If you’ve ever taken a bad fall while you’re lead climbing it can be hard to regain your confidence in leading.
This article by Dave MacLeod, from his site onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.com, addresses 6 common pitfalls people fall into when they are trying to get their lead climbing confidence back. He lists the pitfalls and then gives positive alternative suggestions.
Dave MacLeod doesn’t intend for this article to be a sole guide for how to improve your lead climbing confidence. It is meant to accompany his book “9/10”. That being said, there are a lot of very useful tips in his article, worth using to help build some lead climbing confidence (and you should get and read 9/10).
For instance, one of the pitfalls of regaining lead climbing confidence Dave talks about:
“Not really wanting it enough. This aspect is underestimated in sport and training, surprisingly. Those who want it badly enough simply do not rest until they find the right path through the training to get to the goal routes they cannot live without. Rather than throwing up their hands after experiencing lack of progress, they jump right in and make plenty more errors until they find a formula for progress. Inevitably, we never get the balance of training 100% perfect. No one does. But burning desire to move forward and get to the next level is a crucial catalyst in letting you absorb the stresses and knocks of pushing outside your comfort zone. It creates resilience in people that are not inherently made of hero stuff. So, sometimes a clear conversation with yourself about exactly what this means to you is the fuel you need to get you through anything. What if you have that conversation and realise you don’t want it badly enough to push yourself through all the challenges? Hurry up and do something else then! Life is short.”
Lead climbing can be very scary, but it doesn’t have to be! You may have to step out of your comfort zone to get there, but being able to feel confident while you’re leading is a huge step in climbing…
“My approach as a youngster was just to climb one thing that was truly out of my comfort zone, every time I went climbing. Every time, no excuses. If it didn’t give me a dry mouth and a small knot in my stomach, I knew it wasn’t really out of my comfort zone.” -Dave MacLeod
**Stay tuned for our next podcast interview with Dave MacLeod! **
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