Sport psychology is not the easiest subject to grasp. I have presented material in various forms in my workshops but I am constantly striving to better my previous attempts and improve on my effectiveness and efficiency. As I come to understand and know the worries and anxieties of athletes, I begin to realise that they are no different to mine. To show psychology in action, I have decided to document my own journey and analyse how I have learned to cope, or how I cope, when faced with certain experiences. I will implement core psychological strategies into my training structure which will be compiled together by taken key training ideas from various individuals and professionals.
My reasons for doing so are threefold. First, I hope to demonstrate that psychology can be used to explain our actions and behaviours when faced with certain experiences. Second, I also hope to demonstrate that psychology can be used to help or alleviate certain 'unwanted' actions and behaviours when under stressful situations. And third, I hope to demonstrate that psychology can be implemented into a training structure easily.
So to begin with, a little bit about me and my sport. I am a climber. Not a very good climber but still, I go through ups and downs as with any other athlete. I started climbing three years ago. I remember my first lesson at Edinburgh International Climbing Arena which introduced me to top roping (climbing with a rope attached to an anchor at the top of the wall which is attached to the climber via a harness). I was hooked from the very first day and began top roping regularly, say two to three times a week. I hated bouldering (climbing small(ish) heights with no rope or harness) and was a bit fearful, but in awe, of lead climbing (climbing with a rope and harness but climber needs to pull the rope from behind to clip in to the quick draws). However, as time and my upper body strength developed, I quickly moved onto leading. I signed up for a leading course at EICA and was shown all the basics on how to lead and belay. One of the exercises that I remember clearly was learning to fall. I was three quarters up a wall and I was told to fall at the next clip instead of clipping in. This was probably, one of many, heart stopping leading moments for me. I just could not let go of the wall. My instinct told me to hang on. I remember having to push myself out from the wall in order to force myself to let go. This was a mistake. The force that I generated whilst forcing myself away from the wall made me impact the wall much harder than I had expected and this resulted in a sprained ankle. This experience has stuck with me to this day since. I still argue that falling exercises (especially for the first time) should not have taken place on slabs (flat walls). My first unsupervised lead climb was all shaky legs and bent elbows (bent elbows tense muscles quicker and therefore, tire you out more). I soon tired out towards the top of my first grade 5 (in climbing terms, pretty easy) but I felt a satisfaction that I never had with top roping and I knew that from then on that top roping would not be the same anymore. I felt like a true climber.
From that day onwards, top roping had lost its appeal. I worked on my leading skills throughout the months and quickly progressed to comfortably climbing at grade 6b, at times grade 6c (in climbing terms, still pretty easy but getting harder). Fear still gripped me at certain times and I never unintentionally fell. Bouldering came to me last. A relocation because of a boy (now my fiancé) and a job meant moving away from EICA and to Glasgow, where The Climbing Academy and Glasgow Climbing Centre reside. As I was TCA's youth squad's performance consultant, I decided that TCA would be my new climbing home. TCA is all bouldering and as I mentioned before I hated bouldering. My first days at TCA were lost on me – new walls, new people, new training regime etc. My motivation took a serious knock. My first attempts at bouldering, from the very few times I attempted this at EICA, saw me spat off a wall at font 5. I believed bouldering was just not for me. I did not understand or appreciate it. As my motivation took a knock this impacted on my confidence. I was used to doing routes than problems.
However, I quickly realised that the upper body strength, core and endurance I had developed by doing routes transferred into my bouldering ability. Time passed, and my persistence and patience paid off. I could get on font 5s and not be spat off. My confidence took a bit of time to grow for me. I was not used to the social settings that bouldering walls had compared to leading/top roping walls. However, the more I bouldered, the more my technique on the wall developed. I realised that bouldering required a great deal of problem solving in order to get to the top. It takes a lot of skill and technique to keep your body into the wall whilst figuring how to move on the tiniest crimps. When I first started climbing, my satisfaction was to get to the highest wall in the centre whereas now, my satisfaction derives from how I get to the top of the wall. I finally understood bouldering. I love bouldering now. I started off bouldering font 5s and I have moved to climbing font 7a , sometimes 7b (in climbing terms, quite good). I boulder regularly, say three to four times a week and try to get outside as much as I can. I spend much of my climbing time bouldering and therefore, leading has taken a step back. I also dabble in the odd fun bouldering competition.
