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Lead belay technique 16-Oct-2018 At 4:36:56 PM ajfclark

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On 16-Oct-2018 Hermes wrote:
>ajfclark, yes when I say through I mean between the rope and the body, thumb down. Or at least thumb pointing towards the body instead of away.

It's much harder to lock off one handed when reaching through with your thumb pointing towards the floor than if you move the top hand directly down to the rope without twisting. Reaching through also tends to end up with the little finger very close to the device or with the hand on the top of the device, both of which would be suboptimal if a fall happened then. The size of the gap you're reaching through also changes size depending on where you stand.

When I'm guiding top rope groups, I'm very particular about how they do this. I think I need to see a picture of what you're doing though. Usually I see the motion I'm thinking of when the belay device is sitting horizontally (e.g. on a hire harness) rather than vertically like it should be.

This video from Richard Delaney is more the motion I use when taking in quickly on TR: http://www.facebook.com/RichardDelaneyRopeLab/videos/2071014183218541/

When lead belaying it's the same except I swap hands so my right ends up on the brake, standard 5 step stuff: