Movement Practice with Steve Bechtel

When you sent your hardest route or boulder problem did it feel easy? I don’t mean that the entire process and session after session of attempts felt easy, just the final send. What happened to make something that at first felt so hard feel so easy? Did all your working sessions simply make you stronger? Maybe a little, but chances are your success is mostly due to all the repetition making you more efficient at climbing those specific moves.

While this is obviously the point of projecting, it does underscore an important point: we can often climb harder not just by getting stronger but by getting better. To help you do exactly that, here’s an article by Steve Bechtel of Climb Strong that stresses the importance of movement practice as part of training.

“In climbing, we seek performance. We look to finish the pitch or the problem, and frequently de-focus technique or perfecting movement in favor of completion. Your first task in getting better is to chunk it down. Instead of being focused on the whole problem, you’ll need to analyze each position and movement. Let me give you a personal example: Over the years, I acquired a “hold-based” view of climbing. What I mean is that my sequencing normally only went as deep as which limb goes where and in what order. Left hand: 2 finger pocket, right foot on the little edge… What I realized a few years ago is that body position is one of the big x-factors that separates the average from the elite. It’s not finger strength, not even conditioning most of the time. I could get on the same holds as elite climbers, could even hold them, but the movement failed me because my positioning was wrong.” – Steve Bechtel

To help you shift your focus from simply sending to perfecting movement Steve suggests devoting some training time to movement practice. In the article he suggests a variety of methods:

Video yourself on a boulder problem or set of moves
Climb with a friend of similar abilities who can help you analyze movement
Work with a climbing coach in person
Repeat boulder problems bellow your maximum as focused practice

While movement practice may not produce the same kind of strength gains as some focused hangboarding, it will make you a much better and more efficient climber and is certainly worth the effort. Check out the full article by clicking through below.

Click Here: Movement Practice with Steve Bechtel

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(photo courtesy of Edwin Teran / @edwinteran; climber: Mike Donaldson)