My journey has been plagued with ups and downs and I will be discussing these in future blogs as well as relating them to current issues. Every athlete, whether recreational or professional, is affected by issues that impact or test our mental abilities and as I continue with my climbing journey and talk with others around me, I will document them and analyse them from a psychological perspective. I hope to blog a first person's account of dealing with certain issues (solutions may not apply to you) which I hope will be beneficial for demonstration purposes.
Published 1 November 2015
My reasons for doing so are threefold. First, I hope to demonstrate that psychology can be used to explain our actions and behaviours when faced with certain experiences. Second, I also hope to demonstrate that psychology can be used to help or alleviate certain 'unwanted' actions and behaviours when under stressful situations. And third, I hope to demonstrate that psychology can be implemented into a training structure easily.
So to begin with, a little bit about me and my sport. I am a climber. Not a very good climber but still, I go through ups and downs as with any other athlete. I started climbing three years ago. I remember my first lesson at Edinburgh International Climbing Arena which introduced me to top roping (climbing with a rope attached to an anchor at the top of the wall which is attached to the climber via a harness). I was hooked from the very first day and began top roping regularly, say two to three times a week. I hated bouldering (climbing small(ish) heights with no rope or harness) and was a bit fearful, but in awe, of lead climbing (climbing with a rope and harness but climber needs to pull the rope from behind to clip in to the quick draws). However, as time and my upper body strength developed, I quickly moved onto leading. I signed up for a leading course at EICA and was shown all the basics on how to lead and belay. One of the exercises that I remember clearly was learning to fall. I was three quarters up a wall and I was told to fall at the next clip instead of clipping in. This was probably, one of many, heart stopping leading moments for me. I just could not let go of the wall. My instinct told me to hang on. I remember having to push myself out from the wall in order to force myself to let go. This was a mistake. The force that I generated whilst forcing myself away from the wall made me impact the wall much harder than I had expected and this resulted in a sprained ankle. This experience has stuck with me to this day since. I still argue that falling exercises (especially for the first time) should not have taken place on slabs (flat walls). My first unsupervised lead climb was all shaky legs and bent elbows (bent elbows tense muscles quicker and therefore, tire you out more). I soon tired out towards the top of my first grade 5 (in climbing terms, pretty easy) but I felt a satisfaction that I never had with top roping and I knew that from then on that top roping would not be the same anymore. I felt like a true climber.
From that day onwards, top roping had lost its appeal. I worked on my leading skills throughout the months and quickly progressed to comfortably climbing at grade 6b, at times grade 6c (in climbing terms, still pretty easy but getting harder). Fear still gripped me at certain times and I never unintentionally fell. Bouldering came to me last. A relocation because of a boy (now my fiancé) and a job meant moving away from EICA and to Glasgow, where The Climbing Academy and Glasgow Climbing Centre reside. As I was TCA's youth squad's performance consultant, I decided that TCA would be my new climbing home. TCA is all bouldering and as I mentioned before I hated bouldering. My first days at TCA were lost on me – new walls, new people, new training regime etc. My motivation took a serious knock. My first attempts at bouldering, from the very few times I attempted this at EICA, saw me spat off a wall at font 5. I believed bouldering was just not for me. I did not understand or appreciate it. As my motivation took a knock this impacted on my confidence. I was used to doing routes than problems.
However, I quickly realised that the upper body strength, core and endurance I had developed by doing routes transferred into my bouldering ability. Time passed, and my persistence and patience paid off. I could get on font 5s and not be spat off. My confidence took a bit of time to grow for me. I was not used to the social settings that bouldering walls had compared to leading/top roping walls. However, the more I bouldered, the more my technique on the wall developed. I realised that bouldering required a great deal of problem solving in order to get to the top. It takes a lot of skill and technique to keep your body into the wall whilst figuring how to move on the tiniest crimps. When I first started climbing, my satisfaction was to get to the highest wall in the centre whereas now, my satisfaction derives from how I get to the top of the wall. I finally understood bouldering. I love bouldering now. I started off bouldering font 5s and I have moved to climbing font 7a , sometimes 7b (in climbing terms, quite good). I boulder regularly, say three to four times a week and try to get outside as much as I can. I spend much of my climbing time bouldering and therefore, leading has taken a step back. I also dabble in the odd fun bouldering competition.
My journey has been plagued with ups and downs and I will be discussing these in future blogs as well as relating them to current issues. Every athlete, whether recreational or professional, is affected by issues that impact or test our mental abilities and as I continue with my climbing journey and talk with others around me, I will document them and analyse them from a psychological perspective. I hope to blog a first person's account of dealing with certain issues (solutions may not apply to you) which I hope will be beneficial for demonstration purposes.
Published 1 November 2015