Last week we posted an article by climbing trainer Eric Hörst about ways you can improve your mental game while climbing.  In it, Hörst outlined his five strategies for improving your concentration when climbing and in life in general.

Well, this week we have another article by Eric Hörst on the topic.  However, this time it’s all about the enemies of concentration and exactly what you should avoid or work on eliminating when trying to improve your climbing mental game.

“So in your quest to improve concentration–and increase climbing performance–it’s a good first step to raise your awareness of the enemies of task-relevant focus as well as common targets of misplaced concentration.” – Eric Hörst

6 Enemies of Concentration:

To break down this topic, Hörst outlines six actions that will prevent you from staying in the moment and climbing your best.  They are:

1. Focusing on mechanics of well-learned skills.
2. Dwelling on internal feelings and sensations of fatigue.
3. Entertaining nonproductive self-talk.
4. Focusing on the past.
5. Focusing on the future.
6. Visual and auditory distractions.

Click through below to read about these targets of misplaced concentration in more detail.  While the gains from working on your mental game are definitely less tangible than the physical gains from hard training, remember, they have just as large of an effect on climbing performance.  Our sport is extremely challenging mentally.  If you want to continually improve you need to train your mental game just like you train your fingers.

Full Article: 6 Enemies of Concentration

(photo courtesy of trainingforclimbing.com)

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• Conquering a Fear of Falling – Crux Crush
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