How to Use a Hand Jam Technique in Rock Climbing

Video Transcript

"Hi. I'm Stephen with Climb On Adventures and now I'm going to show you a hand jam. It's a technique used inside of a crack or a fissure in the rock. Sometimes you can use it behind flakes or anywhere you can fit your hand in there, you can use a hand jam. Hand jams are a little awkward for people sometimes when they first get used to them because they often times start with sport climbing where there are not cracks involved and they feel holds and are used to holding onto something. Well, a hand jam is just the opposite, as are all jams. You're not climbing what's there, you're climbing what's not there. So what you want to do is slot your hand into the crack and move it around until you find an area that's fairly snug. Once you find that area that's snug, you lock it into place by trying to force your thumb into the palm of your hand down here. Sometimes it will just flex this muscle, which will make your hand a little bit thicker and that will stick. Sometimes you can actually get it all the way down in there which actually changes the width of your hand. That's what you are actually going for is trying to alter the form of your hand into a slightly larger one so that it physically becomes stuck in the crack. So, as you stick it in there, again, you find the proper placement of the hand jam. A lot of times beginners will just quickly slot it in and try to immediately stick it. But find the best spot; find the spot that fits the best and then sink that thumb down in there. And once you do, it feels awkward, but you can just literally hang from that hand jam and it requires very little effort at all because it's a passive thing. You're not holding onto a hold. Your hand is actually stuck in that crack right there. Sometimes, it's a little painful on the back of the hands, but with time, it does get better and you'll soon come to love the hand jam. "