Reading the WallHands and holds

Jug

V0+

Also called bucket, handle · Hands and holds

A jug is a big, deep hold you can wrap your whole hand around [102]. The skill is to hang on it cheaply.

Grade You use jugs from your first session. When you pause on one on a steep wall, hang on a straight arm, and on a vertical wall stand tall (this book’s suggestion). Resting that way before the hard moves starts to matter around V2–V3.

How to do it

  1. Put your fingers into the deepest part, up to the second joint.
  2. On a big incut jug, wrap your thumb round the front. It takes load off the fingers [167].
  3. Grip only as hard as you need [168].
  4. On a steep wall, hang on a straight arm, so your biceps can rest [133].
  5. Hang below the jug, or on the side away from the way it faces.
  6. To rest, drop the other arm below your waist and shake it loose. Then swap hands.
A climber from behind on a big hold, first on two bent arms, then on one straight arm while shaking out the other.
Figure 49 (a) Bent arms: your biceps and shoulder muscles work to hold you there. (b) One straight arm holds you while the other hand shakes out.

Common mistakes

  • Pulling up on bent arms instead of pushing with the legs [133]. Straighten the arm and stand up.
  • Skipping the rest. Shake out on every good jug, even for a few seconds.
Tall climbers. Long arms let you hang low, but on a steep wall that drops your hips far below the jug. Put your feet higher to keep weight on them.
Related
Straight arms, Sidepull, Undercling, Re-gripping and adjusting
Sources
[102, 133, 158, 167, 168]
Referenced from
Holds have a direction, Hold direction and body position, Straight arms, Frog position, Matching hands, Turning the hip in, Backstep, Dyno, Progression map, VB–V0 (Font 3–4+), Glossary of climbing jargon