UKC

Hi everyone. I've just started using the local indoor climbing wall having never climbed before, and have been around 4-5 times now. A mate of mine is an experienced climber and has shown me the basics, but I want to improve my technique now and don't want to be phoning him ever 5 minutes so thought I'd ask Father Christmas to bring me a book to help.
I'm at the stage where I can fairly happily climb 5s and normally attempt 6, 6a etc and sometime succeed, sometimes not.
Can anyone recommend a good book to help me improve???
Cheers.

In reply to bobthetrain:

Instead of a book,have a look at Neil Gresham's masterclass 1 dvd.

In reply to mark stones:

Robbie Phillips' articles on UK.

In reply to bobthetrain:

Mark's spot on mate! Neil's Masterclass DVDs are awesome!! I have the part 1 DVD of Technique and Training and its superb!

In reply to bobthetrain:

When I first started climbing I looked for similar. There was stuff out there but I found it to be pretty useless to be honest. I just climbed lots and lots. You will learn far more watching others and being in a climbing wall than a book or did will ever do.

In reply to bobthetrain:

Get to your local wall, climb and get some coaching. Books are all very well and good but I've gained more by watching other climbers and climbing myself. A bit of coaching in your early days will reap rewards if you can get really get the basics pinned down and get feedback about how you climb. Sure, some of it may be real Billy basic stuff but it is worth spending a bit of time on the basics. I seriously recommend throwing a bit of bouldering in the mix as well. There is no substitute for your own experiences.

I did pick up a couple of books but to be honest all that did for me was make me over-think my climbing which was bad news. Once I stop over-thinking and over-analysing everything in my climbs I enjoyed it again and I climbed better.

In reply to bobthetrain:

And get the masterclass (part 1). It tells you what you should be doing - making it work is then up to you.

In reply to bobthetrain:

Just chat to other climbers at the wall. Is there a bouldering area? Bouldering can be a little more social, so easier to get chatting to people. Some walls have social evenings, where climbers can meet and climb with others of similar abilities..
You can read/watch videos all day long, but it's no substitute for actually climbing.
Where's your local wall? Maybe there are local climbers on here....

In reply to bobthetrain:

There is nothing that will beat practice on the wall for improving technique, but personally I loved reading and enjoyed trying to understand the dynamics of climbing when I couldn't be at the wall.

I've read quite a few but I would probably recommend The Self Coached Climber.

Books arent a bad thing and you should definitely be picking up a few to read (ive picked up a few!). These along with talking to other climbers will ensure that you develop your skills. Youtube is also a great resource! Dont become an armchair climber though. get out there and climb. climb, climb, climb some more. When you are done with that, climb again.

The more variety you can get in, the better! Bouldering, leading, top roping, going outside (join the local mountaineering club and climb with them. plenty of people with gear and willing to teach), whatever! I found that starting out, some bouldering really helped me with finishing some of the harder routes at my grade since i got to practise the "difficult moves" a bit more. I also had a massive jump in grades once I came back indoors after a summer of trad climbing. Im hoping that some indoor training this year will give me a slightly better edge outdoors.

Mixing it up is also lots of fun and there arent any excuses for skipping a session. It will take some time until you start to become aware of the way your body moves on a climb and understanding what the route actually needs from you. This just needs experience, so go get it!

In reply to mark s:


Maybe it depends on the individual, but I watched Neil Gresham's Masterclass when I was a beginner and it was a revelation. I still watch it every now and again, just last week in fact, and it always seems to have a positive effect.

To some extent you are still just watching someone else climb, but watching people with far better technique than most down your local wall.

Assuming that's a typo and you meant DVD...

In reply to bobthetrain:

The first thing to learn is to clip quickdraws while lead climbing, the second is to fall and dynamically belay a fall.
A good method to progress is to always lead climb and climb negative and positive slope routes.

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

You do realise Mark used to regulation onsight solo way harder than your best? My advice would be to climb and watch climbers and try and hook up with better climbers if you can. Coaching is good from time to time (but expensive). The book I'd recommend for an improver is 9 out of 10 climbers make the same mistakes, as so many climbers sure do seem to focus on doing stuff that acheives the opposite of what they say they want.

In reply to Offwidth:


Sounds like a bit of a "my Dad's harder than your Dad" playground argument.


You do realise Mark used to regulation onsight solo way harder than your best?

In reply to bobthetrain:


In two words - better footwork. Please don't take this as a slight on you. It's not. An awful lot of climbers could improve their climbing significantly through better footwork.

How to do it? As Mark and Offwidth say, watch others who are better - and I don't mean just a bit better - massively better. Climb loads yourself. If you can, do low level traversing, aiming for ever slicker footwork.

Never just plonk your foot on a hold. It's tempting to do so on indoor walls as they're so obvious. But, if you plonk your foot on, you're trapped. Most of the time, your foot should be in a little triangle at the top of your climbing shoe - near your big toe. Your options are open then. Usually no more than a micro-adjustment is needed.

Don't try to rush your learning. In climbing, good footwork is the best investment you can make. If you want it to be, it's a lifetime investment.

Good luck!

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward:


I would also add, use silent feet when you warm-up (*), but you've climbed harder than me Mick, so I'll just shut up...

(*) advice from Mr. Gresham BTW.

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

Silent feet? They can hear me coming in Batley!

Mick

P.S. Agree with Neil Gresham's Masterclass - and with watching it regularly. There's so much good stuff in it. (And, as he's climbed harder than me, I'll now shut up too!)

In reply to mark s:


That works if you have easy access to a wall. If you don't that books and videos have a role to play in enabling you to maximise the benefits of the time that you do have to climb.

In reply to bobthetrain:

If you intend to take up outdoor trad climbing, The complete guide to rope techniques by Nigel Shepherd is a really good book to learn knots/rigging/etc