Purpose:
To encourage you to break down a climb into smaller, more manageable parts
Where: on a traverse or route on which you can try multiple moves easily
This drill can be a tricky one. Ideally, we want to be able to try individual moves and so a traverse is perfect but any climb that has multiple moves from the floor would work.
When: any time
This drill should be low-stress, both on the body and mind, and can even be used for warming up if necessary
The Drill:
Select your chosen climb and quickly read through the moves, ideally counting how many moves are required
- Select the easiest move available from the floor, pull on at the beginning of the move and complete the move before stepping back off
- Repeat across all moves – individually at first – that are available from the floor
- Now select two moves to link in together and complete them in turn without stepping on to the floor
- Continue to link pairs of moves
- Develop this into bigger sections of the climb until all of the available moves are completed and the climb is mostly done in two or three sections
[Note: you can also add in a section at the beginning where you simply hang each position in turn if required to make it easier]
The Outcome: How do you know when it’s working?
Over time, you should find that you start to look at climbs as a collection of moves and not as one entity every time and eventually, develop a more complex method of problem solving