When you first start climbing, the fear of falling can be overwhelming.  For many climbers, it is likely one of the main factors holding back your climbing performance.  However, being scared of falling is perfectly normal and something most climbers go through.  The key is learning how to actively whittle away at this fear so you can focus on climbing.

To give you an idea about how to overcome and then more importantly continue managing the fear of falling, here’s an article from climbing coach and trainer Eric Hörst in which he outlines his strategies for dealing with these fears.

“The long-term effect of taking practice falls is that you will be able to detach from the fear of falling in safe situations and climb free with little or no fear load. Still, you will occasionally come upon situations where a fall looks to be completely safe, yet for some reason it’s making you feel a little scared (perhaps the fall will yield a bit of swing or it just looks weird). In such a case, you would benefit greatly by taking a single “test fall” in order to experience what it will be like—this will erase the fear you are feeling, because it’s not knowing what the fall will be like that you fear, not that act of falling itself.” – Eric Hörst

Click through below to read the full article and remember that no matter how long you’ve been climbing falling is still something we all need to practice!

Full Article: Eric Hörst – Managing the Fear of Falling

(photo courtesy of trainingforclimbing.com)

Other Articles You Might Like:

• Conquering a Fear of Falling – Crux Crush
• Dave MacLeod and The Fear of Falling
• TBP 023 :: Arno Ilgner on Overcoming Fear and Ego in Climbing
• Transitioning from Bouldering to Sport Climbing: 5.9 to 5.14