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 …
When my two children were in primary school, I had one rule: No Fun Allowed! And yet, whenever I barked this at them, one hard word at a time, they would giggle like crazy. It was one of our most treasured games for a long time. It was, to all intents and purposes, us having …
No Fun Allowed! In What World Would We Want to Enjoy Ourselves Read More »
This concept and article were written in collaboration with Manchester-based climbing coach Adam from Underhang Climbing. My thanks go out to Adam for his help It’s Christmas this week – or, if you’re reading any other time of the year, it’s only ever “just around the corner” – and a time for traditions. Everyone has …
A CUP Full of Success: Manipulating ‘Unit Bias’ to Our Advantage Read More »
Many years back, I developed something for myself to enhance my climbing; something that worked ridiculously well. And all it cost me was the price of a whiteboard. It became known as The List. Now that I’m a pro coach, I can completely see where I was coming from and why it is so useful, …
The List: A Solid Method of Always Having a Project to Hand Read More »
Confused on which shoes to buy? Overwhelmed by choice? Let’s narrow the field for you This article originally appeared on my personal blog back in 2020 shortly after I’d finished working in outdoor retail. It is reproduced here in it’s latest guise. A Quick Note Before We Begin All of these resources are provided to …
We’ve all arrived at the wall or the crag, chomping at the bit and desperate to get on that climb we saw last time. Perhaps you’ve been guilty – as i have – of jumping on that project straight away. But is this a productive way to set out your session? Chances are, getting on …
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 …
PrinFrAp: Probably the Best Teaching Model in the World Read More »
There is often a big emphasis placed on physical training to improve climbing performance but I often feel it is overstated. Personally, I think there are usually much greater gains to be made from improving technique, tactics and mentality but there comes a point where pushing yourself physically is both beneficial and necessary. The problem …
It can potentially be the most controversial question or could be the simplest thing to answer. The depth in that answer can give waaaay more information to a coach than you could possible know. From ambiguity to discipline, indoors/outdoors to no answer at all, grab a piece of paper and answer this seemingly straightforward question: …
If you’re sat with a bunch of climbers and you fancy a good old debate, start talking about grades. Sure enough, within long, there’ll be at least a bit chat about whether Direct Route really gets E1, how the grades are harder in Yorkshire and everything is HVS, or something similar. Get the right group and …
