9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes

[sawyl]

A rare foray into non-fiction with Dave MacLeod's 9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes, a mixture of general self-help and climbing specific tips. Although it's a bit rough in places, I found it useful and inspirational — not least because it speaks from real experience.

Setting out his stall, MacLeod identifies fear of failure rather than lack of strength as the primary problem that prevents most climbers from progressing. He notes that people tend to fall into the trap of making marginal gains by polishing a skill they're good in order to avoid failing or losing face, whereas they should be confronting their weaknesses where the potential for improvement is greatest.

Having established this, the book identifies some common failings: a lack of focus on technique and movement patterns; a tendency to rely on brute strength rather than using momentum; and a lack of precision. After a quick review of useful training methods — when to boulder, when to fingerboard — we get a quick overview of body types and what conclusions we can draw from the differences between the likes of Sharma and Ondra.

The book then moves on to fear of falling, which MacLeod notes affects most climbers and often limits their performance, whether they admit it to themselves or not. (His point is that even if people tell themselves they're not concerned, they might avoid climbing particular sorts of routes or perform particular moves inefficiently because they're subconsciously afraid of falling) The solution he identifies is practice: start by taking small lead falls, gradually working up to bigger ones by failing to clip the anchor on each climb, until, over the years, it becomes automatic and overcome the atavistic fear of falling.

In a telling analogy, MacLeod compares fear of falling with driving. When you start to learn to drive, the experience is terrifying and every second feels fraught with danger, but after a few lessons the fear quickly diminishes and the whole process becomes almost automatic. Taking a lead fall is actually safer than the drive to the climbing centre but because it taps into a deep-seated evolutionary fear, it is harder to overcome than the fear of controlling a couple of tons of metal travelling at high speed while all around you other people are trying to do the same.

Finally, we get a summing up and some advice. After skimming through the various different types of climber and how they fit their training regime in alongside the rest of their lifestyle. We then get some suggestions on goals and a quick overview of how to get the most out of training sessions, how to mix up your training routine to prevent you from getting stale, how to tell whether you are recovering correctly, how to reduce the chances of injury, and, above all, how to stick with your regime and not give up in a fit of disillusionment just as you're about to make a breakthrough.

While I'm not sure it's enough to get my suddenly climbing 9a — MacLeod's central point is that performance improvements take time and there are no magic bullets — 9 Out of 10 Climbers has certainly helped me identify a number of my own problems and pointed me at a whole load of things I can use to get past them.

It's made me realise that I've been bouldering too much, staying in my comfort zone and not pushing myself enough, and that I'm more than strong enough to climb everything I want to try. Instead I need to make 2016 the year I confront my fear of taking lead falls and start climbing closer to my limits, embracing the sorts of failures that will inevitably involve.