Backstepping: how to turn your hip into the wall on steep ground

The move that makes steep ground feel less steep

Watch two people try the same overhanging problem. One climbs it square on, chest to the wall, both feet pointing in, arms bent and shaking by the third move. The other climbs it side on, one hip pressed towards the wall, arm straight, and reaches the same holds without looking like they are working hard.

The second climber is usually backstepping. It is one of the most useful moves in climbing and one of the least explained, because it looks so small. You put your foot on the hold with the outside edge of your shoe instead of the inside, and the rest of your body follows.

That one change moves your hip, and moving your hip changes everything above it.

What a backstep actually is

On a normal step you use the inside edge of your shoe, the big toe side, and your body faces the wall.

On a backstep you use the outside edge, the little toe side, on a foothold that is roughly level with or behind the hand you are about to move. Your knee points out to the side, your heel drops a little, and your hip on that side turns in towards the wall.

The usual pattern is diagonal. If you are reaching up with your right hand, the backstep goes on with your left foot, and your left hip turns in. Your right hand, your left foot and your left hip end up on one line, and the reach runs along it.

It feels a bit like climbing sideways, and that is the point.

Why it works

Three things happen when the hip turns in.

Your centre of gravity gets closer to the wall. On steep ground the further your hips hang from the rock, the more your arms have to hold. Turning side on tucks your hip in, and some of the weight comes off your fingers and onto your feet.

Your arm can stay straight. Square on, you often have to bend the lower arm to get your body high enough for the next reach. Side on, the twist of your torso does the lifting and the holding arm can hang straight off the hold, where it costs far less. Straight arms are cheap. Bent arms are expensive.

You get more reach. Turning your shoulder towards the next hold adds a few centimetres, sometimes more, without any extra strength. That is often the difference between a move that needs a jump and one you can do static.

Backstep or drop knee

The two get confused because they both turn the hip, and they are related.

A drop knee is a backstep taken further. The foot is higher and pushing sideways against the hold, the knee rotates right down towards the floor, and the body gets locked into place between the foot and the hand. It is powerful, secure and hard on the knee if you force it.

A backstep is the gentler version. The foot is lower, the knee points out rather than down, and the move flows through rather than locking you still. You can backstep on almost anything overhanging. A drop knee needs the right footholds in the right place.

A good rule: if you only need a little turn, backstep. If you need to hold a position while you reach a long way, drop the knee.

How to do one

Take it slowly the first few times, on a steep problem well below your limit.

Pick the foothold behind your hand. Before you move, look for a foot that sits level with or slightly behind the hand you are holding with. Holds in front of you invite a normal step. Holds behind invite a backstep.

Place the outside edge. Put the little toe side of your shoe on the hold. Precision matters, so look at it until it is on.

Turn the hip in. Rotate your hips so the hip on the backstepping side comes towards the wall. Your chest will turn to face sideways along the wall.

Hang off a straight arm. Let the holding arm go long. If it is bent, turn a bit more.

Push with the leg and reach. Stand up through the backstepping leg and reach along the diagonal with the free hand. The other foot usually flags out behind or finds a smear to keep you from swinging.

The moment it works you feel it. The move that was a pull becomes a push.

When it goes wrong

You swing off. The classic barn door. If you backstep with the wrong foot, your body opens like a door on a hinge and peels away. Swap feet, or use your free leg as a flag on the other side to counter the swing.

The foot rolls. Outside edges are less precise than inside edges on most shoes, and a slightly rounded foothold can roll the shoe off. Put more weight through the toe and less through the heel, and keep the heel still once it is set.

You turn but stay bent. Some people turn the hip and then keep pulling in with a bent arm out of habit. The whole benefit is in letting the arm go straight. Think about pushing your hips away from the hold with your legs, not pulling your chest towards it.

It feels wrong on the easy stuff. On a slab or a vertical wall a backstep is rarely the best option, because there is no hanging weight to take off your arms. It is a steep-ground move. Save it for overhangs, roofs and anything leaning out.

Making it automatic

The problem with backstepping is not that it is hard. It is that under pressure most climbers default to square on, because that is how they learned.

The backstep-only circuit. Pick five problems on the steepest bit of your wall, a couple of grades below your limit. Climb each one and backstep on every move that allows it, even where it feels odd. You are teaching your feet a new default, and it takes repetition, not effort.

Climb it twice. Climb a steep problem square on, then again side on. Pay attention to how your forearms feel at the top each time. That comparison sells the move better than any explanation.

Watch strong climbers on the board. On a steep training board almost every move is some version of a backstep, a drop knee or a flag. Watch which way people's hips face. You will see it everywhere once you know to look.

Film one go. A short clip from the side will show you whether your hip is really turning or whether you are just changing feet and staying square.

The short version

Outside edge of the shoe, on a foothold level with or behind your hand. Turn the hip on that side into the wall, let the holding arm go straight, and push with the leg as you reach along the diagonal. If you swing, flag or swap feet. Use it on anything steep, and keep the drop knee for when you need to lock a position in.

Log the problems where it finally clicked. Sendit keeps your sessions, your projects and your notes in one place, so when the steep project you have been fighting all autumn suddenly goes, you can see exactly which move changed.