Climbing is a remarkably simple and yet wildly coplex activity. When looking to improve, knowing which areas on which to focus can be both really obvious and really hidden at the same time.
One of the biggest reasons people book a coaching session with Prowess is to have an external, expert opinion on what to work on to improve. With years of training, research and experience, an analysis of climbing skills is part of parcel of what I do, every single week.
That leaves an obvious question: what am I looking for?! Here, I’ll break down my method for analysing climbing skills and how I determine what we’re going to work on next.
Please note, there is much nuance to this in practice. I also run a lot of coach education courses and teaching people even small parts of this is complex and takes time. If you’re an inexperienced coach, the process below may well help to give you some structure. But please don’t misunderstand this page as a how-to guide. If you’re interested in learning more on the process, please get in touch.
Breaking Up the Whole: The TTPP Model
Looking at the whole can be overwhelming. What we need to do is break the whole into smaller, more manageable parts. Then we’ll bring it back to the whole again later (see article on session structure and the Learning Window here).
I use a popular and academically-established model know as the TTPP Model. TTPP is an abbreviation that stands for:
- Technical. Are we moving in the most efficient way?
- Tactical. Are we applying ourselves in the right way at the right time?
- Physical. Are we strong and healthy enough to move without getting injured?
- Psychological. Are we actually applying ourselves or is something holding us back?
One important thing to note is that these facets are not happening independently of each other. Often, an exercise of a skill may fall into one or more categories but worrying about which one is not important; if it’s a good area to work, that’s where we’ll go. I tend to view it as a big Venn (or Euler) diagram, just like this:
All of my Prowess sessions are based on the controversial ideology of ‘let’s go climb things’ and that’s where things start. From observation of your climbing, I’ll typically pick one of the four categories that I feel could be enhanced. It may not be THE most pressing but it’s typically one that I feel I can contribute and help you to improve (either your grade or your ability to move on the wall).
Each of these four then has certain things I’m looking for. So let’s go through each and lay it all out there.
Technical Analysis
Knowing whether we are moving efficiently is incredibly complex. I’ll be honest and say much of this is intuitive and a lot of it is very much trial and error; whereby I make a suggestion, we try it, reflect and go from there.
However, most of my technical analysis is much more scientific. Each of us builds what is often known as a mental model for things like movement. The difference here is that while most of us are not aware of the mental model living in the back of our mind, I’ve gone to great efforts to make mine not only conscious but applicable in any setting.
My model is known as The Process and is based around three movement theories:
- HOT Holds (Hold Optimisation Theory): there exist optimum directions to pull/push on any hold
- POT Positions (Position Optimisation Theory): there exist optimum places to put ourselves to make the most of the holds we have
- MOT Movements (Movement Optimisation Theory): there exist optimum paths to take to move from one POT Position to the next
They sound fancy but they’re my own creation and create nice, handy little acronyms that I can roll out during sessions. There are then multiple other factors, including (in no particular order): contralatteral movement; hip rotations; GUTs (or Generating Upward Thrust); and so forth.
These extra pieces sit in between the three main theories and all are sequential. That’s not to say I’ll start at the beginning each time but this model has proven unimaginably successful for any climber, on any climb, anywhere. We identify one part that requires our attention, address it and move on.
It sounds simple. The best models do. Applying it is much harder. But that’s my job and so far, the feedback has been exemplary.
Tactical Analysis
Tactics often lacks strong definition. For me, it’s all related to decision making. If you’re making a decision about something, that sits in that tactical bubble.
Again, it’s a Venn diagram and one could argue that we make decisions about how we hold the holds. Perhaps yes but there are a wide range of other decisions we make along the way too.
For me, there are three types of decision we can make:
- Pre-Action. Decisions we make before we do something
- In-Action. Decisions we make while we’re in the middle of doing something
- On-Action. Decisions we make after we’ve take action
Then there’s another factor that comes into play: time frames. These can be decisions relating to a wide variety of time scales:
- In the moment. Decisions we make very quickly while we’re doing something. This one can often be closely linked to psychological skills including arousal level and stress. These decisions happen in seconds or less
- An attempt. This time frame relates to a single climb, from preparing to start the climb right through to the conversations immediately afterwards but crucially, it’s around that time frame very close to the climb itself, typically a few minutes
- A session. One major area I focus on – especially with young climbers – is on the decisions we make during the course of a single session. This will typically cover an hour or more and advice on structuring sessions is available here.
- A project. A difficult one to describe here, a project is typically defined as something that will take multiple sessions. How we make decisions across this time frame can be crucial to our chances of success. Think days or weeks
- An event. Whether it is a trip, a competition or even a targeted time to finally finish that project, peaking at just the right time requires some substantial planning. This is typically into several weeks and into months
- A term/season. Once we take a bit more of a step back, working up to a project or planning our longer period of time brings many of it’s own challenges and subsequent decisions. Now we’re into months
My analysis looks at what we’re trying to achieve, the time frame we’re looking to achieve it over and then our decisions before, during and after. Crucially, this is more often achieved through questions and not through guidance.
