Footwork is one of the quickest ways to make climbing feel easier, and one of the easiest to skip, because it never feels like the thing that is making you better. Most of us do not leave the gym pleased about how precisely we placed our feet.

But a move that feels desperate is often much easier with a better foot placement. Bad placements make good holds feel worse than they are, and the compensation usually looks the same: you grip harder, you pull more with your arms, and you run out of forearm on a problem your legs should have carried.

Why do my feet keep slipping?

If your feet keep slipping, it might not be a footwork issue. If you can stand on a hold while you are still but it pops the moment you reach, look at your hips rather than the hold. Friction depends on how hard your shoe is pressed into the wall, and that pressure comes from where your hips are. When your hips move away, you reduce the pressure keeping your shoe on.

The other common cause is angle. Many climbers default to the same heel position on every foothold, usually heels up from gym edges, and the setting that works on an edge may not work on a smear or a sloper.

Start here

• Why Your Foot Keeps Popping Off FootholdsStart here
  The physics behind foot pops, the test that tells you whether it is your hips, and the four fixes.
• Heel Height: Angling Your Foot for Edges, Slopers and Smears
  Three heel settings, which holds each one is for, and why the tiptoe habit costs you on slab.

How do I place my feet better in the first place?

Precision is highly trainable, and you may notice a difference surprisingly quickly. Newer climbers often reposition their feet after making contact, hunting for the spot by feel. More experienced climbers tend to land where they aimed. A big part of that difference is learning to watch the foothold until your foot lands on it.

Noise is a useful signal. A quiet landing usually means the foot was placed deliberately. Scraping often means you lost sight of the target and adjusted once you got there.

Start here

• 17 Footwork Drills for ClimbingStart here
  The full drill set, from quiet feet to foothold stare, with what each one is actually training.
• How to Use Your Toes in Climbing
  Which part of the shoe to stand on, and why most climbers use the wrong part of it.

What about when there is nothing to stand on?

Slab and blank terrain are where footwork stops being a nice-to-have. There is no edge to bite, so everything comes down to friction, contact area, and whether you are willing to put your weight on rubber that looks like it should not hold.

Because slab can feel uncomfortable and insecure, it is easy to avoid instead of practise, and it stays unfamiliar ground for years.

Start here

• Smearing: How Climbers Use Friction on the WallStart here
  Standing on nothing, and why committing your weight is most of the technique.
• 23 Tips for Climbing Slabs
  How foot placement, balance and commitment come together on slab, covered end to end.

Where to go next

Footwork does not sit on its own. Feet you trust let you commit sooner, so you hesitate less on the wall. Feet that hold let you grip less, so your forearms last longer. Sometimes early pump or hesitation actually starts with feet you do not trust.

Start here

• 20 Climbing Drills, Grouped by What They Fix
  Ten minute drills with video, sorted by the movement problem each one targets.
• Grip Efficiency for Climbers
  Why better feet mean less gripping, and what to do about forearms that pump early.
• The Climbing Training Hub
  How often to climb, how to tell whether it is working, and when to add something harder.