Let me take you back, way back, to when I started climbing regularly in 2002. Lancaster, in the North of England, a student with the University Mountaineering Club. Not the most progressive of social scenes but I would argue, one that captured the zeitgeist of the time. Our climbing was all focused around outdoors. Outdoor …
Combating ‘Crag Guilt’ (Climbing Inside When You Could Be Climbing Outdoors) Read More »
You may have heard the phrase ‘it’s a speed limit, not a target’ and they’re kinda right. The limit is set as a maximum safe speed you could travel, rather than as some arbitrary number to match our speedometer. There’s a lot of numbers you could choose between, the idea is simply not to pick …
Goodhart’s Climbing Grade? Fine But How Long Could He Deadhang? Read More »
At the turn of any year, the attentions of millions of people around the world will turn to New Year’s Resolutions. While the most popular among the wider public will remain resolutions such as losing weight or saving money, for many of our clientele this is often a useful time to set some goals for …
Being Smart? Digging Into Some Goal Setting Theory Read More »
I spend a lot of my time reading research on coaching, teaching, learning and various other related topics. Motivation, psychological aspects of coaching, I spent a lot of my Master’s degree sponging up as much as I could find and I’ve carried on as best I can since then. So when someone says something about …
Eyes on the Prize: Attentional Focus in Climbing Read More »
This one is dedicated to my wonderful wife and two daughters. They didn’t necessarily ask for my help but in allowing me to do so, gave me the opportunity to develop a model that I’ve since used to build confidence in anxious and nervous climbers: The Em Matrix. A lack of confidence in one’s own …
The Em Matrix: Building Confidence From Previous Results Read More »
Most of us are into our climbing to try and push ourselves and improve; certainly those of us who read articles on climbing coaching websites! We’re in it to win it, whatever winning means. And that means that sometimes, we lose. Sometimes, it’s one of those days where the stars don’t align, and it feels …
Playing Your Own Game: Adapting Sessions to Match You On Any Given Day Read More »
We can be quite philosophical, us climbers. Well, kind of. We love to sit atop a crag, pondering the world, engrossed in nature or debating which disciplines of climbing matter more than others. But when it comes to actual philosophy and the complicated terms therein, I don’t suspect climbers are any more adept than anyone …
Does Your Axiology matter? And Does Knowing It Make Your Climbing Better? Read More »
Let’s imagine we’re buying ourself a new car. And given we’re really passionate about climbing, we’re looking for one that will take us to the crag; the perfect climbing vehicle. So we go searching the options. Maybe we’re into bouldering and want to make sure there’s room in the boot for our pads (quick note: …
Adding Fuel To Your Fire: The Importance Of Nutrition and Recovery Read More »
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 »
