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I clicked on this for rock climbing advice and got a life lesson about believing in yourself, commitment, trial and error, and the power of could vs should
The way Louie approaches how he teaches is subtly masterful. Does not sound preachy, does not sound judgemental. He is so patient, kind and supportive. Hes the supportive coach that everyone needs
A bit late to the party but as a 50yr old whose been climbing for less than a yr seeing Maggie get that move made me so proud! This is exactly where I'm at in my climbing right now, can flash nearly every v2, have been struggling to even start most v3. That is changing in the past couple of weeks though as I challenge the fear more And am making myself try things outside my comfort zone
6:49 "You tried this climb earlier and then chose to walk away right ? As proven , you were always able to do it, it was always there and you hadn't got any stronger in the last few minutes. Maintaining high level of confidence and just carrying on working at something , even if it doesn't feel like you are going to get it is a really tricky part of timing" - This is words of great teacher and coach.
23:27 we all know the importance of giving holds a proper brush, but it’s really good of Louis to show how it can be equally beneficial to give it a good stare down as well
For sure. We could all learn from watching or rewatching the winner of the recent Jakarta women's final during the bouldering portion of the competition.
I'm sure loads of people have said this, but my favourite part is that none of these tips were "V3 need to flag more" or "V5 need to focus on precision movements" or any other technique-specific problem. It's all about attitude and mindset! 100% why I'm subscribed to Catalyst (and also to HMB!)
One other things I would do to increase my confidence at V0~V3 is just jumping off the wall on the comitting move. This way I'm practicing the fall and telling myself that it's not a big deal at all. This is especially usefull when the wall is higher than your confort height, or if you are a little scared of height (Like me!)
This is how I practice new dyno's (specifically, new types of dynos - different angles, etc, than I have experienced before). I jump towards the hold without any desire to actually catch it, but instead focus on distance and height and then just hitting the ground. Works very well for me and highly recommend. I usually give the flash go first, then do this if/when I fail.
As a V4 plateau-er, I can't explain how helpful I found that segment. I was expecting something about physical techniques and training, but advice to overcome a mental obstacle was even more helpful than I expected. Thank you!
I think "should" also stops us from giving ourselves credit when we DO achieve the challenge! When Louis finally got the orange v8, if he was framing it as "should" in his mind, it takes away any feeling of achievement because "yeah, obviously I got it, I /should/ have been able to do it all along". It's not giving credit to all the progress you made between that moment of thibking you could do something and then the moment of ACTUALLY doing it.
24:08 I think Hannah nailed why Louis was struggling but he had a hard time hearing it. Still great to see him push his comfort zone, and clearly an awesome coach
Louis is such a great teacher. Actually I don’t know anything about bouldering. You can also pretty much transfer every tip he gave to for example learning an instrument, crafting, arts, whatever. Loved it!
26:28 one habit I noticed that so many climbers do, also nathan: regripping almost every hold. You can save energy by focusing on grabbing the holds perfectly, especially on easier climbs. That can give you the missing 1-2% to top limit boulders.
I’ve spent so long working on this, and it’s definitely made a huge difference in my climbing, I can now occasionally flash what was my previous project level Obviously I still sometimes need to readjust, usually on holds where holding them perfectly is required to move off them, and I’m grabbing them maybe half a finger width off the perfect position
This was one of if not the most helpful climbing tips videos that I've watched. I've seen a lot of tips for technique stuff, but I find that these tips for how to improve your mindset are a lot more helpful for where I am at right now!
Absolutely. I'm more of a rope climber than boulderer, and these tips become way more apparent when you go from top roping a climb you're confident at to leading it.
