaller coach to help you assess what your strengths and weaknesses are and to offer guidance on what actually needs improving. I am available for consultations and training plans. Click here to learn more! 😉

The author making big moves on Fluffboy 5.13c. I initially thought I couldn’t span this move but by sending time, it was not the crux!

Skills: Learn from the Short Masters!

In all likelihood you probably spend most of your time climbing with people who are taller than you. Which means you are most likely trying to use the wrong tools and trying even harder to make the wrong tools work (square peg, round hole).

Climbing team athletes have it the best: They get to learn and grow hard-earned skillsets with similar sized and varying level athletes. This really helps them not size blame and also keeps the inspiration high (added benefit – they are still growing… It’s okay to be a little jealous).

You need to create your own ability to learn from the short masters and, thankfully, YouTube is there for you. Once again, I’m also going to recommend a coach to help you realize how many more tools you have available to you than you are utilizing. For example, using high feet appropriately is often a skill and not a strength!

There are many more short heroes of mine than I will mention in this article, but my recommended smaller climbers to learn from list includes the following: Lynn Hill (5’2″ – First free ascent of the Nose), Jain Kim (5’0″ – Winner of 3 Lead Climbing World Cups), Brooke Raboutou (5’2″ – Olympic Qualifier), Ramón Julián Puigblanque (5’3″ – Flashed 5.14c in Rifle!), Muggsy Bogues (5’3″ – NBA player…) and there are many more super inspiring shorties out there.

I promise shorter people than you have sent WAY harder climbs than you have. I don’t mean that to be discouraging but inspiring! You just need to stay positive, get stronger in the right ways, and develop climbing techniques and movement solutions for your body type!