Month: April 2009

In 1993 Jana Navotna was set to win wimbledon, she was 4-1 up in the final set, and then it all fell apart. The first sign of her collapse was a first service straight into the net, followed by a half hearted second serve, and a double fault. She quickly lost the service game and folded quickly receiving Steffi Graf’s serve, before losing successive game after successive game, barely winning a point and making numerous double faults. She had gone from potential hero to nothing in the space of a couple of minutes.

It was a classic example of anxiety’s ability to created what have become know as performance catastrophes. It is a facet of being human that sometimes when under pressure we ‘choke’, and our ability to perform even the most basic of tasks becomes agonisingly hard. In climbing that pressure becomes immense, as it literally becomes life or death in our minds.

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Anxiety is often misunderstood and overlooked by climber, and in order to overcome its effects we must first understand what anxiety is and how it can effect us. Anxiety is hypothesised to have two dimensions one is in the mind and manifests itself as a worrying thoughts, this is referred to as cognitive anxiety, the other is the physiological effect of a burst of adrenaline.

Cognitive anxiety, stress or fear have an action on what is referred to as the Hypothamulus-Pituatary- Adrenal axis (HPA Axis). As the body senses danger, stress or worry a message is sent from the hypothamulus to the pituitary gland which in turn releases a hormone that makes the adrenal gland situated on the kidneys release adrenaline. This is often referred to as physiological arousal, as it has an effect on our bodies.

The body has several reactions adrenaline, which have typically been attributed to an evolved ‘fight or flight’ response. Where if meet with a challenge to our life the body rapidly prepares to fight the challenger or run from it. As such Adrenaline has various physiological effects. These are typified by opening up the arteries to the heart and skeletal muscles, and constricting those to that go to systems not essential to the fight or flight like the stomach and intestine. It also increases our breathing and heart rate, and increases the amount of blood glucose. It also stimulates protein catabolism which proves energy and readies the body to repair tissue. As such many of the physiological reactions will make us physically stronger and increase our endurance.

Cognitive	Somatic	Behavioural
Indecision Sense of confusion Feeling heavy Negative thoughts Poor concentration Irritability Fear Forgetfulness Loss of confidence Images of failure Defeatist self-talk Feeling rushed Feeling weak Constant dissatisfaction Unable to take instructions Thoughts of avoidance	Increased blood pressure Pounding heart Increased respiration rate Sweating Clammy hands and feet Butterflies in the stomach Adrenaline surge Dry mouth Need to urinate Muscular tension Tightness in neck and shoulders Trembling Incessant talking Blushing Pacing up and down Distorted vision Twitching Yawning Voice distortion Nausea Vomiting Diarrhoea Loss of appetite Sleeplessness Loss of libido	Biting fingernails Lethargic movements Inhibited posture Playing safe Going through the motions Introversion Uncharacteristic displays of extroversion Fidgeting Avoidance of eye contact Covering face with hand

from http://www.brianmac.co.uk/companx.htm list of effects of adrenaline.

Whilst these are the physiological symptons of adrenaline, the way each person reacts or expereinces them is referred by psychologist as somatic arousal. If you like each individual will find various parts of the physiological reaction either facilitative or debilitative. Some people may well be overwhelm, whilst others won’t notice it. Typically the way we experience the physiological changes is butterflies in the stomach, fluttering heart rate, heavy breathing, sweaty palms, bodily tension and nerves.

Whilst it is impossible to stop the physiological arousal, we can learn to see it in a postive and facilitative way. However one of the biggest problems we as climbers face is that of cognitive anxiety. This is often the cause of our literal downfall, as when climbing we can be plagued by negative thoughts and self-talk, that prevent us from reaching our peak performance. It is often the cognitive side of anxiety that leads to the sudden drop in performance, there are several hypothesized reasons for the mechanics of the catastrophe.

Multi-dimension Anxiety Theory

This theory suggested that there was an invert U link to anxiety and performance, in that if you are under or over aroused then performance would be low, and that there is an optimum level of arousal for maximum performance.

