Reading the WallGrade by grade

8.6 From V4 to V5

This section is for you if you climb most V4s but haven’t sent a V5. The V5 plateau is common enough that gyms name clinics after it [79, 253].

What changes between V4 and V5

In the table, beta is the sequence of moves that works. Most rows come from gym clinics and forum reports, not measurement. The forum reports are about the step to V6, which shows where V5 is heading.

Typical V4 Typical V5
Holds Edges and rounded holds with some lip; a jug to rest on Smaller crimps, rounder holds, pinches; few rests [170, 259]
Wall angle 30–45°, or vertical with poor feet More problems on the steepest walls, 40–50° (judgement)
Footholds Small edges, volumes Smaller edges or none; tension holds the feet on [170]; feet often swing off
The crux Several solutions work Usually one technique done precisely, such as a toe hook to stop a swing (judgement)
Dynamic moves Deadpoints, lunges, the odd dyno or coordination move (judgement) Committed deadpoints, dynos and coordination moves such as run-and-jump [78]
Body tension Needed on steep moves (judgement) Needed to keep the feet on through hand moves [79, 170]
Techniques per problem Two or three Three to five, linked without rests (judgement)
How it goes First go, or in one session Often several sessions; you work out the beta move by move (judgement)

What holds people at V4

  1. Strength instead of position. Lattice’s coaches say strong climbers learn technique more slowly, because they can muscle through moves [258]. After each fall, ask: “If I’m strong enough for this, what am I missing?” [260]
  2. Locking off on the steep. Newer climbers hold bent-arm lock-offs too often. Start big moves from straight arms instead, hips back and down. Press into the foot rather than pulling the knee in tight [151].
  3. Staying tight to the wall when you need to turn. Pinned to the wall, you can’t rotate, so you swing when a hand comes off. Before you let go with the lower hand, relax away from it. Find the point where you balance, then move [14].
  4. Ignoring the off foot. The off foot is the foot not carrying you. It controls rotation. Push it into the wall at roughly right angles to the line from your hand to your foot. Touch it briefly on the wall to stop a swing [130].
  5. Avoiding weak styles and limit attempts. Lattice lists both among the main causes of plateaus [258].
  6. Missing a few techniques. Gym clinics for the “V5 plateau” teach a short list: heel hooks, toe hooks, flagging, body tension, compression, deadpoints and sequencing [79]. A V5–V6 clinic adds drop knees, mantles, rockovers and dynos [78].

Technique or strength?

Lattice’s published bands, V1–V4 and V5–V7, are too wide to show the step from V4 to V5. On a two-arm max hang, the averages across men and women rise from about 19 kg in the V1–V4 band to about 24 kg at V5–V7 [254]. A forum reconstruction for men fills in V5 between figures from a Lattice video for V4 and V7, then moves the result onto a one-arm scale on a 20 mm edge: about 49% of bodyweight at V4 and 55% at V5. That’s an estimate and not a measurement [261].

Lattice’s coaches say they are likely to advise climbers with under five years of experience to focus on technique or on applying the strength they have [262]. One study of 55 advanced and elite women found that finger strength explained about half the variation in their bouldering grades [263]. Upper-body power explained a similar share. The study didn’t measure technique.

These figures can’t say where the extra strength for V5 comes from. Trying V5s is this book’s first suggestion (judgement), but Lattice’s author says of the men’s figures that technique alone can’t carry you up the whole grade scale [254]. For when finger training makes sense, see Section 9.4.

Find your limiter

Try three or four V5s in different styles. Note how you fail on each.

Symptom on a V5 Most likely limiter Where to look
You can’t hold the start or crux holds, even with good feet Finger strength for that kind of hold Half crimp, Sloper, Pinch
You can do every move alone but can’t link them Efficiency and pacing. Some climbers can’t string several near-limit moves together [262] Straight arms; re-read the problem and look for rests
Your feet swing off and won’t go back on Body tension, toe hook, flag, off foot [79, 130] Body tension, Toe hook, Cutting loose and swing control
You fall the moment a hand lets go Rotation and body position [14] Drop knee, Backstep, Barn door
You stall in a lock-off just short of the hold Static or dynamic? [151] Deadpoint, Hip pump
A climber your height does it easily with other beta Beta and technique Copy their sequence. Then learn the technique behind it
You rarely try V5s, or stop after two goes Tactics and mindset [258] The plan below

The table follows Lattice’s logic: compare what your fingers can hold with what you can climb [262]. The categories are judgement.

A plan for the next months

  1. Choose three to five V5s: one steep, one slab or vertical, one dynamic, one compression. Work them over several sessions.
  2. Break each one into single moves. Once every move goes, link pairs, then threes, then the whole problem.
  3. After each fall, check three things. Where were your hips? Where was your off foot? Were your arms straight before the move? [130, 151, 260]
  4. Practise the clinic techniques listed above on V3s and V4s. There you have attention to spare for the movement [78, 79].
  5. In your hard sessions, spend about two-thirds of the time on steeper walls, on problems of four to eight moves at your limit [259, 264]. Give the rest to your other styles. Keep one session a week easy, for drills (this book’s suggestion, Section 9.5).
  6. Copy beta from climbers close to your height. Beta from someone much shorter or taller often won’t fit your body.

Reading V5 problems

  • Find the crux by its holds: the smallest hold, the longest gap or the hold facing the “wrong” way.
  • Ask what the crux hold wants. If you pull it from below, you can do it statically. A sidepull or gaston needs a body position. A sloper wants low hips and straight arms.
  • Before you start, find the hidden footholds, such as a volume’s edge or a hold’s side.
  • Find the swing move, where a hand lets go and the feet are poor. Decide in advance: flag, toe hook, or let the feet swing and catch them.
  • Read in chunks (Chapter 2). A Lattice summary ties previews of two to four holds to difficult routes, which doesn’t show that they help [265].