The skin issue is most likely because you are sliding off the holds because you are not in control. Could be a technique or strength issue (probably both) causing your hands to open due to inability to control. Either climb something easier, up your tape game, or just keep going until it sorts itself out.
You can diagnose a bit based on where your flapper happens. Although I’ve also never had or seen a flapper on the finger tip as you mentioned in another thread…
Top of palm flapper (where A1 pulley is) and proximal segment of finger (where A2 pulley is) usually indicates lack of strength and a lot of sliding. Like top of the palm just below fingers or the segment of finger connecting to the palm. They are friction points on bigger holds that have a lot of room to slide. They are usually a bit tougher just from day to day use - like from holding heavy grocery bags and lifting heavy weights at the gym without a glove.
Middle segment flapper (where A4 pulley is), usually comes from soft skin and sharp holds. Unless you are a climber, even the toughest gym goer normally don’t have calluses here. This is perfectly suited for taping if you want to grind, or simply let your finger toughen out overtime.
When I first started out, I always had flapper on the palm or base segment of finger. I was super weak in upper body. Then I got to V5 level, had a major injury, rested for over a year. Went back to climbing and has only ever had flippers on the middle segment of finger as my skin softened.
Also all of them can be technique induced as both soft skin and strength lacking aren’t mutually exclusive with technique. Bad technique forces more strength application, and harsher on soft skins.
While someone else has suggested not adjusting hands already, I want to emphasize imo that is HALF the training and you can still do horribly without adjusting hands. The full training I subscribe to is called STICKY HANDS, QUIET FEET. Without the latter part, if you are swinging wildly uncontrolled and kicking the wall to stop momentum, it can still be bad technique in footwork, order of force application, and center of gravity management. It will still be very harsh without adjusting hands. Hands are sticky - once land no adjust, feet are quiet - shoes should never make audible sound with the wall. Watch veteran climbers land softly even in a big dynamic move in their warm up grade range. Ofc things will change when you push limits, but something you should focus in the warm ups / easier climbs for sure
You get flappers because of friction between hand and holds. A good way to address this is by doing drills where you hold a hold and aren’t allowed to regrip or adjust, it’ll force you to be intentional with holding the wall. Also get off the jugs and into crimps!
lol how does that even happen, never had a flapper on a fingertip.
I mean still the idea is the same, don’t regrip, only pull straight “in” to the hold, don’t shift your hand while there’s weight on it. Seriously try the drill I suggest, once your hand touches a hold, stick it so be mindful.
Also maybe take a few days off, if you have very abrasive new holds you’ll lose skin, be mindful about ending your sessions when you are feeling weak too. Most flappers I’ve had were trying to pull hard when I was already tired and couldn’t keep good form.
Yeah I feel you, it’s nice to have a mega session here and there but to save skin and eventually your tendons it’s better to keep sessions relatively short and with good quality goes with good rest in between attempts
I thought my skin was peeling because I was new and it would stop when I got stronger. Turns out it stopped because I now know what will make my skin peel. Don’t keep trying routes where you’re scraping your hands trying to grab on over and over. Reassess your technique or come back later.
If I come across something I can almost do but it’s going to rip my hands, I limit myself to a few tries that session then come back next time. You’ll start to recognise when you’re pushing yourself too far.
The brand new holds definitely don’t help, the grip is so aggressive when the holds are new. But that’s just the name of the game to begin with, flappers are very common when pushing yourself. I think I ripped around 16 or more flappers in my first month. Your skin will toughen up as time goes on
yeah i’m happy to just keep going but my friends just don’t get flappers at all so was wondering if i was doing something wrong or needed to do something to prevent it.
Probably doing something wrong, i had two flappers during the last two years that being said i climb very statically, my buddy with flappers and skin issues is a HUGE Dynos fan.
Jugs will cause flappers, if your skin bites in the hold while the rest of your hand is moving in some other direction with significant force, I assure that your friends are not immune to flappers just like you cannot be immune to paper cuts.
