Climbing Notes
Resting positions

Drop knee, stem, knee-bar, heel hook, toe hook

Your legs are much stronger than your fingers. These five positions use them to hold you on the wall, so your hands can grip less, or sometimes let go completely.

3 min read 5 sections

In plain words

Most rests aren't about finding a big hold. They're about getting your legs to do the work. Turning a knee in pushes you into the wall. Bridging between two surfaces wedges you in place. Jamming a knee under a feature can free both hands. Hooking a heel or the top of your toes pulls you onto the wall from below. Every bit of weight your legs take is grip your forearms don't spend.

Memory hook

Legs hold, hands rest.

Five leg rests

Drop knee
Drop kneeOne knee turned down and in; feet push apart
Stem
StemFeet bridge two walls; arms can drop
Knee-bar
Knee-barKnee jammed under a feature, foot on a hold: hands free
Heel hook
Heel hookHeel on a hold at hip height, pulling down
Toe hook
Toe hookTop of the toes pull up on a roof or edge
Simplified line drawings. Arrows show which way the foot or knee pulls or pushes.
Drop knee

One knee turns down and inward while both feet push outward. It pulls the hips into the wall and takes weight off the hands. Common on steep walls with footholds wide apart.

Stem

Feet push against two opposing surfaces, like a corner or a groove. On a good stem the arms can drop almost completely.

Knee-bar

Knee or thigh jammed under a feature with the foot on a hold below. On good ones both hands can let go. Knee pads help.

Heel hook

Heel on a hold around hip height, pulling down and in. It works like a third hand.

Toe hook

Top of the toes pulling up against an edge or roof. It stops the body swinging off and holds you in on steep ground.

Choosing one

Which leg rest fits here? (coaching practice)
  1. Two walls or a groove nearby?Corner

    Try a stem first.

  2. A feature above a foothold, one thigh-length apart?Feature

    Look for a knee-bar.

  3. Steep wall, footholds wide apart?Steep

    Drop knee.

  4. Good hold at hip height to the side?Hold

    Heel hook.

  5. Roof or edge above your foot level?Roof

    Toe hook to stop the swing.

The evidence

  • Coaching practice All five positions are standard climbing technique. We found no study in the research pack that measured how much load each one takes off the hands.
  • Measured Less grip means more blood flow to the forearm: flow is cut off at roughly 45–75 % of maximum grip (Barnes 1980, cited by MacLeod et al. 2007; adults).
  • Model On the forearm model, moving the rest from Poor to Good is roughly what a good leg rest can do to the grip a hold needs.

Try it

Scenario

The rest hold is worse than it looked. Change your body position first.

Drill

Flag and twist ladder.

Next read

Shaking: arm position and rhythm.

Common mistakes

Looking only for handholds when you need a rest

scan for leg rests too.

Half-committing to a knee-bar

a shallow knee-bar slips. Set it firmly, then let the hands relax.

Twisting the knee hard in a drop knee

turn from the hip, and don't force the knee.

Forgetting to shake once the legs are holding

use the leg rest to shake each arm in turn.