A tape is truly a fidus Achates to a climber. When you think of climbing and the secrets of becoming a successful climber, you will see that the one thing most climbers mention is the role of tape.
The condition of your fingers can make or break your climbing. After all, the skin of your palms is the main point of contact with the surface.
You cannot evade skin injuries, and flappers are the most annoying ones. In such a scenario, you must know how to tape fingers for climbing blisters. Taping can be the most effective way of dealing with sensitive and painful fingers.
Preparation for Taping and Application
In the first place, you should wash and clean the palm and fingers with soap and water. If the area is covered with hair, it’s a good idea to shave.
The tape will have better power to stick to the skin surface and cause less soreness while removing. You may also apply padding or adhesive if necessary.
You should place the tape in a way that your hand and fingers are relaxed. You should steer clear of continuously taping with zinc as it can break off easily.
The tape mustn’t be very tight and you must allow it to fill up the natural contours. Otherwise, the tape will constraint circulation and may further break the skin.
Last update on 2024-11-07 // Source: Amazon Affiliates
Steps of Taping the Fingers and Hand for Climbing
Besides climbers, every CrossFit trainer must have experienced a torn flapper or calluses. If you are interested, read how to treat hand calluses. But you can completely avoid it if you can take the right precautions. Taping hands for climbing is definitely an effective option.
But many people are not aware of the correct ways of doing it, and they end up cutting a length of tape and wrap it around the hand or fingers many times. But this is the least effective, and you can only manage to waste an amount of tape.
In most cases, tears or flapping occur at the base of the middle finger or ring finger. So you should never attempt to protect your palm. Let’s take a look at the important steps of taping your palm and finger.
Step 1: Covering the base
The first step is to take around 5 inches of any standard tape and fold it along the length.
You should wrap it around the base of the affected fingers and overlap the excess amount. Make sure that the hotspots are properly covered up.
Step 2: Covering the wrapped area
Next, take another length of the same tape of around 10 inches and tape it to the wrapped part of any end.
Then fold it along the width in such a way that the other end of the tape can also cover up the wrapped part.
Step 3: Wrapping around the wrist
After the second step, you have secured a grip for the hands. When you do it correctly, you will have some extra tape left that comes down to the wrist joint.
You can cut a few inches of tape and wrap it around the wrist to properly secure the excess tape.
Step 4: Layering it up
Rather than having one or two layers of tape for covering up the callus, you can layer it up to 6 times when you follow the technique properly.
You won’t have to wait for a tear for using this method further.
Areas that Need to be Covered by the Tape
Tapes play a crucial role in protecting the dressing and holding the shields in an accurate position.
It is also useful in compressing any injury like swelling or bleeding and also supports muscle or joint injuries if you have suffered from it recently.
If you are taking a break from the sport, taping the affected area or wounds can help your early routine to the sport. Some of the most significant parts of your hand that needs to be taped are:
1) Fingers
Taping fingers for climbing should be your primary line of precaution for training and climbing. Your fingers may feel unstable or weak from finger injuries.
In the case of staving a finger joint, you may bind it to the adjacent finger. This will provide additional support.
Tapes tend to give additional support to your finger tendons as well. Using a piece of zinc tape and wrapping around the finger joints can aid in slinging the area.
2) Thumb
Have you heard of skiers thumb? It’s very common with climbers when their thumb gets wrenched in the opposing direction.
Being armed with a supportive wrap can reduce the chances of discomfort and allows proper functioning of the thumb. You can take some length of the tape, wind it around the thumb under the joint, and cross it back for rejoining to the starting point.
3) Wrist
This is another critical part of your hand that needs to be properly protected. You can use zinc oxide tape but make sure that the normal circulation is not compromised. While training or climbing, a feeling of constant pain or weakness is very common.
You can easily combat it by applying the tape. If you feel pain while moving your wrist joint in a particular direction, you can curb it down with the help of tape.
When you wonder how to tape fingers for climbing blisters, make sure you never cover up any infected wounds or patches of skin that have allergies to adhesive.
It’s better to refrain from covering the areas you know will do more harm and places with no sensation.
Final Thoughts on How to Tape Fingers for Climbing
It only takes a sharp slip and is done! Your skin tears open, and the sensitive layer of your palm is now exposed. You choose to ignore it and move ahead.
And now you experience an irritating burning sensation. When the tear is very deep, the area may even start to bleed. Is that a time to stop? Not really.
With the right way of taping fingers for climbing, you can still be successful in completing the project. Even though it’s annoying, you can beat it when you are best prepared. Further, go ahead and read our rock climbing hands care guide.