Conscious Processing

Conscious processing which was a hypothesis put forward by Master 1992 that suggests that anxiety makes you over think an movement action, and in over thinking it, you stop that movement being automatic and instead revert to being a beginner. Sometimes referred to as paralyses by analysis.

Process Efficiency Theory

The process efficiency theory was put forward by Eysenck and Calvo who suggested that as anxiety increased the working memory would become overloaded with worry, and that because of this performance would drop. However in order to compensate for this reduction in processing efficency we increase the physical effort we put into a task to compensate.

Ironic Effects

Wegner came up with Ironic effect by experimenting with the repression or suppression of a thought and finding that by asking people not to think about a white polar bear they thought about it more. The argument being that if you try and not think about falling off, or failing that you will increase the occurrence of those negative thoughts, and potentially the likelihood of that happening.

Cusp Catastrophe Model

This is a complex model that suggest that under the specific conditions of somatic and cognitive arousal that performance suffer a steep and radical drop like dropping on the cusp of a wave. It also suggest that after that drop it will take a period of time at a lower arousal for performance to return to normal.

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Reducing the fear factor

One of the most important things with understand anxiety is that we need to be able to try and control its effect on us. This is what the following section of the article looks at. Some tried and tested methods and some that are applications of other sport psychology techniques to that of climbing, and reducing the fear factor that we all feel from time to time.

An important consideration with fear is that it often occurs as a precursor to an activity, in that you are more likely to feel its effects both cognitively and somatically just before you embark on a climb. The cognitive worry prior to a climb will quickly subside, but the somatic influence may well continue.

Fall training

There have been several articles by Dave Binney in CLIMB magazine on the use of fall training to help overcome the fear of falling. Until a few years ago there was little scientific support for fall training, although a great deal of support from the real world experience of climbers. A few years back Steve Parry investigated one of Dave’s protocols in a scienctific fashion, and wrote his thesis on the findings. I was given an overview by Andy Boorman, senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moore University.

The overview gives some support to the fact that fall training can reduce the cognitive anxiety of someone by up to 50%. There is however several things that are worth noting in this research. The research had a small number of participants, so it is hard to see it as having a generalised effect. Similarly the only measure was cognitive anxiety, as the measure of somatic anxiety/physiological arousal failed. The test also only the effects in the very short-term, with individuals only being tested on one or possible two days (the methodology was vague in the overview I read).

As such there are questions as to whether fall training would have lasting effects, over several days, weeks or months? Similarly the use of the STAI as a anxiety measure was good, however the CSAI-2 measures both cognitive and somatic anxiety, as well as confidence, so may well have should some other more interesting results, like would confidence have a moderating effect on anxiety.

The further issue is that if the testing takes place over a short period, then cognitive anxiety is said to deminish short after we start an activity, so would cognitive anxiety naturally reduce over a short time period, therefore effecting the validity of the experiment because it could be hypthesised that cognitive anxiety would decreases anyway fall training or not.

Similarly physiological arousal would also have a ceiling level, as a feedback mechanism that as adrenaline levels reach a certain level in the blood, it effective switches off the release of anymore adrenaline, so the first few falls may max out our systems with adrenaline.

Whatever the case falling off often allows us to rationalise the process of falling off. Where before falling it is very, very scary prospect, but afterwards we realise that the fall isn’t as bad as we expect. It is perhaps this reason alone that makes the progressive fall training a great tool to help us come to terms with the fear, becasue at the very least it allows us to experience the somatic influence of adrenaline and to come to terms with how we react to it.

The general thought of the practical side of fall training is to progressive increase the distance of a fall from the rope being clipped into an anchor by your face to eventually below your feet. It is best to start this process inside on bolts, pick a gently overhanging wall, so there are no ledges or large hold to hit. Also the higher up the wall the better as the impact forces will be lower, as there is more rope out.

Finally make sure you trust your belayer, there is some research ongoing at the moment in the belayer/climber trust relationship. I am sure they will find a link between trust in the person holding your ropes and your performance.