Even though I’m a v3-4 climber, the third tip really resonated with me bc I feel like recently I’ve been avoiding certain v2’s(mostly slabs) bc I think they look kinda hard so I just don’t do them. So I’m definitely gonna start doing them again even if I feel should be able to do them and it damages my ego a bit, thanks for tips :)
As someone who has been doing this a while now my number one project in the gym is always the lowest graded boulder I can’t do. This has gotten me super well rounded and really keeps you always progressing no matter what. Also it’s important that you be able to do the lower grades the INTENDED WAY and not using your strengths to avoid improving your weaknesses
Something I realized like 6 months into climbing that I felt really dumb realizing but made a massive difference in my climbing--keeping my eyes on my next move. Visually watching the hold I'm moving towards until I firmly have a hold on it really improved my climbing. It seemed so obvious and dumb, but I just had a day where I noticed I was zoning out mid-climb and not really watching where I was reaching/jumping.
I love this. It feels like you are less coaching climbing technique and more instilling wisdom about how to approach movement practices in general - with attentiveness, humility, and an awareness of our unconscious tendencies.
It's interesting how all of the tips regardless of grade are focusing on the mental side of climbing rather than the physical like form and positioning and such.
Louis is a real master at his craft. Just by watching him coaching someone I learn something every single time. I appreciate his individual approach and especially his mindful choice of words. These collabs are really helpful and much fun to watch.
Great tips on how to shift your perspective or mindset in order to improve your climbing! The discussions and demos for each tip were very helpful. Thanks Hannah and Coach Louis! 1:32 V1 to V3: Commit to moves and maintain your confidence in the face of sticking points 8:50 V3 to V5: Do not measure your progress solely based on the grades you have climbed successfully. 14:59 V5 to V7: Don’t let a fear of embarrassment or failure prevent you from trying climbs outside your comfort zone (i.e. challenging climbs at lower grades, climbs outside your specialty, etc). 25:29 V7 to V9: Avoid junk mileage during warm-ups by drawing as much knowledge as you can from lower grade boulders. 29:02 V9+ Keep that beginner’s mindset. Don’t assume you’ve mastered everything.
What I used to do was let my belayer pick some routes for me when I had given my projects a try. I was allowed to pick a grade range, but not allowed to deny a climb and would have to actively fail the climb a whole lot to be lowered. This, plus downclimbing my warm up boulders in the same sequence I climbed them on the way up, has helped me such a monumental amount. Thanks for the video, the plateau bit hit close to home ;).
Always enjoy Hannah and Louis. Might be worth featuring an, ahem, older climber sometime. I am 67 and have recently got back into bouldering after a pandemic hiatus. I was climbing about V6 before but now I seem stuck at V4/5. I would like to get better but there is so little specifically for climbers of my age. Maybe I need a training plan!
Long comment alert🚨 As an almost 40yo climber, after a 10 month break due to a shoulder injury I learned, as we aren’t in your 20s anymore we need to focus on a healthy foundation and a balanced training plan. Like that we still make constant progress whilst minimizing injury risk. I split my trainings in 3 sessions: -1 high volume/endurance session doing circuits or lead climbing - 1 hard projecting session - 1 off the wall session to let my fingers recover (weighted pull-ups, front lever progressions, peg board training) - Additionally I have a daily (not only training days) 15-20 min mobility routine for shoulders and hips. On training days I do the mobility routine plus rotator cuffs stability exercises with therabands and low intensity hangboarding. P.S.:Most of my mobility exercises i got from a Ross Fulkerson video, you find him here on TH-cam. PPS: I’m not a pro, but have collected and distilled info from 1000s of hours of TH-cam content 😅
That sounds a great approach and one that I broadly follow in my mid 50s, the only other thing I would add is for the mobility part do a yoga, and or pilates class at least once a week, having a good hour session with structured stretching is the way to go
54, Falling hurts! Keeping a regular practice, doing some exercises at home, pull ups, sit ups, press ups, ab wheel, yoga asana etc. Pack running, hang boarding, and a can do attitude. Meditate. Remember, our bodies are self fixing entities, trust them! and keep on having fun!!
This was so powerful... I climb up to V2/3 and as you said "commitment" I nodded to myself knowingly. Sent a nemesis today that I'd been failing to commit to... it was so easy once I went for it! Thanks guys! (Popped a quick video on my channel of it, but it's not very exciting because it looks like I've always been able to do it!)
i had a very bad climbing session today. I was alone, in a gym im not familiar with, it was PACKED, and i felt intimidated and didn't perform very well. was feeling shitty and sad. Then i saw this video and made me feel so much better. Relentless optimism!!!
I love this. Been climbing for 2+ years and feel stuck around the V2-3 range and focused on "getting stronger" or "better technique" without thinking much on my mindset. Feels like all of the tips here are applicable to what I've been missing.
Louis is such a supportive coach! The way that he guided every single one is super humbling and non-judgemental. Even though he is already a skilled climber, he still manages to put his feet into the other's shoes and be able to understand what are their struggles! Absolutely AMAZING coach!
as a v1-3 climber i love this video, would be happy to see more. its cool seeing incredible climbers doing incredible things but theres so little content (that i can find!) thats actually helpful for a beginner
Louis just seems like the nicest guy ever, when Maggie was climbing the way he was boosting her confidence, shouts ‘come on Maggie!’, ‘yes Maggie you’re so good at this!’ is so nice. He’s not one of those people who just shouts if you find it hard, I’d definitely learn if he was my teacher 🤍
The tips given to Nathan are super applicable to most other climbers honestly. Doing laps and really putting a lot of time into focusing on technique in boulder problems that we can complete decently easily is by far the best spot to polish and work on technique, because we aren't climbing near the limit of our strength/endurance/technique, and we have the time to very specifically consider what we are doing. Even if a boulder is "easy" for a climber, they are still going to feel various levels of "easy" based on the technique they use.
So, I commented somewhere on here that, as a relatively new climber, Ive climbed a lot of V3 and a few V4 climbs. After watching this, I have any back to a climb I have hopped on and quit a couple of times, spent nearly an hour working each individual move and eventually sent, then repeated it. My first V6, and I'd never have tried it, let alone succeeded, without the help from this video. Cheers Hannah and Louis!
"cultivating relentless optimism is a really useful skill that makes it much easier to be persistent at something." - great advice for life as well as for climbing!
Great stuff. The should/could distinction is a great way to describe the pitfalls of grade entitlement that so often trip us up. I primarily sport climb, and try to break the phases of a project into Exploration, Commitment, ≥10%, and Send. The ≥10% phase simply means there's a real chance that I could actually send the climb in my current or upcoming session. It's easy for a partner to see when I probably *will* send, but it doesn't help for them to tell me that any more than it helps Janja to be told that she'll probably win another gold medal.
14:45, honestly one of the best tips in climbing no matter what level. I did my first v10 about 4 years ago and after I had non-climbing injuries and had to "start from scratch". I just now sent a v11, but I never realized until now just how much I've improved during this process.
This video is incredible -- so valuable! I was breaking into intermediate grades when I fell off the slab and broke my ankle, so now that i'm finally permitted to get back on the wall, of course i'm right back at the v0-3 issue of struggling with commitment, and while ALSO sadly relating to the common issues for higher grade climbers. I was so exhilarated to hear Hannah and Louis talking about the "should vs could" issue and the super common issue of semi-conciously avoiding climbs that are "below our grade" that we fear we're likely to fail on, when in reality that's where we could learn the most. I feel like this video has given me a massive boost, thanks Hannah and Louis!!
As a V7 climber I found so many things I could relate to, so that I quite enjoyed breakdown of even easy levels of climbing in this video! ♥ Also as a fairly positively minded climber I will steal several encouraging techniques from Louie for my fellow friends 😅
I'm actually tearing up a bit right now because of the change in mindset. I was very proud of Maggie for comitting, the break downs of the move are things that I can do for myself. Expecting it to still be scary after committing and saying it's going as expexted/according to plan is such a great mental trick. I also really love the mental excercise of finding things that are going better or proof that you van eventually get the move. It's a kinder way of speaking to myself and it's nice to have a counter voice in my head. It feels like my train of thought is being rewired 😂
Came to the video for technical advice on how to climb harder. Stayed for the impeccable demonstration of how advancing in climbing comes down to a positive, yet competitive, mindset. pretty cool guy he is
Louis’ comment on how we measure progress is terrific. I havent sent a new grade in 18 months. But after suffering a couple stints of finger injuries by pushing grade really hard, I haven’t been working hard projects for months. I’ve improved my climbing on a variety of styles, worked on flash and onsite climbing, and improved my consistency on near limit climbing on all styles. I always try to get new climbers to try the moonboard for that exact reason. Not only do you get stronger, but you also learn from not being able to send a single problem or even pull a single move that just trying and looking at every attempt for learning opportunities how to stay positive and take even the smallest of victories.
Of all the loads of helpful “top 10 clips for new climbers” this video has the most helpful new information once you’re past that very beginner stage. Love it.
I just started climbing last month, and the first segment with Maggie totally helped me send two problems this morning I have been working on for a couple of sessions. I got to the crux and said "This is scary and I might fall, thats ok though". Thanks Hannah and Louis for the great content!
One tip that seems to work for all grades: seek out and listen to Louis' advice! From my experience, the added bonus is: you also feel better about your climbing.
Coach Louis it is clear that you are a master at teaching and helping students achieve more and feel confident, coming from a teacher myself (albeit a language teacher), you possess the rare skill of being able to fully place yourself in a beginner's shoes and understand exactly how they feel and what they are struggling with while being encouraging and even joyful during their moments of "failure". You aspire me to be a better teacher even though the subjects we teach have nothing to do with each other! Great job and keep up the good work.
This was such a high value video! Should be required viewing for any climber. In a world of click bait titles like "The secret that this climber used to climb v10 in 2 years!!!", this is actually incredibly instructive and useful information. Keep it up Hannah!
The V5 - V7 tip is so relatable. I just did my first V7 the other day, and then immediately went and fell off a V4 like 4 times lol. For me this grade range is really where your strengths and weaknesses as a climber start to show. Like, I would consider myself a V6 overhang climber, but like a V4 slab climber. It can be discouraging to have to go back down in grade to work on weak spots, but its totally necessary.
This makes me feel better about repeatedly hitting the same climbs. I finally got my project V3 today, after four sessions. I'm gonna keep repeating it to make sure I can improve my underhangs, and do all the moves to perfection.
At my climbing gym when the lower (for me) grades change I just do them all anyway which has helped to get over the idea of never failing easier climbs. The ones I find easy are quick and still good exercise so it's no loss, the ones I find difficult force me to face weaker areas of my climbing or try things that wouldn't be my usual projects.
I didn't expect those mistakes to all revolve around the mental game but it makes sooooo much sense !! Thank you so much Hannah, it was really helpful !!
It is kind of obvious when you think about it: Mental mistakes are much MUCH quicker to fix than physical shortcomings. Imagine half of his lessons being "Yeah, your tendons and muscles are just not strong enough to do this, you need to do years of focused training and hangboarding" instead of "Think and stay positive and just give it a go instead of feeling down about yourself". I am not trying to throw shade at Louie, I think he is a wonderful coach and person, and his lessons are no less true just because they may be "easier" to implement. And as someone who has struggled with depression, I know how hard it can actually be to get out of your own head if you've spent enough time in there.
I'm not a V7 climber, but the V7-V9 advice is really spot on. One of the more reliable commonalities between all the crushers at my gym is that they climb their warm ups and volume sets immaculately. No junk mileage.
This is the best climbing video I've seen in a while. It motivated me to go climbing today when I'd already written off the idea because I wasn't feeling it. I'm only just getting back to climbing and it can be frustrating not being able to do what I once could. This video single handedly changed my outlook today and hopefully in general. Thank you!
This is really helpful. I've recently tried to stop giving in if a problem looks too hard. Last week i finally managed a climb that took me 32 attempts. Previously I would have given up after 3 or 4 attempts.
