When I first started climbing I was addicted to the nearly constant improvement I felt that I was achieving every time I entered the gym. It seemed like almost every time I came back to the gym I could make a new move or climb a new route or problem that I couldn’t before. After a while though, I noticed that it became harder and harder to make more progress as I inched closer to my physical potential and the movements became more complex.

For many years I made steady but extremely slow progress through the moderate difficulty grades. It seemed that I was trying to push a boulder up hill, while everyone else around me was riding down the other side in a wagon. I never thought about quitting, but I had nearly given up on my dream of being considered a truly good climber.

One day, after reading Dave MacLeod’s incredible book 9 Out Of 10 Climbers Make The Same Mistake for the third or fourth time, I stumbled upon the answers I needed to break through to a new level of success. Up until then, I had always read the book looking for a secret training program that would help me become so strong I would never pump out or fall (one of the “Mistakes” the book had warned me about). I had highlighted many sections of training information that always contained good advice, but since they looked like they would take hard work and dedication I hadn’t tried them. This last time though I found the found the true answer in the non-highlighted sections of text in between the strength training information I had thought was the answer.

Now, before I share the secrets with you, it’s important to understand that I am not suggesting there is no place for physical training in climbing. If you become strong enough to hold onto the holds without falling off, getting to the top of the wall will usually be much easier. A good physical training program also helps you become less prone to suffering injuries, which don’t usually help you improve.

What I am saying is that whatever your strength level is at any given time, there are three fundamental techniques or tactics that advanced climbers have trained themselves to do instinctively that beginner and intermediate climbers rarely utilize: Desensitizing Yourself to Impact, Reframing Failure, Pulling In With Your Toes.

Desensitizing Yourself To Impact

In a fantastic interview I watched recently between Lor Sabourin and Tom Randall (two 5.14 professional trad climbers), the idea of how to deal with a fear of heights or falling when you’re supposed to be a good climber came up. Apparently, both Lor and Tom both suffer from a debilitating fear of falling on lead when it is literally their job to climb difficult climbs and take many falls in the process.

Tom asked Lor for some practical advice, and the strategy that was shared made an immediate impact on my ability to enjoy climbing on lead outdoors. Essentially, the secret involved hanging on the end of a taught rope (not falling from above or even at the last piece of protection) and making small, playful bouncing movements on the wall. As you start to desensitize yourself to the impact of your feet on the rock and you become more confident, you can gradually start to push yourself farther and farther away from the wall until you are successfully and joyfully experiencing more extreme swings than you could ever possibly take on even the worst “whipper.” After a few minutes of this you will feel an immediate boost in your confidence and a reduction in your anxiety, because you will now have some evidence that you can successfully take a large impact without hurting yourself.

The same strategy can be applied to indoor bouldering, by making progressively larger and more intense “falls” from higher and higher up on the wall. The key is to gradually introduce a greater level of uncertainty to the fall as you become more comfortable performing each dynamic move. If you make the increases in intensity and uncertainty small enough you should give yourself a large collection of positive experiences that will gradually change your beliefs about your ability to walk away safely from a real fall, if you do practice this regularly.

Reframing Failure

C.S. Lewis, the author of the Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe series, once said “failures are fingerposts (direction signs) on the road to achievement.” Adam Ondra describes failure as “a lesson that makes me think what I did wrong so I can come back and be stronger.” What about you? How do you feel about failure?

For many years, I was completely unaware that I was afraid of failure. I used to think otherwise, but was eventually confronted with the reality that I had simply developed elaborate and sophisticated mechanisms in my life to avoid dealing with the possibility of failure altogether.

The majority of people I see in the climbing gym also suffer from the same issue, but also aren’t aware of how they avoid it either. Fear of failure in climbing usually manifests itself in always climbing in the same area, on the same types of holds/moves/angles, etc., or avoiding certain times of the day when many stronger climbers may be around to “judge” you (not to be confused with selecting a less buy time of the day to do a specific workout that needs more immediate access to specific climbs, which is simply good tactics).

Even professional climber and coach Dave MacLeod, who I mentioned earlier, says that he "makes a point of travelling to a warm, busy gym where he’s likely to be made to look foolish by less skilled locals “who have the problems wired.”

Pulling In With Your Toes

An incredibly strong friend of mine was fond of telling me to “hold on harder and fall off less” whenever I asked him for advice on a climb. While occasionally I have to admit that gripping harder with my hands was the secret, more often I find it easier to simply concentrate on engaging my toes and lower legs to pull me into the wall so that my hands don’t have to grip as hard to keep me on the holds.

Dave MacLeod agrees and says, “it’s rare (apart from elite climbers) to hear them remark that really focusing on delivering maximum power with a foot made the difference between success or failure on a move, but it often does.” After reading this line on my third time through 9 out of 10 Climbers Make The Same Mistake, I finally started practicing the habit of pulling my hips towards the wall at the end of every move as I reached for the next hold on my vertical and slab climb warm-ups. Eventually I was able to transfer the method to more overhanging and difficult climbs.

Now, after a few years I require only an occasional reminder to myself on the most difficult climbs because the habit of pulling my hips towards the wall with my tensed toes/calves when I extend for a far away hold is ingrained in my mind and seems to be largely automatic. I truly feel like it is a secret weapon that has allowed me to jump two full V-Grades in boulder “power” over what was formerly possible without only the “hold on harder” method.

Conclusion

Obviously the above skills require a lot of practice, and warrant a more in-depth exploration. I plan to provide that exploration in three future blog posts, each one dedicated to a specific “tactic” I introduced in this post. Please look for those, but start utilizing the tips the best that you can in the mean time. I look forward to hearing about your results in the comment section below or via e-mail.

About The Author

David Murray has been coaching climbing for more than 17 years. He has helped over 5000 new and experienced climbers become more efficient and have more fun. He is currently a co-owner of The Hangout Climbing Centre in Duncan, Canada.