UKC

Often footballers/rugby players/cricketers etc are said to be 'in good form' or 'out of form', but I've never really thought of climbers or climbing that way before. I suppose we *do* speak of climbers having a 'hot streak' or 'climbing well at the moment'. But usually I attribute climbing badly to not having trained enough or not being motivated etc (and, conversely, climbing well to having trained hard and being 'up for it'). But perhaps there is some more nebulous force/entity (i.e. the concept of 'form') at work?

Yesterday I was having an absolute shocker of a day at the rockface! I hadn't done that much climbing recently, but my bouldering was a veritable masterclass in how to gibber, flail and fall off. Problems I'd done with relative ease last year had suddenly lost vital holds or become harder (or so it seemed!). And yet... this is the intriguing bit...perched precariously, pathetically pumped all of 10 feet up - feeling gripped, contemplating an ankle-twisting leap to 'safety' - *something* would kick in to 'save' me. That 'something' was either some vestigial memory of climbing technique or perhaps my organismic unconscious's survival instinct asserting itself over and above my conscious self's clumsy cowardly incompetence. For example, just as I was in a bit of a pickle, 'I' suddenly did a surprisingly accomplished rockover, dropped knee or nifty gaston manouevre (totally out of place with the climbing performance that had gone before) and managed to extricate myself - rather like a total novice, blundering like the bumbliest bumbly, suddenly half-remembering and peerlessly executing a technique he'd observed from having watched the Stone Monkey video.

So perhaps climbing performance is akin to a footballer fluffing several easy chances, tripping over the ball, failing to control a simple pass...and then (totally out of the blue) striking a wonderful volley into the top corner of the net from a preposterously tight angle (though, obviously, this analogy is a bit more scary if true for climbing - e.g. 'scuffing a shot' is analogous to 'slipping off a crucial fothold' and falling to one's death! And, doubly scary, because it would suggest we have little conscious control over our technique - a bit like Spiderman finding his ability so shoot sticky web no longer works just when he needs it)?

Anyone else think that climbers can be mystifyingly 'in form' or 'out of form'? Or experienced the 'climbing like an idiot' (for no apparent reason) routine, then suddenly rediscovering some skill? Or, *au contraire*, found themselves climbing perplexingly and amazingly well (as if inhabited by the ghost of Wolfgang Gullich)? Or, do you find your level of performance fairly stable?

In reply to Marc C: One of the few advantages of old age is that I have been climbing for long enough to realise that I am always even worse than normal at the start of the season, and there's no point worrying about it. So I just plod away at routes well within my grade until one weekend the ability to climb at my normal level suddenly appears from nowhere.

In reply to Marc C:

Not sure about periods of "form" but surely we all have of days? Had a day out recently when I was struggling to lead an HS, and failing to second my partner on E1.
Just had a weekend where I led nothing below VS, all clean, all pretty much drama-free. Suppose it depends on weather, choice of routes, people around, general state of mind. For me I know that can vary from day to day!

In reply to John2:
>the ability to climb at my normal level suddenly appears from nowhere>

Yes, probably true (about the old age/beginning of season!) - but 'where' is the 'nowhere' it (i.e. normal ability) appears from?

In reply to Marc C: I find form does often fluctuate, some days are light gravity days, others the opposite, sometimes for no apparent reason. You commented that you hadn't climbed much recently, this may just have had an effect though. If you think of your perfomance as a knife blade, with your best performances being the very sharpest edge, it doesn't take much to go away from the edge and seem an awful lot blunter!

Andy F

In reply to andy farnell: Like the knife-edge analogy

Maybe my knife is getting blunter!

In reply to Marc C: I'm sure that the knowledge of how to make moves properly is buried somewhere deep down in my memory, along with the details of the conjugation of Greek irregular verbs. The more I go climbing, the closer it comes to the surface.

In reply to Marc C:

I think any climber who has pushed themselves a bit will recognise that extraordinary feeling you get - when it really matters and you HAVE to get it right - of every move being perfectly executed, seemingly without conscious effort. Wonderful.

In reply to Marc C:

What on earth were you doing indoors in this weather?

In reply to Marc C: i generally find my climbing to be inversely proportional to the amount of alcohol i drank the night before - does that help?

but having said that a weekend climbing will generally produce better results on the sat as the fingertips aren't shredded..

However, also a break (be it winter or a month off) will generally require a couple of sessions to get the head back in...

is that's vaguely along the lines required,, i'm feeling totally not with it...

In reply to Marc C:

Interesting question from a cognitive psychological point of view. Obviously at some level we are able to correctly read the rock and tell our bodies to do what is required to solve the moves. But why can't we do it so well all the time?

In reply to Offwidth: Indoors?! Since when were The Bridestones indoors?

In reply to Jimmy D:

I remember it well! Ah the joys of False Memory Syndrome

Tis indeed an interesting psychological (neuropsychological?) question.

In reply to Marc C:

BTW I had a real shocker on the first route on my recent holiday, not having climbed for about 2 months owing to injury. It was a 4+ (that's probably about VS to you Marc) and I found it hard and scary and generally felt very ill at tease with the whole situation. I didn't feel like a 'climber' at all, more like someone doing the first route of their life. Funny. Things did pick up though

In reply to Jimmy D: I must find a paragraph about climbing in the Lakes - in Baddeley's Guide to the English Lake District (written in the 1930s?). Lovely quaint passage warning that, if office workers (unsound of lung and untested of limb)rush from the city at the weekend to try the climb that attracts the greatest notoriety at the moment, then frightful accidents are bound to happen Very true, I guess. Why should we expect to climb well when we're tired from work or lack of sleep, pre-occupied or feeling stressed etc etc?

In reply to Marc C:

That was me

In reply to Jimmy D:

May be testing my limbs at Heppy later btw

In reply to Jimmy D:

Always good to keep yourself appraised of your intentions! Or is your grip on reality beginning to slide?

If I'm there, I'll be obvious - a middle-aged bumbly falling off on the sloping face of the big block; then, noticing someone watching, looking daggers drawn at the soles of his boots for evidence of engine oil

In reply to Marc C:

almost spot on, but surprisingly even more flowery than your recollection :

If men would be content to serve an apprenticeship and to feel their way gradually from the easier climbs onward, they would excite less apprehension in the minds of those who know what these climbs are. If, on the other hand, they rush- as too many do- straight from the desk in a crowded city, with unseasoned lungs and muscles, in the cold and the wet, to attack alone or with chance companions whatever climb enjoys for the moment the greatest notoriety, frightful accidents are certain to occur

In reply to Marc C: This reminds me of an article in the back of Tom Patey's brilliant 'One Man's Mountains' titled 'The Art of Climbing Down Gracefully (or something similar).

I can't remember the exact quote (maybe someone can post it up?), but he gives a list of excuses for failing without loosing face. One of these is the 'Off Form Ploy'. Very amusing reading!