The End of A (Perceived) Nightmare (Hopefully!)

“In choosing our response to circumstance, we powerfully affect our circumstance. When we change one part of the chemical formula, we change the nature of the results.”

This quote has been really important in getting me through the last few weeks. I’m now coming off two competitions that I did not get the result I wanted (or feel I should be happy with) and I’ve been having a rough go, mentally, with training as well. It’s tough to always keep this in mind but really valuable.

Both competitions felt like quite the mental beat down. “Why can’t I do this move when everyone else can? Why can’t I even send this problem when others were flashing it? How did I get so behind in climbs? Why can’t I just climb well?”

Feeling a little deflated.

Easy to allow yourself to just fall into the downward spiral. Tough to lift yourself out. So how am I trying to keep myself out of it? I’m trying to focus on what some of the things I do well are.

I know there are skills I can improve but if I’m going to make those of my focuses, I also need to remind myself of what I do well. Below are my lists of what I do well and what I can improve on. I’ve made myself complete a list with equal numbers of both so I always have a positive to work against a negative.

Five Climbing Skills I do well:

1. Heel hooking. If anyone can find a way to heel hook through a move, I will likely be that person. I use my feet as second hands in this way. I find it great for stabilizing and helping to suck you closer into the wall. It’s also great for helping to pull through a move as well if you aren’t great at locking off.

Elevation Place Tour De Bloc 2014

 2. Reading sequences. When I look at a climb, I typically can figure out very quickly what the setters intend to do, as long as I have seen something similar before. If I haven’t, I’m still typically good at sorting it out and may just need a subtle change in what I see to be able to complete it properly.

3. Lock-offs, lock-offs and lock-offs! God, I love to lock-off. If I can use that lock-off to extend through to another move? Even better! (Especially if you can throw a heel hook in!!!) I’m happy to use locking off and extending through it as much as possible. Specifically when it helps me avoid using momentum to get through the movement. I really love feeling secure in any movement. The combination of a heel hook and a lock-off can really help pull you into the wall. (*Keep in mind - this does have it’s own setbacks but I’ll get to that later...*)

The Hive Tour De Bloc 2013

4. Engaging my core. This is one that I previously would have put in the ‘need to improve on’ category. I find that if I’m extended and my feet are far away, I don’t engage as well but the other day while doing a climb that had low feet, a friend said she was impressed with how well I engaged my core and that she felt she could literally see when I engaged it.

5. Compression moves. I have fairly good hip turn-out, strong heel hooks and I like to use my upper body. All of this lends really well to being good at doing compression moves.

UofA Tour De Bloc Comp 2011?? Rockin' the heel hook and lock-off

Five Climbing Skills I Would Like to Improve:

1. Patience, especially with subtle moves. This is all on me mentally. If I don’t feel confident in a move, I don’t have to commit right away and should allow myself the opportunity to work through it. As long as it does not drain me of my energy, I can be slow and patient with the move. I just need to remember that when I’m on the climb.

2. Hip movement. This one I’ve been working pretty hard on and it is incredibly frustrating!!!! But, I’m getting there. This is really tough to do since I would much rather power my way through it. Even learning what the movement is has been tough. I feel like a little kid trying to play in the big kid’s sandbox. My coach and teammates need to literally break it down step by step for me.

Trying to avoid any hip movement. Grindelwald BWC 2014. Photo: Sebastien Lazure

3. Allowing my body to feel out of control. I LOVE static moves (thank you heel hooks and lock-offs). If I don’t feel in control of a movement though, I get agitated, my shoulders bunch up and I’m about two seconds from falling off the wall or not completing the move. In comparison, when I allow myself a few milliseconds of feeling a little out of my zone but just commit, I will typically execute the move. Or at least get close.This is not to say that feeling completely out of control is a good thing. I’m only implying that sometimes you need to allow yourself to go out of your comfort zone just a little to see what you are truly capable of.

4. Dynamic movement. Any guesses on what this relates back to? Yep, you’re right... Hip movement. If the dyno is straight up and on an overhang, I will probably do alright but if it is a vertical wall or off to the side, I have a tough time as I need to generate through my hips and don’t yet fully understand how to do that.

Trying to be a bit dynamic. Grindelwald BWC 2014. Photo: Sebastien Lazure

5. Face climbing. This one I actually find kind of humorous given that I like to feel locked in close to the wall... And it is so important to get yourself close to the wall with face climbing. I have a really hard time doing this though. My butt will pop out just the slightest bit which can throw you off. Add to that, minimal patience and a general dislike of face climbing and you, my friend, have the perfect storm!

Canadian Nationals 2014 Semi-Finals #3

The most interesting part of writing this blog post for me was that I had equally as tough a time coming up with the same amount of things I need to work on as the number of climbing skills I feel I’m good at. I needed help coming up with the list of what I’m good at but once I had it, it was fairly easy. When I moved on to climbing skills I would like to improve, I also needed to ask for help. I couldn’t actually come up with a full list and that speaks volumes for me.

Yes, there are things I don’t yet do well but more importantly, there are a lot of skills I do great. And they easily match, if not outweigh, what I don’t do well.

That being said, the things I’m already good at aren’t going to make me a better climber. They’re important to remember to keep myself focused on the positive, where I’m headed to and what I already know how to do. To get where I want to be, which is one of the best climbers out there, I need to work on the things I don’t currently do well.

PS - Routesetters, if you’re reading this, it would be greatly appreciated if you don’t aim you competitions at trying to pick apart my weaknesses. ;)