Similarly be very careful if attempting fall training outside, as there are far greater risks like protection failing, ledges to hit, etc…

PMR and Imagery

Progressive Muscle relaxation was used in conjunction with imagery to help to desensitize people from fearful stimuli from as early as the 1940’s, where it has been proven to be effective. The general idea is that you use progressive muscle relaxation to find a zero activiation level, where you are totally relaxed. Once you have mastered the relaxation you then relax and add in the imagined fearful stimuli.

Ask yourself what your response to the fearful stimulus was, and we want to try and change that negative response to a positive one. So write a script, that has the fearful stimulus and the new positive response propositions. So whilst you might not be able to change the sinking feeling in your stomach, you can turn the idea of that sinking feeling to be a positive action that happens before the excitement of the climb.

When have your new script combine the relaxation and new imagery script.

Brief Relaxation stratgeies

Often before a route our worrying thoughts can over power us, similarly if we have a good rest before the crux move of a route then the anxiety can return. In order to help keep those worries at bay and help counteract the racing breathing and heart rate caused by anxiety, it is good to have a mental relaxation technique, that you can quickly use, to help focus of the here and now rather than what might or might might not happen.

The easiest thing to control to relax is the Breathing and if we use it in conjunction with a mantra like ‘re-lax’, where we use the ‘re’ during the inhalation and and ‘lax’ during the exhalation. At the same time choose a point to focus on, it might be a speck of rock, a piece of protection, just anything that will help you focus on your current position.

To start with many people will need to follow a complete relaxation exercise that lasts 20 minutes. Over a few session the amount of time that it takes you to relax will reduce, and over a couple of weeks of practice you might find that the time you take to relax may come down to 5 to 10 minutes. Eventually the breathing exercises will help to relax in a less than minute or two.

Self-talk strategies

Now we have mentioned that anxiety has a large cognitive component, it is therefore important that you understand what your negative thoughts are and how they effect you. This can be achieve by noting down negative thoughts that occur prior to falling or feeling that you are about to fall. Often people have a pattern of negative thoughts, they almost expect to fail as soon as they experience those thoughts.

In exploring you negative thoughts, ‘my hands are going to slip’, ‘My arms won’t pull me to the next hold’, ‘my foot is going to slip’, ‘I can’t find the next hand/foot hold’, ‘I can see a runner’, any or all of these might have an effect on your climbing. Whatever the thought or thoughts are you need to be ready for them, and have something up your sleeve to stop and counteract the negativity.

At its most basic you need to say “Stop!” when you get those negative thoughts, beyond that you need to add a counter argument. So for ‘My hands are going to slip’ you might counter with ‘Not before i reach that good rest beyond the crux’.

Similarly you can use self talk to attack the crux of a route, I often find myself reasonably calm on most parts of a route, but as I get to the crux I use the cue phrase ‘Go for it’. This mentally shifts to a place where I have accepted that i might fall off, but I am not going to stop before I get to the next rest, or that fall occurs.

The transistion is deliberate, and calculated, in that I have assessed that the gear is good enough to take a fall, and the next rest isn’t that far away that your going to hit the ground. Whilst this isn’t a controlling technique, it is a technique of acceptance, afterall you have decided to put yourself in that position.

In fact it fits in more with something called reversal theory, I am not sure of the scientific backing for such a theory, but it contested that we can if we wish to see something that is at first scary as something that is fun and exciting. It is this transforming of a situation from a negative experience to a positive one. If during the fall training you concentrate of whooping with joy every time you fall off them this may well help you ‘frame’ falling as fun.

Personal Training Programmes

If you are interested in a personalised training regime to help combat the fear of falling, or help to improve other aspects of your performance then contact the climbing coach via this website.

Well apart from being an annoyingly whiny tune from 1980’s power ballad drummer extraordinaire Phil Collins, it could conceivably describe yet another day in Llanberis, arguably a climbers paradise, but for the residence often a little mundane, when it comes to day to day living. You still have to pay your rent, car tax, etc… It was one of those days where little actually happens. Probably due to the birthday party I went to last night, and the amount of beer I consumed.

However I still manage to get up and write another pointless blog about nothing in particular. These are some of my favourite blogs really, being a fan of Withnail & I the concept of a world happening around you, and you achieving absolutely nothing is something that I can relate to. Sure I might have written some stuff on anxiety for my coaching blog, researched some relaxation protocols for my thesis, and looked at some more photo’s for my book I didn’t really achieve anything. I guess after 10 days work I can conceivably allow myself a couple of days where I do nothing?

