UKC

Was wondering if many other people go through this as well?
At my grade which ranges from diff to VS I am relatively confident and expeirenced,
however from time to time I have massive off days where I find my self backing off climbs which I would otherwise not find difficult.

To be fair it's usually if im tired or on a rock type (lime stone grrrr) which i am not used to. When this happens I usually find my self resiged from doing much more climbing that day.

Anybody find they get this as well? or am I just a massive wimp from time to time?

In reply to glenman_uk:

Oh yes!

In reply to jon: Ha, Thanks jon

In reply to glenman_uk:
Same as everything in life. Found myself unable to lead a vdiff then next time out led a severe (although one I knew before).
If its a bad climbing day just enjoy being outside.

In reply to glenman_uk:

Oh yeah, most if not all through my climbing career.

Over the last few years I have been looking into this and come to the conclusion that I have been psychologically sabotaging myself.

I think you can do this in many ways, and most if not all happen even before you get on the rock.

In reply to glenman_uk:

Definitely. At times like these, rather than giving up you neeed to find a 'reset'. This might be to drop a grade, try something that you expect to fail on (there's no pressure then), climb a route you've done before, second someone else, boulder about a bit, have a sleep/food/drink etc. I find that once you have recognised a bad day, you can usually turn it into a good day if you refocus your goals.

A reset button would be just what is required.

Your right, I did the same thing I backed a limestone Vdiff last weekend and it ruined me pyschologyicaly for the rest of the day and I didn't trust a thing afterwards.

In reply to glenman_uk:

Like you say being tired and on a rocktype you are not used to can have a massive effect on your grade. Typically you get on something at a grade you think you 'should' find easy and don't give it the respect it deserves and get a little bit frightened/pumped which makes you grip harder, climb slower search for more gear this makes a bit more frightened which makes you grip harder, climb slower search for more gear in a vicious circle till you make it to the top or back off that shatters your arms and head ready for the next route and you end up having a shit day.

A good start is to recalibrate realistic grade expectations (when fresh) for diffrent rockttypes i.e I can confidently onsight slabby grit HS which I like but on steep polished limestone I can confidently onsight diff. From that base expectation doing Severe on limestone represents an equivalent personal accomplishment as a VS on grit for example.

In reply to glenman_uk: I think everyone has there good and bad days when it comes to climbing. Dont put yourself down about it.
My theory is that there is always another day

In reply to shark:

I think shark gives good advice here. My off days have nearly always been due to my expectations being defied by an 'easy' warm up.

I also think Monk's idea of refreshing and changing your goals for a day is a good one. i.e. if you've messed up your onsight head, get on a project and redpoint it.

In reply to glenman_uk:

Good days and bad days are definately a fact of climbing life.
As are good climbs and bad climbs.

I think it's not wise to under-estimate the way certain factors can have an influence, soemtimes a very big one, over the outcome of climbing performance.
There is a tiny fragile mind balance at the crux center of everything when attempting a climb.

The trick for me is to have 'bail out' options as well as 'boat out' options that can be deployed according to the feeling i'm getting!

Acceptance that the feeling isn't there is sometimes hard and it's often hard to 'back down' and 'quiet down the ego' to let it go.

I love Alex Honnolds quote about being honest with yourself before soloing Moonlight Buttress (climbing a route in general). Its not 'Do I want to do it' it's 'Do I believe I CAN I do it'

This gung ho 'just jump on it cos its safe' is about the worst a climbing mentality can be IMO

In reply to glenman_uk:

Yep, everyone does.

A day in the life of sutty;

At crag, have this HVS or E1 lined up to do. Get on it, just does not want to be done, head all over the place.
Decide to do pleasant VS done before, fail
Damn, let's do that severe then, surely we are not that bad, we were.
Last gasp, try VD, why are we so shit today? Get up it, Moons open, lets go to the pub.

In reply to glenman_uk:
"Some days you catch the fish; some days you mend the nets."

In reply to glenman_uk:

Absolutely normal. If there were no 'bad' days where your performance (mental, physical, whatever) was lower than other days, there would be no 'good' days either - they'd all be the same.

In reply to glenman_uk:

I'm currently going through the "supremely confident" and will try anything (6b+/VS) after spending much time feeling like I can't even dog my way up a 4+/vdiff.

I'm trying to analyze what is going right for me at the moment so that if I dip back down to the I'm-a-fat-punta-phase, I can try and spend less time there again!

In reply to glenman_uk: Have been known to break into tears on VS's on some days while giggling though E3/4s on others. Good luck...

Cheers guys some really good advice there,
I don't tend to get myself to down about it in the long run, its usually there and then that it can be annoying, but like you all say drawing a line under it and taking stock is the best way to deal with it.

Im glad it's not a particularly uncommon thing due back on the grit stone in a couple of weeks so will see if I can't get back to the usual standard just got to a)not be tired (so no drinking the night before) b)be realistic, put my climbing ego away and climb stuff that i will be confident on.

In reply to glenman_uk: I backed off Creag Dhu Wall bout a month ago then seconded it no probs. Led One Step in the Clouds no probs then backed off a VDiff. So yeah, your not alone. I've even managed a few 5c climbs in my time and one 6a. Sometimes I just don't know what's going on in my head.

Just the day before yesterday I couldn't get up 5+ then managed a 6a+ next to it!!

Your not alone........