Barn-Dooring

Barn-dooring is when all your weight is on a single hand that is above a single foot. The hips swing away from the wall, the climber loses control of his or her body weight, and typically falls.

There are two ways to avoid it, other than simply finding a position that doesn't make you barn-door. A barn door typically occurs when both feet and both hands are on holds, then one hand reaches up or over to a new hold. In the process, weight is shifted to the foot beneath the hand still on the wall, and the other foot swings off, initiating the barn door.

Barn-dooring always occurs along a two-dimensional axis, which means that you will never barn-door if you have three points on (unless they are directly above each other). The best deterrent to the barn-door, then, is to consciously keep weight on both feet, increasing weight if necessary on the foot that keeps swinging off. In most situations, this will prevent you from barn-dooring.

The second method can only be used if the two points in question are somewhat offset, with at least eight horizontal inches different in their placement. This offset can be leveraged by pressing into the wall with the outermost hold--whichever is horizontally furthest from the foot that is coming off and creating the barn-door--and using the torso as a pivot point. Pressing into the wall should twist the other foot into the wall, avoiding the barn door. Be warned, however: if you push against the wall with your right foot, then your right hand will be pulled away from the wall, so make sure you have a good grip.

If you cannot avoid the barn-door even with the above methods, remember that the further your center of gravity is away from the axis, the worse the barn-door will be. Minimize the effect by moving the hips closer to the axis and keeping three points on as long as possible.

Good luck!

Dan
dipique at gmail dot com