#1 mistake EVERYONE makes when jamming (+ the easy fix)

Hey Cracksters,

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I’ve been teaching some more crack climbing recently at a number of different events, and I got asked a lot not about what to do, but what not to do. And it got me thinking: what is the most common mistake I see when teaching crack climbing?

It’s a mistake you’ve probably made and you probably don’t even know you’re doing it. EVERYONE does it! But it’s such an easy fix.

The most common mistake (and the fix)

For every jam, you have a starting position (outside the crack) and a finished position (locked inside the crack). These two positions are completely different from one another:

• The Starting Position: Your hand/foot enters the crack in its thinnest, narrowest orientation.
• The Finished Position: Your hand/foot expands inside the crack into a thicker, wider orientation to lock into place.

Where a lot of people tend to go wrong is that they learn what the finished position should feel like inside the crack, but then they start replicating that wider hand shape outside the crack before the hand is even inside!

Let’s take a basic thumb-up hand jam as an example. We know we want to start with an L-shaped hand outside the crack, with the pinkie side of our hand (and tips of our fingers) oriented towards the crack entrance—giving us the thinnest profile possible.

However, as that hand moves towards the crack, so many people instinctively start making the hand-jamming shape too early. You are effectively making your hand bigger again before you’ve even put it inside!

I would actually say this mistake is more common with people who have a basic to good understanding of jamming rather than total beginners. Why? Because intermediate climbers feel confident with the end product once it’s in the crack. But by expanding too early, they fail to reach the correct depth—quite often leaving part of the hand sticking out when it doesn't need to be.

When jams start to get thin (paddle jams and thin hands), this mistake is magnified and the flaw in technique really starts to show. I often say with jamming that a few millimetres difference in hand depth on a thin hand crack can make a whole grade difference. And I’m not exaggerating—small differences make a HUGE difference.

So, how do we fix it?

It's actually very simple:

1.Remember the distinction: You have a starting position and a finished position, and they must stay separate.

2. Hold off on expanding: Keep your hand/foot in its thinnest dimension until you are 110% confident it is fully inside the crack at its desired depth.

3.Engage only at full depth: Only execute the finished/expanded position once you’ve reached maximum depth.

So simple, eh? But these things are easy if you just execute them intentionally. Spend the extra time to wiggle those thin hands a little deeper. Really make sure all the thumb pulp is past the crack edges on your hand jams, and you'll be amazed at how much more bomber they feel.

Remember, if you want to learn more and get direct feedback from me, join us inside Global Crack School when we reopen on 13th September. Join the waitlist here.

Happy jamming,

Pete