Below you will find six (6) questions to help assess the strengths and weaknesses of your campus ability.  When most people think of campusing, they probably imagine people cutting feet and pulling through hard sections with pure power.  This is only a piece of the pie and it does not take great strength to practice even the most basic of campus moves; the dead hang.  Unlike the other Characteristics, once we get into he actual training segment there will be different levels based on your ability and goals, but the questions are still applicable.  As we discussed earlier, the realm of campusing here will include all manner of hangs, pulls, clutches, deadpoints, and dynos.  Basically, anything where your feet are off the wall and your only your upper body is required or necessary to keep you on the wall.  The three (3) aspects of Campusing include the following: 1) Control, or the ability to move with purpose and not flail wildly; 2) Accuracy, or the ability to hit a target hold at the intended “sweet spot” angle, speed, etc. and; 3) Contact Strength, or the ability to maintain contact with a hold once it has been touched and not slide off.  Answer the six questions below and fill in the values to gain your Campus Characteristic Score.

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1) When campusing and/or latching a hold after a deadpoint or dyno, my body tends to swing around a lot.

1.      Almost Always

2.      Frequently

3.      About half the time

4.      Occasionally

5.      Seldom or Never

2) When campusing, or attempting to campus, I find that I often either undershoot, overshoot, or throw distinctly away from the target hold.

1.      Almost Always

2.      Frequently

3.      About half the time

4.      Occasionally

5.      Seldom or Never

3) When making a dynamic move, campus, deadpoint or dyno, I find that my hands tend to slip off the hold no matter how on target I was upon first touching the hold.

1.      Almost Always

2.      Frequently

3.      About half the time

4.      Occasionally

5.      Seldom or Never

4) When campusing, I can feel my entire body working to assist with the movement including my core, back, chest, shoulders, arms, and hands.

1.      Seldom or Never

2.      Occasionally

3.      About half the time

4.      Frequently

5.      Almost Always

5) When throwing for a hold, I can hit the target with regularity (9 out of 10 times) and usually without needing to readjust to achieve a better grip.

1.      Seldom or Never

2.      Occasionally

3.      About half the time

4.      Frequently

5.      Almost Always

6) I find that even if I hit a hold wrong, I can still engage enough to readjust my grip to improve the use of the hold, or I can even continue the movement with a less than ideal hand position.

1.      Seldom or Never

2.      Occasionally

3.      About half the time

4.      Frequently

5.      Almost Always

2-3 – Needs Work.  Spend some time working on improving aspect before moving on.

4-5 – Fair.  This could be better, but you are on your way.

6-7 – Average.  Stay focused on this aspect and you should see all around improvement.

8-9 – Above Average.   A few tweaks and this aspect will soon be perfected.

10 – Excellent!  Nice work, you have this aspect locked down!

Tips:

1) When campusing and/or latching a hold after a deadpoint or dyno, my body tends to swing around a lot.

Tip: The trick here is actually two parts.  The first part is knowing how much effort is necessary to complete a move and to not apply too much or too little.  Too much and we overshoot the target and have to spend time readjusting for the excessive energy, too little and we end up flailing and coming up short.  That part can be learned with practice.  The second part is about full engagement of the entire body to assist with the motion of going from one hold to the next as well as checking the swing after excessive force is applied.  To practice, try moves that force a swing and bring the swing to a full stop before making the next move.

2) When campusing for a hold, I find that I often either undershoot, overshoot, or throw distinctly away from the target hold.

Tip: The only way to get good at this aspect is to practice.  Set up a scenario either on the rock or in the gym that you have about a 50/50 completion rate.  Get used to the movement until you can hit the target hold in the best spot nearly 100% of the time.  This will allow you to get the feel of how to make the distance and hit with precision.

3) When making a dynamic move, campus, deadpoint or dyno, I find that my hands tend to slip off the hold no matter how on target I was upon first touching the hold.

Tip: Contact strength, the actual ability to hold onto a hold once you make contact, is crucial in this sport, especially when conditions are not ideal whether from the environment or from fatigue.  To practice this skill, make a move to a hold and hang as long as you can unto you fall off.  To make it harder, try larger moves, worse holds, and/or longer hangs.

4) When campusing, I can feel my entire body working to assist with the movement including my core, back, chest, shoulders, arms, and hands.

Tip: Most people think of campusing as an entirely arm, or arm and upper back exercise.  The truth is, the core aids in maintaining stability; remember the saying ‘light as a feather, stiff as a board’ and you will see what I mean.  The chest, shoulders, and back help to direct the movement to the target hold while simultaneously generating the necessary upward movement.  The arms and back are, of course, generating the power, but without the full body compliment it makes it difficult to have control of that power.

5) When throwing for a hold, I can hit the target with regularity (9 out of 10 times) and usually without needing to readjust to achieve a better grip.

Tip: This is something that is nearly impossible to do when climbing at your limit on a new problem or route.  It with a little rehearsal of the movement and knowledge of where the good holds are.  If you can get into a position to observe all of the holds and any micro-divet that might make a difference then do so to acquire that knowledge.  In a gym scenario, there are only so many holds and familiarity is your friend.  To quote a popular web series, “memory is the key.”

6) I find that even if I hit a hold wrong, I can still engage enough to readjust my grip to improve the use of the hold, or I can even continue the movement with a less than ideal hand position.

Tip: We all wonder how the top climbers can make such difficult moves on seemingly nothing holds.  This is the essence of contact strength.  Those climbers have such great contact strength that  they only need a slight bit to touch before they can pull.  Our goal is to be able to move or just hold on even when the position or surface area is not perfect.  Practice, again, is your friend.  Find moderate holds and intentionally hang from the less than ideal positions and try to move.  When you encounter bad holds while climbing, you will already be familiar with them.