Rock Climbing: Mental Training

Welcome back to your favorite rock climbing blog. I am bringing you back this time to talk about how to mentally train/prepare yourself for hard climbs. This topic may not be as large and as long as previous topics but it is very essential to a good climbing career. Whether that is thinking of the line that you will climb, or even letting out last minute nerves. "The quickest way to enhance your performance in almost anything is to improve the quality of your thinking."(Hörst 29) So stick around and learn how to improve your mental game.

Progressive Relaxation

Have you ever been stressed about something and all you want to do is to try relentlessly non-stop until you achieve it. That may not always help, an American physician by the name of Edmund Jacobson figured out that when you are stressed, tired or both, the best thing to do is to relax. Then you can think about what you're doing better and you can do the harder climbs that you want to do. "This process results in a sharpened awareness of tension levels in the different parts of your body, and the ability to release the tension on demand." (Hörst 39)

Visualization

Before any climb that you do, you should try to visualize the route that you are about to ascend. This helps you when you are on the wall, and are searching for a hold. If you already visualized the route, you would know where to place your foot. Any time you are trying a new climb, always, always, always visualize your route. "Visualization is an immensely powerful tool that can be used to enhance performance in all aspects of your life." (Hörst 43) Below are some pictures of how I visualized my route. 

Pre-Climb Ritual

Having a pre-climb ritual can enhance performance intensely. It is like a pilots pre-checklist, everything you need for your climb should be on this checklist. An example of a ritual could be, scoping the route, eating a snack and drinking water, and then checking your gear. It is not hard to make one, and it doesn't take that long either. So next time you are climbing make a pre-climb ritual and follow through with it.

Now that you have the tools that you need to mentally prepare yourself before climbs, go out and use it. It will improve your climbing, and give you the confidence that you need to climb at your best. Thank you for reading this article, good luck on your next climb!

Hörst, Eric J. Training for Climbing: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Climbing Performance. Guilford, CT: Falcon, 2003. Print. 

Question: What would your pre-climb ritual be?