UKC

I'm a climbing instructor at my local wall and recently one of the kids has just lost all confidence in the safety of the climbing wall.

At one point he was perfectly happy to shoot up anything you stood him in front of but now he seems terrified as soon as he gets more than two meters off the ground.

Any advice on improving his confidence would be appreciated or even stories of similar situations.

Thanks

In reply to RichG:

It's quite hard I think. Try getting him to climb 2 metres, then lower off, and build up from there. You could also try having someone climbing on another rope alongside, coaxing him and reassuring him.

My daughter was the same; she'd be up the wall like a rat up a teflon drainpipe, then next time she wouldn't want to leave the ground. The worst thing is when they get about 8 metres up and won't move!

In reply to RichG:
Stop top roping, and just boulder?

Meaning: do stuff that he enjoys so he connects climbing with fun, not stress. Return to top roping in a year's time.

In reply to RichG:

at the gym i go to one of the instructors had a similar problem he got them to climb s high as they where confident then they leaned back and bounce o the rope a bit, he then did a demonstration where he went of and "fell" and was caught by the rope. and if all else fails hang you're car off the end of the rope then they will see just how safe they really are.

In reply to Submit to Gravity:

We've been basically doing that, just trying to get him a little higher each time. It seems like he's just going up so that we'll stop nagging him rather than actually wanting to climb though.

Apparantly his sister told him that ropes break all the time and that he was "lucky to be alive after climbing".

In reply to RichG:

Something that works with adults is to try to climb blindfolded. Then you're concentrating on climbing bit by bit and you forget about the height - and then it feels like less of an issue after you've been to the top (and taken off the blindfold there) a couple of times!


There's the problem...

In reply to RichG:

Bouldering's a good idea, as someone said above. My daughter enjoys it more that roped climbing, even though it's more dangerous.

In reply to RichG: Dont take this the wrong way but if hes reached a fear of climbing maybe its time to back off and let him climb if he realy wants to.I was into a hard sport for many years befour climbing but wouldnt encourage someone to do it if they wernt enjoying it.

In reply to David Coley:

I think reconnecting climbing with fun is a good idea, he seems so nervous now that he's not enjoying it at all so bouldering might be the way to go.

In reply to RichG:


Another thing that worked for my kids is swinging on the rope: climb up 1 to 2m, then try and run sideways as far as possible, swing back, try again - sweet or teddy bear on a far hold. Not all walls like you doing this and make sure they can't hurt themselves if they roll back across the wall.

In reply to RichG:
This is not an uncommon occurrence, some kids bounce back pretty quickly and others take longer. what you choose to do is going to be limited by whether this kid comes in a group or on an individual session.
I think the most important thing is to work out whether this child wants to continue coming along and climbing and whether he still enjoys it. If he wants to keep climbing and is fine going a little way up but not achieving the top of the wall then is there really a problem, lower him when he's ready and don't make a big issue out of it.
If he's getting disheartened or upset about not getting to the top then a very simple sticker style-reward chart may prove helpful.
No matter what you go with don't underestimate the value of asking simple questions of him about why he gets scared, he's probably aware of it even if he tells you he doesnt know, and involve the parents, talk with them too if you get the chance.

In reply to RichG:

If he is just going up because he is being naged maybe he just doesn't want to be there it's not nice as an instructor but some people just don't fit climbing, have you tried talking to their parents? Tell them about the kids lack of motivation, from the sounds of it it's less of a fear thing and more of a complete lack of enjoyment out of climbing, do they enjoy bouldering?

In reply to RichG:

My 5yo son boulders a bit. I have tried him on a top rope a few times but he will not even go as high as he boulders. He has lots of fun bouldering but is wary of the rope/harness (I don't think he trusts me not to pull him up to the top!).
One thing I have done with him is to tandem abseil outdoors. I did this to give him chance to trust the rope in a different setting, and gain a bit of experience on rock. And to learn to trust me! We only abseiled down one of the taller vertical sections of shipley glen but it was enough
He really enjoyed the abseil and insisted on having another go which we did. We have discussed doing another bigger one somewhere soon.
I expect it may take some time before he is bothered about roped climbing. I do not wish to put him off so am happy to watch him continue bouldering if that what he prefers.

Andy