Reading the WallBody positioning

Inside flag

V4+

Also called crossing in front · Body positioning

Your free leg crosses in front of the standing leg, between it and the wall. The foot presses the wall on the far side. As you stand, your hips and chest corkscrew until every limb is straight [140].

Grade Gripped magazine calls it rarely efficient but occasionally ideal [142]. It starts to pay at about V4.

How to do it

  1. Stand on a single low foothold, below knee height, under your holding hand [140].
  2. Use the inside edge of that foot [140].
  3. As you stand up, pass your free leg in front of the standing leg, close to the wall [140].
  4. Let your hips, chest and shoulders turn together, like a corkscrew. Pull one hip to the wall [139, 140].
  5. Press the free foot on the wall on the far side.
  6. Finish with every limb straight. Reach with a nearly straight arm [140].
  7. Keep hold of the low handhold until the reach is done [140].
A climber from behind, crouched on one low foothold, then standing with the right leg passed across the left.
Figure 45 (a) Crouched on one low foothold. (b) Standing up, the right leg passes between the left leg and the wall. Every limb ends straight.

Common mistakes

  • Keeping the standing leg bent. You never stand up [140].
  • Not passing the leg through far enough [140].
Related
Side flag, Back flag, Turning the hip in, Foot swap
Watch
(Climbing Analysis) Inside Flag - The Move You Never Do But Maybe Should (Movement for Climbers)
Sources
[139, 140, 142, 155]
Referenced from
Rotation and the barn door, Barn door, Side flag, Back flag, Balance and swinging