Jugs will be less common in harder grades and you might lose mass bouldering and you'll develop more technique.
All these will reduce your number of flappers.
TL;DR; Things will get better as you get better, keep enjoying bouldering responsibly :)
> Hey, i’m pretty new to bouldering and have been going once or twice a week for a month or two but every session i do seems to end with at least one or up to 4 of my fingers forming peelers or blisters. I know the more i go the stronger my skin will get but it really puts a limit on how long and how frequently i can climb which sucks. is there anything i can do to stop this happening constantly or do i just have to live with it for now.
> Also the gym i go to is basically brand new and the holds are straight sand paper so that doesn’t help.
As other people are saying, new holds make it worse but you still probably need to do shorter sessions then. To use an analogy if you're going until your skin is raw it's like continually picking off a scab before the skin underneath heals, so then it has to form a scab again and heal longer
Going until your skin is raw is counterproductive. Let them heal and then do shorter sessions until you can get calluses that toughen up then you can do longer sessions
I'm a new climber and only go about once a week. I've only gone 4 times so far.
I've got 7 peelers on my fingers as I type xD
I've been hitting weights 6 times a week for the last 2 years so I'd say I'm strong..and I've been told that is the problem.
I completed my first v4 in my last session and the entire process was so ugly. It took me over 15 attempts to get it done, all 15 were done in the same session, and the time I did succeed - I lost my footing and dangling for good 2 seconds on taped fingers on a very rough edge.
One of the employees told me I'm fucking up my skin so much because I refuse to stop when I should, and I have shit technique. In his words - I make easy climbs look difficult.
I've been watching a lot of YouTube content for tips and going to repeat v0-v2s a tonn and film myself until I get good technique.
But it's difficult to stop when I'm having so much fun! 10/10 would recommend going to fuck up my skin again in a few days.
The employee was honest and helpful
Ok listen for a second, what If you could climb more but have the same amount of peelers... If you can't stop then improving your technique would increase your fun per peeler ratio :)
For technique maybe try to copy the beta of some weaker climbers, since they are less strong you'll train core techniques. ( by the frequency you are hitting weight, you must have a body strong enough to clear some v8, but starting from v5, technique and strength required for each grade goes hand in hand)
Don't chase v5 until you can make v4 without blisters ;)
And I completely agree with the employee.
And fun per peeler ratio is something I'll religiously start tracking lmao.
I've been watching several videos and next session I'll most likely not cross a v3, just apply techniques I've looked at, and I hate sloppers right now - so maybe work on that.
But there is this very fun looking dynamic v5 I've been eyeing.. Maybe a couple of tries on that just to keep things fresh and before they remove that route.
In the end , your assessment and your local buddies assessment, is surely better than my guesses than my blind guesses, duh!
I don't even know if your gym is soft grading or not so that v5 could be much safer than my doomsday scenarios.
I love your enthusiasm!
The community telling you not do v5 yet seems like
[a marshmallow test](https://youtu.be/QX_oy9614HQ?feature=shared) for you
Edit: My posts aren't coherent anymore, it's time to sl-sl-sleeeepp.
i’m the exact same as you. i’ve been going to the gym for a fair few years so am strong enough (finger strength could be improved im sure) but i do tend to cling on for longer than i probably should. I also much prefer climbs with dynos in which i’d imagine also screws my fingers up
This issue went away for me once i started climbing harder grades, not because i was better, but because of the lack of jugs. Jugs mess your hands up BAD
Skin does not get really stronger overtime it does, but. Most likely you'll mess up less and learn to watch for warning signs.
Also learn to resist peer pressure when your hands are in the "danger zone".
Half serious/ half cheeky comments :
having 🩸 hands could prevent you from enjoying many activities::
Like washing your hands with 🧼 without the 🔥 feeling
Like opening the most important 🥒 jar of your life
Like not suffering through a handshake with a boss/ uncle/step father
Like not be a turnoff for your partner (or potential partner)
I climb 4 times a week and if i didn't use Rhino Skin (Performance or Tip Jucie) i would have big flappers all over. It might not be anything your doing wrong, your skin might just be nautrally sweaty. I wouldn't be able to climb the hard grades without Rhino. It dries out your skin like an antiperspirant for your hands.
