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By: Jonas Emanuelsson  | Date: 2006-08-31  | Category: Training  

Everyone feels too short when the holds are far away, right? So, what?s the clue? What are you to think, that makes it possible to fly and land those crucial centimeters higher up?

Naturally, every dyno is, to a certain extent, unique in terms of holds, angles, length etc., but there is also at least one aspect in which all dynos are similar; you have to let go... What decides if you are to succeed are your physical shape, technique, but most of all your mind. Here are 14 pieces of advice and training tips from a 166 cm short man, with negative gorilla index and a 193 cm tall guy with positive gorilla index.

1. Let the catching hand go as late as possible!

A very common fault among beginners is to let the catching hand go too early in the movement. Doing this, you‘ll lose a lot of power which the hand would have generated if you?d have let it go later. You get a longer part of the dyno without contact. The best way to correct this mistake is probably to do the "candle". This means trying to get the body as high (up in the air that is) as possible without letting the hands go until the lose touch with the hold through the momentum of the body.

2. Slap on the wall/hold!

When you start working a dyno, it often feels impossible. You feel there’s no use even trying really, and if you do, you don?t really go for it. To get a sense of improvement, start slapping the wall as high up as possible. Try to set new personal records. In time the record often gets dangerously close to the hold, and you can start trying to grab it.

3. Recruit the whole move!

It‘s an easy mistake to only recruit the muscles active in the first faces of a dyno, forgetting the muscles that come in to play later, in the actual grabbing-face. The reason for this is simple: you won’t use the contact-muscles if you can‘t do the catch... Recruitment-wise, the best is if you can reach the hold and put weight on it, if only for a micro second, since, this way, all the necessary muscle fibers gets to play. If you can’t reach the hold by your own power, use someone else?s, or the rope. You can also, with support, try reversing the move.

4. Push with your feet!

Don?t forget most of the power in a dyno originates from your legs. Try putting as much weight as possible on the foot holds, to the point where you actually skids off them (paragraph 7). It?s most often an advantage using as soft shoes as possible, since you this way get the most out of the muscles in your feet. Remember, those muscles are also recruitable!

5. Use "the bungee cord" to your advantage!

To gain momentum, you should start every dyno with a vertical motion, up and then down, to kind of extend the bungee cord, to be able to use its power to be catapulted (hopefully) toward the hold you?re aiming for. If you don?t have enough room for this, it?s also possible to gain momentum by swinging side to side.

6. Long, even applying of power

A common mistake is to use too much power in the first faces of the move. Doing this, it?s very easy to lose contact with the holds, and hence the only way to keep the momentum, in the last and often deciding face. Sometimes it?s best not to use all the fuel at once...

7. Use the lower hand to the maximum

Before you?ve managed to literally pull the lower hand off the hold, you haven?t tried how much power you can apply to it. This is, of course, not true for jugs, but on smaller holds you must push toward the limit of what?s possible to gain maximum effect.

8. Dyno inwards

A problem when catching is that it?s often hard to keep close enough to the rock, but swing out. A way of solving this is to dyno inwards by starting with more or less straight arms leaning out from the rock, and then through yourself inwards, upwards.

9. Over- or under curve?

When dynoing diagonally, it?s important to chose an over- or under curve. It?s impossible to design a rule for when to use which, since the possible hold placement combinations are infinite. Simply try what feels best for you. Maybe you should just go straight for the hold!

10. Tick-marks

To mark the hold you?re going for with a bright white chalk-line is an underestimated method to improve your timing. Don?t just dust some chalk on the hold, use clear, bright tick-marks, you won?t be disappointed. If the hold is somewhat hidden you can also draw arrows etc. to make it easier to know where to aim.

11. Hyperventilate

Experiments show you?ll actually gain short term power by hyperventilating. It has probably something to do with adrenaline being freed, and that you, hence, get a bit mad... Try 4-5 fast deep breaths and go for it!

12. Timing & Dead-points

A successful catch is often about being able to keep one foot to the rock, and it?s often also important to reach the hold at the dead-point, that is in a kind of weightless state, neither going up or down. This is especially true when you?re dynoing sideways or to a side pull. If you use to much power and still are going upwards/sideways when you get the hold, it?s very easy to swing out and lose balance.

13. Contact-time and grip-positioning  

The clue is to make the contact-time as long as possible when you get your fingers on the hold. Doing this you allow the muscles to be maximally recruited, and to reach a flexing crimp-position. First the fingers bend upwards, and then downwards, all in a fraction of a second. A special trick is to through your head back to extend the dead-point for a couple of 1/100 of a second.

14. Practice makes perfect

Last, but not least, it?s the amount of dedicated training you?ve put in that will decide. Your body needs to learn the movement so to speak, for the muscles to be able to interact perfectly. You can?t think of all the advice above when you?re trying a dyno, you must work them one by one, until you do it naturally. Now, fly baby fly.?