Egyptians (climbing technique)

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Ancient Egyptian paintings (around 1400 BC). The woman in front is in the Egyptian position. The rock face would be behind her.
Anak Verhoeven's drop knee at the 2013 European Championships semi-finals

The Egyptian , also called Lolotte , Igor or Dropknee , is a certain stable body position in sport climbing . It often arises in the main phase (the part of the climbing movement in which one hand reaches further) of the screwing technique. The name Egyptians alludes to the similarity of this position to that of people in ancient Egyptian pictures (see picture). The body position is characterized by the lateral position to the wall and the more or less angled knee (drop knee) of the back leg that was previously turned down under load. The leg angled on the back is always the one close to the rock and on the same side of the body as the hand, for which the position is assumed for the planned further reaching. The foot of the back leg is usually on the outer instep and that of the forward-facing leg on the inner instep.

differentiation

The frequently encountered equation of Egyptians and dropknee should not be very exact when viewed critically, since the term "Egyptian" encompasses the whole body, while "dropknee" only describes the typical knee position. The question of how far the knee has to be bent in order for a normal twisting position to become an Egyptian also remains unanswered. In the Anglo-Saxon region, a distinction is made between backstep and drop knee depending on the type of step used, with the foot of the angled leg in the first case with the outer instep on a horizontal and in the second case on a vertical step. Gresham makes no difference with regard to the inclination to kick and differentiates the Egyptian from other positions of turning in as follows: What is specific to the Egyptian is that by turning the knee downwards, the kick is used to pull the body or its center of gravity to the rock by turning the hip . To achieve this effect, the rotation must be completed under load.

history

Since the Egyptian position is part of the turning technique, it arose with this in connection with the advent of indoor climbing with its often overhanging routes in the late 1980s and 1990s. This can also be seen in the reflection in the specialist literature. While older standard textbooks on sport climbing from the 1980s, such as that by Güllich and Kubin or that by Glowacz and Pohl, do not mention twisting, dropknee and Egyptians, the first approaches to this movement can be found from the beginning of the 1990s. This makes the Egyptian's climbing technique one of the most modern in climbing.

application

The use of the Egyptian is an important option, especially in overhanging terrain and with shoulder strikes. After the climber has planned in advance which hand should go where, he first places both feet with the inner instep or frontally and with knees tending to rotate outwards on the selected steps. The knee of the leg, which lies on the side of the hand that is to continue to reach afterwards, is now rotated from the outside to the inside under load. The body is turned from a frontal to a lateral position by the hip rotation associated with it. The foot rotates from an inside or frontal position to an outside of the instep and in extreme cases can even turn so far that the top of the foot rests on the step ( toehook ). At the same time, the center of gravity is shifted sideways towards the wall and stabilized. At the moment of the greatest relief, the climber reaches further in the main phase of the movement from the perfect Egyptian position. The description of the application can now be found partially or completely in a variety of textbooks and articles.

function

Turning the back leg downwards causes a maximum lateral shift of the center of gravity towards the rock; by using counter pressure in the foot and leg area, the center of gravity can be held there better and the lateral body position means that, as is generally the case when turning in, you can reach up further. When pulling over the shoulder, the back leg generates the specific counter-pressure to the holding hand and thus enables a twisted, energy-saving body position.

Orthopedic aspects

From an orthopedic point of view , the Egyptian represents an increased risk for the knees . The angled back knee is exposed to high lateral loads, which lead to high pressure (with in some cases additional shear loads), especially at a knee angle of over 90 degrees and with additional hanging on the handle ) on the menisci and in particular on the inner miniscus anterior horn, the inner ligaments and the kneecap . This increases the risk of damage to the inner menisci, which are less able to withstand this specific pressure than the outer menisci. That this is most likely causally related to the Egyptian position can also be assumed epidemiologically from the positive correlation between the frequency of such injuries in climbing and the increasing use of the Egyptian and turning since the 1990s. Another injury pattern of the knee in connection with this position is the patellar dislocation , in which, however, it is not clear which role an anatomically conditioned disposition plays in the trauma . In a sample of 604 climbers, knee injuries were among the ten most common locations of climbing-specific diagnoses with a share of 3.6% . These kinds, primarily caused by the Egyptians knee injuries should diagnostically with absolutely magnetic resonance imaging or arthroscopy are investigated because serious else cartilage damage can develop. If a climber already has knee problems, he should avoid the Egyptian to be on the safe side.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Reini Scherer: Basic rules of climbing technology. Technical tips from Reini Scherer (pdf). In: Page 2, Tip 7. Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
  2. ↑ a b c Neil Gresham: Neil Gresham's Guide to Drop-Knee Moves. (No longer available online.) June 14, 2002, archived from the original on May 10, 2011 ; Retrieved June 5, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.planetfear.com
  3. ↑ a b Stefan Winter: Correct sport climbing . BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-405-16074-X , p. 46 .
  4. ↑ Heather Reynolds Sagar: Climbing your best: training for maximize your performance . Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg 2001, ISBN 0-8117-2735-1 , pp. 94 .
  5. ↑ a b Thomas Hochholzer, Volker Schöffl: As far as the hands can reach ... Sport climbing injuries and prophylaxis . 4th edition. Lochner Verlag, Ebenhausen 2007, ISBN 978-3-928026-28-4 , p. 43 .
  6. ↑ a b Jürgen Schmied, Frank Schweinheim: Sport climbing for beginners and advanced . Bruckmann Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7654-3682-8 , p. 95 f .
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Güllich, Andreas Kubin: Sport climbing today . 2nd Edition. Bruckmann Verlag, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-7654-2053-0 .
  8. ↑ Stefan Glowacz, Wolfgang Pohl: Correct free climbing . BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-405-13572-9 .
  9. ↑ a b Heinz Zak, Peter Gschwendtner: Safe free climbing . 2nd Edition. Bergverlag Rudolf Rother , Munich 1990, ISBN 3-7633-6074-3 , p. 74 .
  10. ↑ a b c Thomas Hochholzer, Volker Schöffl: As far as the hands can reach ... Sport climbing injuries and prophylaxis . 4th edition. Lochner Verlag, Ebenhausen 2007, ISBN 978-3-928026-28-4 , p. 44 .
  11. ↑ Volker Schöffl, Thomas Hochholzer: Overview: Injuries and symptoms of overload in sport climbing . In: Volker Schöffl, Thomas Hochholzer (Ed.): Sport climbing current sports medicine aspects . Lochner Verlag, Ebenhausen 2004, ISBN 3-928026-23-2 , p. 8-43 (35 f.) .
  12. ↑ Volker Schöffl, Thomas Hochholzer: Overview: Injuries and symptoms of overload in sport climbing . In: Volker Schöffl, Thomas Hochholzer (Ed.): Sport climbing current sports medicine aspects . Lochner Verlag, Ebenhausen 2004, ISBN 3-928026-23-2 , p. 8-43 (36) .
  13. ↑ Volker Schöffl, Thomas Hochholzer, Hanspeter Winkelmann, Wolf Strecker: Differential diagnosis of finger pain in sport climbers . In: German magazine for sports medicine . tape 54 , no. 2 , 2003, p. 38–43 (39) ( PDF [accessed January 16, 2016]).
  14. ↑ Thomas Hochholzer, Volker Schöffl: As far as the hands can reach ... Sport climbing injuries and prophylaxis . 4th edition. Lochner Verlag, Ebenhausen 2007, ISBN 978-3-928026-28-4 , p. 45 .