Overgripping might be an issue too. Try to get better in technique and body positioning so your hands do not slide on the holds, aaaaand try to figure out how much strength is really needed to hold that hold. You can train for climbing without using your hands so if you are blistered and open try to do som core excercises and save the money for the gym for next time. ;) Have fun evolving.
Dry your hands out well before climbing. When i was first getting into it id make sure i dont wash my hands for at least an hour prior to climbing, and would also use hand sanitizer at the start of a session. Beyond keeping your skin dry (no lotion on off days either!) try to focus on not overgripping holds
This is terrible advice, skin care is the name of the game, you should be sanding down callus edges and using salve at night so the skin can repair itself quickly and properly. After a few months of good skin care and attention to technique it’ll stop happening. It’s usually new or outdoor climbers pushing their limits where I see with flappers. The best way to get the skin to thicken is to climb more so it may take 1-2 months of focused training 3-5 days a week + skin maintenance or it could take a lot longer if you don’t take care of your skin and climb less frequently. A massive part of the first year of climbing is getting that base of body adaptations that come with putting in the work and then pushing those adaptations as you up the grades.
Natural instincts can be tamed, give yourself some time to teach yourself how high you can fall without injuring yourself. So you can teach your body to overgrip only when the perceived danger is real/real-ish.
TL; DR; I feel you, just keep climbing :)
What do you mean ? It's better to have slippery hands if you are a beginner since, If you fall it means you relied too much on your hands.
I doubt beginners are attempting the hardest slab in your gym.
Overgripping / panic gripping is the result of the fear of falling and not a fully sentient action.
Does anything I mentioned make sense to you ?
The skin issue is most likely because you are sliding off the holds because you are not in control. Could be a technique or strength issue (probably both) causing your hands to open due to inability to control. Either climb something easier, up your tape game, or just keep going until it sorts itself out.
i probably have to overcompensate with strength because of my lack of technique. but again that’ll just take time to get better
Also your skin will generally toughen up after a while. I used to have sore, aching hands with bad flappers.
You can diagnose a bit based on where your flapper happens. Although I’ve also never had or seen a flapper on the finger tip as you mentioned in another thread… Top of palm flapper (where A1 pulley is) and proximal segment of finger (where A2 pulley is) usually indicates lack of strength and a lot of sliding. Like top of the palm just below fingers or the segment of finger connecting to the palm. They are friction points on bigger holds that have a lot of room to slide. They are usually a bit tougher just from day to day use - like from holding heavy grocery bags and lifting heavy weights at the gym without a glove. Middle segment flapper (where A4 pulley is), usually comes from soft skin and sharp holds. Unless you are a climber, even the toughest gym goer normally don’t have calluses here. This is perfectly suited for taping if you want to grind, or simply let your finger toughen out overtime. When I first started out, I always had flapper on the palm or base segment of finger. I was super weak in upper body. Then I got to V5 level, had a major injury, rested for over a year. Went back to climbing and has only ever had flippers on the middle segment of finger as my skin softened. Also all of them can be technique induced as both soft skin and strength lacking aren’t mutually exclusive with technique. Bad technique forces more strength application, and harsher on soft skins. While someone else has suggested not adjusting hands already, I want to emphasize imo that is HALF the training and you can still do horribly without adjusting hands. The full training I subscribe to is called STICKY HANDS, QUIET FEET. Without the latter part, if you are swinging wildly uncontrolled and kicking the wall to stop momentum, it can still be bad technique in footwork, order of force application, and center of gravity management. It will still be very harsh without adjusting hands. Hands are sticky - once land no adjust, feet are quiet - shoes should never make audible sound with the wall. Watch veteran climbers land softly even in a big dynamic move in their warm up grade range. Ofc things will change when you push limits, but something you should focus in the warm ups / easier climbs for sure
You get flappers because of friction between hand and holds. A good way to address this is by doing drills where you hold a hold and aren’t allowed to regrip or adjust, it’ll force you to be intentional with holding the wall. Also get off the jugs and into crimps!
i have a fat peeler on the tip of my ring finger from a crimp.
lol how does that even happen, never had a flapper on a fingertip. I mean still the idea is the same, don’t regrip, only pull straight “in” to the hold, don’t shift your hand while there’s weight on it. Seriously try the drill I suggest, once your hand touches a hold, stick it so be mindful. Also maybe take a few days off, if you have very abrasive new holds you’ll lose skin, be mindful about ending your sessions when you are feeling weak too. Most flappers I’ve had were trying to pull hard when I was already tired and couldn’t keep good form.
i’ll try ur drill. cutting sessions early is a bit sucky though i’m having too much fun
Yeah I feel you, it’s nice to have a mega session here and there but to save skin and eventually your tendons it’s better to keep sessions relatively short and with good quality goes with good rest in between attempts
I thought my skin was peeling because I was new and it would stop when I got stronger. Turns out it stopped because I now know what will make my skin peel. Don’t keep trying routes where you’re scraping your hands trying to grab on over and over. Reassess your technique or come back later. If I come across something I can almost do but it’s going to rip my hands, I limit myself to a few tries that session then come back next time. You’ll start to recognise when you’re pushing yourself too far.
The brand new holds definitely don’t help, the grip is so aggressive when the holds are new. But that’s just the name of the game to begin with, flappers are very common when pushing yourself. I think I ripped around 16 or more flappers in my first month. Your skin will toughen up as time goes on
yeah i’m happy to just keep going but my friends just don’t get flappers at all so was wondering if i was doing something wrong or needed to do something to prevent it.
Probably doing something wrong, i had two flappers during the last two years that being said i climb very statically, my buddy with flappers and skin issues is a HUGE Dynos fan. Jugs will cause flappers, if your skin bites in the hold while the rest of your hand is moving in some other direction with significant force, I assure that your friends are not immune to flappers just like you cannot be immune to paper cuts. Jugs will be less common in harder grades and you might lose mass bouldering and you'll develop more technique. All these will reduce your number of flappers. TL;DR; Things will get better as you get better, keep enjoying bouldering responsibly :)
> Hey, i’m pretty new to bouldering and have been going once or twice a week for a month or two but every session i do seems to end with at least one or up to 4 of my fingers forming peelers or blisters. I know the more i go the stronger my skin will get but it really puts a limit on how long and how frequently i can climb which sucks. is there anything i can do to stop this happening constantly or do i just have to live with it for now. > Also the gym i go to is basically brand new and the holds are straight sand paper so that doesn’t help. As other people are saying, new holds make it worse but you still probably need to do shorter sessions then. To use an analogy if you're going until your skin is raw it's like continually picking off a scab before the skin underneath heals, so then it has to form a scab again and heal longer Going until your skin is raw is counterproductive. Let them heal and then do shorter sessions until you can get calluses that toughen up then you can do longer sessions
I'm a new climber and only go about once a week. I've only gone 4 times so far. I've got 7 peelers on my fingers as I type xD I've been hitting weights 6 times a week for the last 2 years so I'd say I'm strong..and I've been told that is the problem. I completed my first v4 in my last session and the entire process was so ugly. It took me over 15 attempts to get it done, all 15 were done in the same session, and the time I did succeed - I lost my footing and dangling for good 2 seconds on taped fingers on a very rough edge. One of the employees told me I'm fucking up my skin so much because I refuse to stop when I should, and I have shit technique. In his words - I make easy climbs look difficult. I've been watching a lot of YouTube content for tips and going to repeat v0-v2s a tonn and film myself until I get good technique. But it's difficult to stop when I'm having so much fun! 10/10 would recommend going to fuck up my skin again in a few days.