That is what I was content to do until at some point this afternoon probably 2.30 the pager went off and the ‘Team to nant’ appeared. Sat at home doing nothing didn’t seem like a good enough excuse not to go, so I threw a bag together and headed in. I have to say that when I found out the call was for two 17 year old girls I became keener to go on the hill (well they could have been good looking!). Anyway eventually I walked up with a 100m rope, Casualty bag and a radio, whilst the rest of the team carried the stretcher.

Anyway we got one of them in the stretcher and I have to say that I basically carried my own bag back down, whilst the rest of the team carried the stretcher. I really don’t want to hurt my back before I go on holiday. Anyway the group were a D of E group, and they appeared to have done everything right when the incident happened. What amazed me was that the D of E group was off the road!

The majority of the times that I see any D of E groups they are often walking along the roads. I nearly run a few over on my way to work between now and the end of the summer holidays. It appears that they either have a) no imagination or b) an inability to follow a path that runs parallel with the road. I suspect the later, as if I was a kid from the inner city, tarmac would definitely being in my ‘comfort zone’.

Now I don’t want people to think I don’t think the D of E is a bad thing to be involved in, I truly believe that it has a lot to offer many middle class children in terms of looking good of their CV or UCAS application. I am just wary that it is often not the people who would really benefit who engage in activities like this. I am sure that there are many less well off children involved in the scheme, however I suspect the market is skewed to upper middle class.

Did I ever do the D of E award scheme? No, although back then I was in the right socio-economic caste. I did do some similar challenges though in particular the Ten Tors was a mighty challenge. I also did a weeks sailing course as part of something that in Dorset was referred to as ‘Project Trident’, which was a blatant rip off of the D of E award scheme.

Anyway my point was at least these guys got off the road and halfway up Snowdon, which to me is more in keeping with the ethos of the award than following a road. Although wouldn’t it be funny if D of E groups from North Wales did their Expeditions across central London, camping out in Hyde Park! It would be just as scary, put them out of their comfort zone, and I don’t think their is a rescue team for inner city London, when one gets a blister, still at least they could call a ambulance, and navigate with a Tomtom or iPhone!

I got asked a question by a friend trying to play devils advocate to my work as a coach and instructor. I was stunned for a minute, but essentially offered the argument that for many people what a coach/instructor offers is a unbias analysis of your performance. In that it is hard for an individual to be impartial about themselves, as they can barely see the proverbial ‘wood from the trees’, as they are too close.

More importantly though when we see what part of someone’s performance needs working on we have a variety of tools to help us improve that specific area. In essence though it is the ability to analyze performance that enables us to offer and appropriate intervention, after all everyone is different so there is no one size fits all approach to coaching climbing.

Over the years that I have been instructing and coaching, I have come up with various typical behaviours that climbers use when various techniques are lacking. Clawing blindly at the rock signifies that the climber hasn’t bothered to plan where the next hold is, often due to the fear. Similarly pedalling indicates poor footwork. Most of it is common sense however it is only through experience that we as coaches learn to pick on on these things very rapidly.

If you are interested in some coaching to improve your performance then I offer my services at £150 per day, the climbing coaching is based in North Wales. You can contact me via this website. As well as the information on this blog, my other experience include freelancing for Plas y Brenin for over four years including directing some of their climbing courses, writing a book due out later this year for pesda press on self-coaching climbing and studying an MSc in Applied Sport Science, with units in sport psychology, performance physiology and effective coaching methods.

It is because of people like Ken that often the BMC is perceived as an old guard run organisation that should be kept at arms length. Fortunately I have grown into a climber as Ken was coming to the downward swoop of his flight in the ‘battle of traditions’. I have never met the man, but have read a few of his views and seen them as an extreme polar end of an argument. No half measures, no compromise, a my way or the highway approach. UKC have just published a guest editorial on the BMC presidential election, a better description would be a party political broadcast for the Doug Scott Party.

Essentially a no bolts, no competitions, no Olympics argument, versus Rab Carringtons more down to earth open and reasoned approach. Now the BMC has done some stirling work in re-Branding itself as an organisation that gets involved with ‘real’ climber help to solve issue that are real to them. I fear that if Scott gets in and manages to influence the powers that be, then perhaps we will have to say good bye to all the excellent grass roots work that the BMC has undertaken, crag clean up and certainly the BMC Better Bolts Campaign will all be in jeopardy.

Ken became entwined with an argument back in the 1960’s saying that the use of climbing and mountaineering in an educational setting will lead to the downfall of the traditions of mountaineering. That threat and all the bravado surrounding it really doesn’t appeared to have materialised. Whilst Wilson/Scott camp argue about bolts taking over the world, actually I can’t really see a proliferation outside areas where they have been accepted for many years, it is really Ken and Scott ‘we want no bolts’ versus the general consensus ‘we are OK with a few bolts in specific areas’. The bolting issue is a storm in a tea cup, and as for the BMC encouraging it with a better bolts campaign that’s just ridiculous. My guess is that many climbers will have clipped a bolt that has been supplied by the BMC, and put in with resin brought by local bolt funds and placed by a volunteer.

The Scott campaign seems to be saying that anyone clipping bolts or help make existing routes safer by replacing twenty year old bolts is an enemy of the state. Well I just hope that the majority of active climbers feel enraged enough by his comments to send in their proxy vote to the BMC AGM and send him to the proverbial Coventry.

I for one will be voting for Rab, as he has a wide appreciation of our sport, he boulders, sport climbs and trad climbs harder than me. Despite being in his 60’s he trains and actively pursues climbing with the enthusiasm of a teenager, and his aims are for the BMC to continues its good work, but to try and do it more efficiently. Basically the BMC ain’t broke, so he is not trying to fix it, just help it run more smoothly.

If you want to learn how as a BMC member you can cast a proxy vote then see here.

Well the rain finally came in today, i saw someone look like they engaged there after burners on Last Tango in Paris, they were at the over lap when I felt the first proper drops of rain, a sure sign to power on through to the belay before the heavens opened. To defeat boredom on my first day off I went for a run with Llion, in our final five weeks of ‘training’ before Team Thirty something terrify themselves in the US Desert.

Anyway the anti was up today, as llion took us on a longer run, up Clegir and over to Cwm Y Glo, before heading up Fachwen and round the lake passing the quarry hospital. I was rather goosed by the end of the run, but made up that we made it round in one hour, and according to my latest training aid had an average heart rate of 161 BPM and a Max heart rate of 189. No wonder why I felt totally worked!

I just have to hope that the weather gets better so i can do some more climbing this week, as I am off till saturday!

More important than all this training is the fact that Georgio’s Ice Cream emporium has just re-opened its doors for the summer season. So I am about to undo all hard work training, by having a two scooper.

Well, the UK has just had a few nice weekends where it has finally been possible to climb, I have also managed to get out after work and climb a few route. One of the things I try to do this time of year is have a bit of a shake down, in that I try and see where I am this year when it comes to climbing. If you like I have a few ‘acid test’ routes like Comes the Dervish, that allow me to see how I am climbing based on the experience from passed years.

I also try and get on a few easy routes to get my eye in for gear placements, rests and route finding. I might also get on a bold route to kick my mind back into shape after a winters bouldering at the climbing. I basically use the first few climbing session of a year to perform a few system checks to ensure that all is well in the climbing machine that is me.

How this helps you is to build your confidence in your ability to climb, and allow you to see the benefit of all that training on your real climbing. I am fairly luck as I spend much of the early season teaching people to climb on easy routes, so nearly always have an eye for gear placements and route finding. However if your not that lucky then it is best to ease yourself into the summer by climbing some nice easy routes, before strapping yourself to something too hard.

TOP TIPS FOR EARLY SEASON SHAKE DOWN
1. Climd a few easy routes to try and get your gear placement eye in.
2. Climb a few easy route to get your route finding eye in.
3. Climb a reasonably hard route that you have climbed before to see how you are going this year.
4. Check you rack when your climbing these first routes.
5. Set yourself a route to do in this early season to kick start your outdoor climbing year.

Well, yesterday was my last day at work and it all went well, however I did leave my mobile phone on the minibus so was stuck on the last day, with a dilemma of how to get myself up in time for work. I went through about three other broken mobile phone to see if one would work as an Alarm clock, however none of these would play ball. So wondering how I would make it into work I asked my housemate on the off chance he had a spare alarm clock.

I should have know something was a little fishy when my housemate ran upstairs and came down with the alarm clock above. He eager set it for me, and said see you in the morning with a all knowing smug nod. What was this alarm clock going to do to me that brought a smile to my mates face?

Anyway come seven o’clock in the morning I found out exactly what this clock was going to do. As it wound itself into live I was transported back to Morrocco and the ‘Call to Prayer‘. Now a friend of mine was once rushed out of a country he was working in after he stop a tape of the call to prayer, now I was particularly glad that I was in the UK where the penalty isn’t being shot for turning off the call to prayer

Well, after nine consecutive days at work the end is finally in sight. I am set to head into work and help some RSPCA trainee inspectors to rescue some cuddly toys from some ledges half way down a crag tomorrow. Hard work but someone has got to do it. I then introduce them to some basic navigation, and hope to be back home for 7pm, where I plan to have at the very least a drink, but preferably many.

Ten days work at XXX pounds a day = one great holiday!

For a french man he is particularly brave, not surrendering at the first sign of trouble but seeing things through to the end. Having made a name for himself climbing various building all over the world without a rope. Alain has recently seen a lot of media attention, last year there was the documentary, ‘Spider Man’ or some such nonsense, media fuelled name. Now from a climbing perspective I can’t knock the guy he is extremely talented, however making a name for yourself soloing routes has one possible outcome. Interestingly, my lecturer who is an expert in the reasons people participate in high risk sports suggested a few reason why he might do what he does in the documentary. I wrote this article based on my interpretation of his research.

If you remember Total Control, a 1980’s climbing video by Al Hughes about the Great Jimmy Jewel, who made a name for himself soloing moderate routes. If you haven’t seen it then buy it here. Anyway Jimmy died soloing down an easy route at tremadog, a route he had reverse many times before, however that day fate made a hold loose.

So now Alain has started ‘campaigning’ for something, does that make his death defying stunts, anything more than a stunt that might well go wrong? In his latest adventure he climbed the side of the Lloyds building in London during the G20 protests, and unfurled his climate change banner. The independent made a big deal how he climb the side in thirty minutes, blah, blah, blah. 

It made me remember that many years ago Shane and Patrick were asked to climb a few building for a lads mag. I remember them mentioning that when they climbed the Lloyds Building they sat on the roof waiting for the security to come and escort them from the premises and into the arms of the police, but nothing happened. So eventually had to find their own way down. Not really in the same league as Mr Roberts (Why do we pronounce his name rob-bear?)

Now they didn’t really have the media circus that Alain has, and I would not want to encourage people to repeat these amazing feats but if I lived in London, I would love to give it a go as that building looks piss!

Well, the weather looked better over at the coast so i headed to Tremadog again with work, and got my two students to lead Valerie’s Rib and Merlin Direct. The weather didn’t play ball and it got pretty cold in the wind, however we did knock out the product.

I then went out and climbed Is It a Crime? and attempted an E5 that I don’t know the name of on the right hand side of the the spark that set the flame slab (my excuse was I only had my comfortable shoes!). We then went to do Psychotherapy.

Whilst up at the Conscience Slab Rob from Joe Browns came up and climbed The Sweetest Taboo on the slab, a classic E4, in fine fine style. (well climbing style). His attire seemed far from good style, in fact even his fashion guru Scottish Al would have disowned him. If he had hurt himself he would have been the laughing stock of A&E. All I can say is his trousers were like two floral pyjamas your granny would where. Neither of which match the other, but someone thought they’d look good as ‘left and right legs’. To see these bad boys is to live to be honest. I just wished I had my camera.

Anyway 8 days of work done only 2 to go!