RACE: TECHNIQUE
Photos: Louise Dean
For rope traverses where you need to stay under the rope, it’s all about keeping the
arms straight and using your glutes and quads to provide all the power.
Although it is very tempting to pull with your arms and drag your feet, you will find
yourself running out of beans very quickly like this.
As you can see in this
first picture, my arms are
straight and I’m hooking
my heel over the rope (by
pointing your toe). The
more you engage your heel,
the less the rope will slip
(which causes rope burns).
When you are fully extended, reach
through with your other hand and the
trailing leg. I find it works best to match
the same hand to the same foot (i.e.
right hand and right foot). Keep your
feet as close to the rope as you can
when bringing them through as any wide
movements will pull your body across
making it harder to hold on. Start with
moving your hands and feet 1, 2, 3, 4
but as you get more confident, move a
hand and a foot at the same time. With
a little practice, you can really motor
using this technique meaning long
traverses are much easier.
The further you can reach back and
the more you can pull your first foot to
your hand, the further you are going to
travel but you need to strike a balance
between over reaching (which is
strenuous) and under reaching which
leads to lots of little movements and
prolonged time hanging on the rope.
1
2
3
4
Now drive with your glutes
and quads and you’ll propel
your body along. It’s worth
trying going forwards and
backwards a few times
before changing hands
and feet so you can feel
how much power you can
generate – this will build
confidence in the technique
and make you more relaxed.
The Beard at Dirty Dozen Races tutorial
The rope traverse
For more tutorials from The Beard at Dirty Dozen Races,
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