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 …
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 »
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: …