I love the mindset he gives for the v5-7(?) about should vs could. I am about to graduate with a graduate degree in engineering and during grad school I TAed for a lot of undergrad classes. Originally I would be frustrated when I wouldn’t immediately know how to do one of their homework problems because I felt the class was beneath me at this point in my academic journey. But as time went on I realized that every professor or in this case every route has a slightly different flavor to the way they teach and you may have passed your class with an A but there will always be a few details or points of emphasis that you can learn more about when going through the material again
I approach all boulders with the mindset of "im going to fall off this" however its not in a way of "i cant do this" its in a way of "im going to fall off it and ill learn from it and after falling enough times itll go". I find that it takes a lot of pressure off of getting an actual top on a boulder. I find that if the outcome doesnt matter its more likely to be a good session. When topping a hard boulder that ive been working on for weeks is the goal, when i inevitably dont send it for another 2-3 weeks I can still see my session positively. I always said if your not falling your not trying and i think saying "im gonna fall on this" helps cement that I need to fall from trying hard rather than deciding to come off
Solid v4 climber this is spot on, when I feel like I’m plateauing I go around the gym climb all the v4s, also find v4 and v5 I find start getting harder to read of the move feels too hard it can’t be right but usually is
I train in pretty small gyms, and to mitigate the problem of avoiding 'easier' climbs, I usually challenge myself to do every climb of the lower grade bracket before moving on to limit bouldering, just to keep it varied as well
Personally I love projecting v4-6 climbs even though I can climb 7s and 8s, because generally, like with the 4 hannah did, even if they don't feel good at first I can usually get through them relatively quickly, learn something, feel accomplishment, and get a nice workout in. In contrast, if I'm trying a 7 or 8, I often get stuck for longer and lose confidence because I'm not sure if I'm even strong enough to do a particular move, so it feels like there may not be any point in trying. I know there are benefits to working at one's limit, but maybe not all the time
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I really hope you like the video and our new tee design. A reminder that you can get a signed Version of the ‘Venture Further’ Collaboration T-Shirt with Rúngne! (Unsigned Available Too). Shop Now ▶︎ rungne.com/products/venture-further-tee?linkId=Hannah%20Morris%20Bouldering_Tee%20Launch_TH-cam&affluencerId=Hannah%20Morris%20Bouldering.
Exciting to see rungne doing things with so many of my favorite climbing channels. 🔥 Shirts are good
Love it. Side note, audio was pretty messed up. Editors day off?
@@benjamcg there was a section towards the end that had some layered audio, sorry about that! Hope you enjoyed the videos anyway.
I did. Very much so! Blest to see you, Louis, and Rungne all in one place!
Finally, Magnus' disguise is on point this time
“That’s not Erik” 😆
Totally! Though the name "Maggie" is kind of a give away.
Nailed it! 🙂
That's hilarious 😂
Just watched that before this lol
I clicked on this for rock climbing advice and got a life lesson about believing in yourself, commitment, trial and error, and the power of could vs should
hahahahaha totaly
Because Louis is clearly not just a climber but a real TEACHER, and the best kind at that. Mad respect to this lad
The way Louie approaches how he teaches is subtly masterful. Does not sound preachy, does not sound judgemental. He is so patient, kind and supportive.
Hes the supportive coach that everyone needs
Disagree
@@Mythrunes You're free to disagree, but do you have any reasoning behind that?
He comes off as smug to me.@@colemantrebor6574
Totally agree... whatever the grade he's got your back!
Ignore it its a flippin' troll. I have learnt so much from Louie. He's a proper decent guy. Merry Christmas.
The climb with the lowest grade that we fail at has the most to teach us. I need to remember that when I'm avoiding climbs.
Love that! ☺️
So true. I did a couple V6 but sometimes a V4 still kicks my ass.
@@DekarNL And i think sometimes setters have a bad week and they make us pay for it 😅
@@DekarNL😊
It was so good to see Maggie commit to the scary move!!
She smashed it 😊
My favorite part!! I was cheering for her. So cool to see Louis help her master that.
Agreed! She inspired me to commit to a move today and it was actually really easy once I went for it! Yay!
