Marshmallows. Generally considered yummy (sorry vegetarians). So yummy in fact, that they were used, back in 1970 led my social scientist Walter Mischel, in one of the most famous studies on human behaviour of the twentieth century: the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment. We’ll come on to the details of the experiment, suffice it to say that …
Can We Test For Injury With Marshmallows?! No, But They Can Be Useful Read More »
Route reading. Heard of it? Probably. So what is it? It’s one of things that we all know about but I dare say struggle to actually define successfully. Responses to ‘what is route reading?’ often range from “visualisation” and “sequencing” through to “well, it’s just looking at the route” right down to “erm, dunno”. Even …
One Chapter At A Time: Introducing Reactionary Route Reading Read More »
This summer (2026), I’ll be sitting my arholiad cymraeg, or my first Welsh exam. At 41, it’s been quite some time since I’ve sat an exam like this but – much like almost every other adult in the UK – I can sure remember the stress from my last ones! Whether it’s GCSEs, A-levels or …
Testing Problems: Using Climbing to Better Help with Exam Stress Read More »
Special credit must go to Aled Oddy for his assistance in developing this model. PrinFrAp? What is that?! No, it’s not a new hipster Dutch brewery, PrinFrAp is possibly the best model with a terrible name you’ve ever heard of. It is an abbreviation (I think) of three points of a model that describes the teaching of …
PrinFrAp: Possibly the Best Teaching Model in the World Read More »
31st December, let’s have a think: drinking, fireworks, celebrations. Kissing at midnight, time off from work, resolutions. There are plenty of traditions but it’s the last one i’m particularly going to focus on here: resolutions or, as we often know them better, goals. For the majority of people, this is a perfectly sensible and logical …
New New Years: Using Changing Clocks for Seasonal Goal Setting Read More »
I was having a really bad day at home once, grumbling and complaining and claiming the whole world was against me. Then Rosie, my eldest daughter, turned to me and said “There is not one day in your life”. It completely stunned me; instantly rendering me speechless and defenseless. Because she’s right: today might be …
Pick and Choose: Using Training Modalities to Structure Your Sessions Read More »
If you head to the climbing wall and watch the climbers, you’ll quickly find someone who is just starting out. You won’t have to ask them, you’ll see it a mile away: hunched shoulders, drooping head, a slightly nervous disposition. That’s not a criticism, merely an observation that any new activity, possibly none more so …
Can The Right Level of Confidence Affect Our Chances of Success? You’d Better Believe It Read More »
Sneaking in a last minute session, either at the crag or at the wall, can be excellent and can feel very rewarding but in my experience, while they’re not to be sniffed at, I don’t tend to find they’re my best sessions. For me, my best sessions are ones that I can build up to …
The Early Bird Catches the Send: The Concept of Pre-Climbing Read More »
I’m sure we’ve all heard of ‘warming up’, how it’s really important and how it keeps us from getting hurt but I have it on good authority from a physiotherapist friend of mine that there is no conclusive academic research that states that warm ups prevent injury (I’m not making this up, check out McCrary, …
Are You Ready For This? Discussions on Warm Ups for Climbing Read More »
One of my local climbing centres is called the Beacon and there, you’ll find one of their senior staff called Gareth Pritchard. I have a lot of respect for Gareth, he’s a great bloke and very experienced. Yet occasionally, we do find ourselves locked in ardent debate; much like happened recently. Gareth is great for …