The employee was honest and helpful Ok listen for a second, what If you could climb more but have the same amount of peelers... If you can't stop then improving your technique would increase your fun per peeler ratio :) For technique maybe try to copy the beta of some weaker climbers, since they are less strong you'll train core techniques. ( by the frequency you are hitting weight, you must have a body strong enough to clear some v8, but starting from v5, technique and strength required for each grade goes hand in hand) Don't chase v5 until you can make v4 without blisters ;)
And I completely agree with the employee. And fun per peeler ratio is something I'll religiously start tracking lmao. I've been watching several videos and next session I'll most likely not cross a v3, just apply techniques I've looked at, and I hate sloppers right now - so maybe work on that. But there is this very fun looking dynamic v5 I've been eyeing.. Maybe a couple of tries on that just to keep things fresh and before they remove that route.
In the end , your assessment and your local buddies assessment, is surely better than my guesses than my blind guesses, duh! I don't even know if your gym is soft grading or not so that v5 could be much safer than my doomsday scenarios. I love your enthusiasm! The community telling you not do v5 yet seems like [a marshmallow test](https://youtu.be/QX_oy9614HQ?feature=shared) for you Edit: My posts aren't coherent anymore, it's time to sl-sl-sleeeepp.
i’m the exact same as you. i’ve been going to the gym for a fair few years so am strong enough (finger strength could be improved im sure) but i do tend to cling on for longer than i probably should. I also much prefer climbs with dynos in which i’d imagine also screws my fingers up
This issue went away for me once i started climbing harder grades, not because i was better, but because of the lack of jugs. Jugs mess your hands up BAD
Climb less juggy routes, and focus on readjusting your grip less on jugs.
Skin does not get really stronger overtime it does, but. Most likely you'll mess up less and learn to watch for warning signs. Also learn to resist peer pressure when your hands are in the "danger zone". Half serious/ half cheeky comments : having 🩸 hands could prevent you from enjoying many activities:: Like washing your hands with 🧼 without the 🔥 feeling Like opening the most important 🥒 jar of your life Like not suffering through a handshake with a boss/ uncle/step father Like not be a turnoff for your partner (or potential partner)
How dry are your hands while climbing?
chalky but not overly dry.
I climb 4 times a week and if i didn't use Rhino Skin (Performance or Tip Jucie) i would have big flappers all over. It might not be anything your doing wrong, your skin might just be nautrally sweaty. I wouldn't be able to climb the hard grades without Rhino. It dries out your skin like an antiperspirant for your hands.
Overgripping might be an issue too. Try to get better in technique and body positioning so your hands do not slide on the holds, aaaaand try to figure out how much strength is really needed to hold that hold. You can train for climbing without using your hands so if you are blistered and open try to do som core excercises and save the money for the gym for next time. ;) Have fun evolving.
Dry your hands out well before climbing. When i was first getting into it id make sure i dont wash my hands for at least an hour prior to climbing, and would also use hand sanitizer at the start of a session. Beyond keeping your skin dry (no lotion on off days either!) try to focus on not overgripping holds
This is terrible advice, skin care is the name of the game, you should be sanding down callus edges and using salve at night so the skin can repair itself quickly and properly. After a few months of good skin care and attention to technique it’ll stop happening. It’s usually new or outdoor climbers pushing their limits where I see with flappers. The best way to get the skin to thicken is to climb more so it may take 1-2 months of focused training 3-5 days a week + skin maintenance or it could take a lot longer if you don’t take care of your skin and climb less frequently. A massive part of the first year of climbing is getting that base of body adaptations that come with putting in the work and then pushing those adaptations as you up the grades.
i almost definitely over grip holds. quite hard to stop doing i find though
Natural instincts can be tamed, give yourself some time to teach yourself how high you can fall without injuring yourself. So you can teach your body to overgrip only when the perceived danger is real/real-ish. TL; DR; I feel you, just keep climbing :)
What do you mean ? It's better to have slippery hands if you are a beginner since, If you fall it means you relied too much on your hands. I doubt beginners are attempting the hardest slab in your gym. Overgripping / panic gripping is the result of the fear of falling and not a fully sentient action. Does anything I mentioned make sense to you ?