One of three coaching sessions with a client at Bloc
Client was an experienced climber, but felt that he had plateaued due to a lack of technical and movement knowledge.
Session one was to discuss his aims for the three sessions and break them down in to SMART goals (Specific, Measured, Achievable, Relevant, Time Bound), and then a visual assessment to see if his climbing matched his perception of his own abilities. I got his consent to film his climbing to compare to the next two sessions. NOTE: Client had warmed up prior to session starting.
Assessment notes:
- Now the client was tall.... very tall. Which meant he used his reach to his advantage, however this was done via pulling on the arms to initiate movement.
- Footwork was accurate
- Bent arm climbing
- Doesn't use the rest of the wall, just the holds infront of him.
- Poor foot swapping - tends to prefer hopping.
- Tires quickly.
After the initial assessment and I had made my notes. I ran through a couple of exercises with him focusing on:
- Palming (the use of a hand against the wall to create a new balance point to assist with movement)
- Edging (the use of the inside and outside edge of the toe box on your climbing shoes)
- Smearing (The use of your foot on the wall, instead of a foot hold. Smearing within your own frame, toe to ball contact with the wall, slight raised heel to increase pressure, smear no higher than knee/mid thigh, no lower then knee/mid shin)
- Foot swaps (hopping, smearing, matching - rolling match, matching on big holds, toes down match, edging match)
- Drop knees (what are they, how do they work, why they should be used every time you twist through your frame)
Debrief and cool down/Stretch out
I then wrote up the assessment and session debrief and sent it to him. - Please see uploads.
Area :
Bloc Climbing - Bristol