Physical Analysis
This is the weakest of my areas of coaching, especially compared to many other coaches. However, with the vast majority of my clients, it is also not their limiting factor. And even for those who do need to get stronger, their best way of doing that is more often than not to go climbing…
The most important aspect of this for me is the last part of the definition: ‘healthy enough… without getting injured’. Much like above, I work on nice simple principles and in this case it’s the idea that pain is bad. If we do get any concerns regarding paid, I have partnered with local physio Isi Booker with whom I’m in regular contact. We refer clients regularly, including running joint sessions too. Isi often advises me with general conditioning and injury prehab too.
Assuming we’re all good with our health, we’d then look at which parts of the body are letting you down. This could be one of two things:
- Connective Chain. Or in other words, the body parts running from the toes right the way down the arms and body through the core and down to the legs. In essence, are any of these points failing to apply enough force? And if so, which one? and what are we going to do about it?
- Energy systems. I look for three energy systems: power (the ability to move fast and pull hard); power-endurance (the ability to keep applying that power time and again); and endurance (the ability to keep going for a long time). If any of these are lacking, that presents us with an opportunity to develop.
One point to note is that physical exercises rarely make much difference during a single session. Instead, sessions will be used to introduce these drills and exercises, with subsequent sessions used to check progress.
I’ll also use various different resources, such as the Crimpd app or the Gimme Kraft books, to provide exercises that will help to target specific areas and occasionally we will discuss the use of various training apparatus – such as edge blocks, fingerboards or supplementary equipment – to extend training out of the wall and back home, maximising available time to you.
Psychological Analysis
First things first, I am not a therapist (I’m teamed up with Patrick Hollingsworth for that one). Nor am I a qualified sports psychologist (although, again, I know lots of them too and am hoping to start a PhD in around 2025). That said, I have a lot of expertise and knowledge around psyche skills in climbing.
Assessing is tricky because, as with technical skills, it is both very simple and very complex at the same time. Often, it is fairly obvious if a climber is not fully committed to a move but others, the signs can be quite hidden.
When looking to assess these skills, I’m mainly looking for one thing: how high does the climber get off the last holds they are holding? Here are some examples:
- Does the climber drop off from a hanging position on the holds?
- Do they pull up to a lock-off position and then drop off?
- Has the climber given a bit of a ‘token gesture’ throw for the next hold?
- Have they thrown for the next hold but without much committment?
- Are they trying to grasp the next hold but going in the wrong direction?
- Have they hit the hold but are failing to engage or really attempt to engage?
This is where the Venn diagram at the top comes in handy. That ‘token gesture’ throw may be because they have powered out or because they aren’t really committing to the move. Going in the wrong direction may be a technical focus or we may need to work on avoiding distraction.
The key is in the eyes: where is the climber looking? That said, a better clue is the chin. I’ve used an adage from other sports that says ‘look where you’re going and you’ll go where you look’ and this can often be a good clue as to where a climber’s attentional focus is; even if they don’t realise it.
This is then developed into the ‘why’. While this isn’t part of the initial analysis, it is the second stage and usually comes down to one of three options:
- Focus. This can range from becoming easily distracted through to a full-on flow state
- Motivation. I have done extensive research on motivation for participant, including several well-established academic models
- Fear. Typically this can manifest in a fear of falling but also aspects such as performance anxiety and fear of failure. The popular but slightly controversial concept of Growth Mindset fits in here
There are a couple of big crossovers with Tactics. The pace at which we climb can be indicative of either fear or indecision. Likewise, arousal levels are strongly linked to decision making and getting this right is a major factor.
Finally, one crucial factor with analysing Psyche skills. Friend and respected coach John Kettle once said “questions tell us what we can’t see” and while I’ve indicated above a series of things I look for, I will only know for sure by asking the climber. Unlike the other aspects, working on our psychology (specifically with our climbing performance) requires a lot of conversation and a lot of questions.
Is This a Diagnosis? NO!!!
All this sounds like it is a simple diagnosis but that is not the case.
As I’ve said throughout this piece, analysing skills is incredibly complex and helping to improve those skills can be equally complicated. It is NOT as simple as watching someone, selecting an off-the-peg exercise and there we go.
Coaching requires nuance which can’t easily be put into words. What I have labelled above are a series of prompts and cues for me as a coach; things I look for that help to guide the process.
Any session is 100% student led. They are collaborative between coach and climber and both areas of focus for our sessions and exercises to be completed afterwards are always agreed between us both.
If you are interested in getting your own skills analysed, get in touch to book your session now.