The Tomoa Skip has shaved over a second off world records since 2018. How the move works, what it actually buys you, and why you shouldn't learn it right away.
The honest answer first: a single movement idea shaved more than a second off speed climbing world records within just a few years – the Tomoa Skip. In 2018, Japanese bouldering specialist Tomoa Narasaki brought a move from bouldering to the speed wall that reinvented the start completely.
The idea: instead of shifting sideways from hold 1 to hold 2, the Tomoa Skip uses a step-up dyno to jump directly from hold 1 to hold 3 – hold 2 is skipped entirely. Sounds like a small shortcut, but analysis puts the gain at around 14.5% less time. To make it graspable: with a best time of 7.0 seconds without the technique, you'd land at about 5.98 seconds with it – almost a full second, just from no longer touching a single hold.
The effect on world records is measurable: the men's record fell six times between 2012 and 2017, but nine times between 2018 and 2023 – since the Tomoa Skip spread. Women's records show the same pattern: 7 before 2018 versus 12 after. By 2022 the technique had become so dominant that almost no pro started without it.
What makes the technique fast shows in the biomechanics: leg angle correlates more strongly with start performance than arm angle, and shorter ground contact times link directly to better times – get your feet off the wall faster and you lose less energy to the ground. Experienced athletes also align hand and foot force directions more tightly, which raises total force and acceleration.
Train Smart. Play Hard. – here that means: bolt down the base technique from the last guide first, only then work on the innovation.
Before 2018, almost every athlete moved sideways from hold 1 to hold 2, then continued upward – a detour that costs time but feels safer. This version is worth mastering before you even think about shortcuts.
Instead of the sideways detour, you jump via a step-up dyno directly from hold 1 to hold 3. The trick: one foot steps onto the same hold as the hands, the other briefly finds friction on the wall, then the dynamic jump upward follows.
The roughly 14.5% time saving applies to the start, not the whole route – but over 15 meters that's still the difference between the podium and the middle of the pack. Don't expect this jump immediately, though: pros needed years before the move sat as solidly as the old start.
Because leg angle correlates more strongly with performance than arm work, isolated training of foot position and release pays off. Practice keeping the foot on the wall as briefly as possible – every millisecond less contact means more energy going up instead of into the ground.
The Tomoa Skip is a jumping technique with high load on the knee and ankle on landing. Practice it first low over a mat, with no time pressure, and only with a coach correcting your landing technique.
The dynamic jumping motion of the Tomoa Skip loads the knee and ankle noticeably more than the classic start. Practice new beta variants slowly and controlled with a soft landing first, before pace comes into play. An uncontrolled dyno with a bad foot landing is one of the most common causes of acute injuries in speed climbing – better one extra calm session than a week out with a strain.
Place your own slow-motion video of the start right next to a World Cup video of the same section. You'll see in seconds whether your foot stays on the wall too long or your hip follows too late – details that hide completely at normal speed.
A start variant where you jump via a step-up dyno directly from hold 1 to hold 3, skipping hold 2 entirely. Introduced by Tomoa Narasaki in 2018, it is today the standard beta for almost every pro.
Around 14.5% in the start segment – a 7.0-second baseline drops to roughly 5.98 seconds with it. The record statistics confirm it: nearly double the world records since 2018 compared to the six years before.
No. Learn the classic, sideways start motion safely and consistently first. The Tomoa Skip is an advanced technique with high jump loading – it only pays off once the basics are automated.
Probably. Since 2018, athletes have started examining other wall sections for similar shortcuts. Because the route is fixed worldwide, any new, working idea spreads through the entire scene extremely fast.
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