A lot of climbers talk about having “tight hips”, but it’s often unclear what that actually means in practice. It usually shows up in subtle ways: you struggle to keep your hips close to the wall, drop knees feel awkward or forced, and climbs that should feel controlled end up feeling far more tiring than expected. What’s interesting is that it rarely feels like a strength issue. More often than not, it’s a limitation in how your hips can move, rather than how much force they can produce.

There’s a simple way to check whether this might be affecting you, and it’s something physios have been using for years.

The Thomas Test (Hip Flexor Tightness)

The Thomas Test is a standard assessment used to identify tightness in the hip flexors. While it’s not designed specifically for climbers, it translates extremely well because climbing relies heavily on being able to both flex and extend the hip through a wide range of positions.

To do the test, sit on the edge of a bench or a bed, then lie back while pulling one knee in towards your chest. As you do this, let your other leg hang freely off the edge. From here, you’re simply observing what that hanging leg does without trying to force it into position.

If everything is functioning well, the thigh of the hanging leg should drop down naturally, the knee should remain bent, and the leg should feel relatively relaxed. If instead the thigh stays lifted, the knee starts to straighten, or you feel a noticeable pull through the front of the hip, that’s a sign of restriction.

What This Means for Your Climbing

If you’re restricted in this position, it indicates tightness in the hip flexors. That might sound minor, but it has a direct impact on your ability to extend the hip, which is a movement that shows up constantly in climbing, often without you realising it.

One of the clearest effects is how it changes your position relative to the wall. When your hip can’t extend properly, your body is effectively pushed away from the wall because you can’t bring your hips in close. This shifts your centre of gravity outward, which in turn forces your arms to take on more load. The result is that climbs feel more tiring than they should, even when your foot placements are good. You’re simply not able to use your lower body efficiently.

This restriction also has a big impact on drop knees. A proper drop knee isn’t just about rotating the knee inward; it requires one hip to flex while the other extends. If the extending hip is tight, you can’t fully rotate into the position. Instead, it feels blocked, awkward, or unstable. Many climbers assume they just aren’t good at drop knees or don’t like using them, but in reality, they’re often working against a physical restriction that prevents the movement from feeling natural.

On steeper terrain, this becomes even more noticeable. Overhangs rely heavily on your ability to keep tension through your lower body. Your feet need to stay engaged, your hips need to stay close, and your body needs to remain controlled. If your hips can’t open properly, your legs drift away from the wall, tension is lost, and your feet start to feel unreliable. This is why people often cut loose even when their feet initially felt solid. It’s not just a strength issue; it’s a positioning issue that starts at the hips.

Why Most Climbers Miss This

Most climbers don’t realise this is a problem because it doesn’t present itself as an obvious weakness. You can still climb, you can still pull hard, and you might even feel strong on certain moves. The limitation only shows up in specific positions, and by then it’s easy to blame technique, route setting, or just having a “bad go”.

On top of that, most warm-ups don’t address this properly. People tend to climb a few easy routes, maybe do some light stretching, and then get into their session. But none of that specifically prepares the hip flexors to allow proper extension under load, which is exactly what climbing demands.

What To Do About It

If this test exposed a restriction, the goal isn’t to force more range immediately, but to gradually improve both control and mobility in that position. That means combining activation and movement rather than just stretching and hoping for the best.

A simple starting point is a low lunge position, where you focus on gently opening the front of the hip while keeping control through your core. From there, you can introduce controlled leg movements, such as lifting and lowering the leg in a standing position, making sure you’re not compensating by leaning back or twisting. The aim is to teach the body that it can move into these positions while staying stable, rather than just forcing range passively.

The Bigger Picture

If you struggled with the Thomas Test, it doesn’t mean you’re “bad” at climbing or that you need months of mobility work before you can improve. It simply highlights that your body isn’t fully prepared for some of the positions climbing requires.

And that’s the key point.

Most climbers don’t lack ability; they lack preparation. Once you start addressing that, movements that previously felt awkward or tiring often begin to feel far more natural and controlled, sometimes surprisingly quickly.