That's so great to hear :)@@George_Climbs
A bit late to the party but as a 50yr old whose been climbing for less than a yr seeing Maggie get that move made me so proud! This is exactly where I'm at in my climbing right now, can flash nearly every v2, have been struggling to even start most v3. That is changing in the past couple of weeks though as I challenge the fear more
And am making myself try things outside my comfort zone
3:19 “good news - I wasn’t wrong”
While very accurate, I cannot think of a more British sentence
6:49 "You tried this climb earlier and then chose to walk away right ? As proven , you were always able to do it, it was always there and you hadn't got any stronger in the last few minutes. Maintaining high level of confidence and just carrying on working at something , even if it doesn't feel like you are going to get it is a really tricky part of timing" - This is words of great teacher and coach.
23:27 we all know the importance of giving holds a proper brush, but it’s really good of Louis to show how it can be equally beneficial to give it a good stare down as well
This comment is gold
A good stare and a blow is light years better than a brush
For sure. We could all learn from watching or rewatching the winner of the recent Jakarta women's final during the bouldering portion of the competition.
Love the no-ego, high encouragement and knowledge of you both. Having Louie as a coach would be a DREAM!
We agree! Louis is a great coach ✨
He’s a phenomenal coach. You can tell how seasoned he is, he’s practically able to read minds because he’s seen the same thing so many times.
"Feeling like we've plateaued is a matter of how we measure progress." I love that analogy!
I'm sure loads of people have said this, but my favourite part is that none of these tips were "V3 need to flag more" or "V5 need to focus on precision movements" or any other technique-specific problem. It's all about attitude and mindset!
100% why I'm subscribed to Catalyst (and also to HMB!)
Bro is a therapist fr
One other things I would do to increase my confidence at V0~V3 is just jumping off the wall on the comitting move. This way I'm practicing the fall and telling myself that it's not a big deal at all. This is especially usefull when the wall is higher than your confort height, or if you are a little scared of height (Like me!)
Yes, I do this too! It really helps
This is how I practice new dyno's (specifically, new types of dynos - different angles, etc, than I have experienced before). I jump towards the hold without any desire to actually catch it, but instead focus on distance and height and then just hitting the ground. Works very well for me and highly recommend. I usually give the flash go first, then do this if/when I fail.
This is what breaks me off a wall most thank you
love that none of these 'mistakes' are about technique, but all about mindset!
As a V4 plateau-er, I can't explain how helpful I found that segment. I was expecting something about physical techniques and training, but advice to overcome a mental obstacle was even more helpful than I expected. Thank you!
I think "should" also stops us from giving ourselves credit when we DO achieve the challenge! When Louis finally got the orange v8, if he was framing it as "should" in his mind, it takes away any feeling of achievement because "yeah, obviously I got it, I /should/ have been able to do it all along". It's not giving credit to all the progress you made between that moment of thibking you could do something and then the moment of ACTUALLY doing it.
24:08 I think Hannah nailed why Louis was struggling but he had a hard time hearing it. Still great to see him push his comfort zone, and clearly an awesome coach
Louis is such a great teacher. Actually I don’t know anything about bouldering. You can also pretty much transfer every tip he gave to for example learning an instrument, crafting, arts, whatever.
Loved it!
Totally agree! Glad you enjoyed the video
26:28 one habit I noticed that so many climbers do, also nathan: regripping almost every hold. You can save energy by focusing on grabbing the holds perfectly, especially on easier climbs. That can give you the missing 1-2% to top limit boulders.
I’ve spent so long working on this, and it’s definitely made a huge difference in my climbing, I can now occasionally flash what was my previous project level
Obviously I still sometimes need to readjust, usually on holds where holding them perfectly is required to move off them, and I’m grabbing them maybe half a finger width off the perfect position
Louis as always is an absolute beast at teaching
This was one of if not the most helpful climbing tips videos that I've watched. I've seen a lot of tips for technique stuff, but I find that these tips for how to improve your mindset are a lot more helpful for where I am at right now!
Great to hear! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Absolutely. I'm more of a rope climber than boulderer, and these tips become way more apparent when you go from top roping a climb you're confident at to leading it.
Damn, what a wise climber and talented teacher.
Even though I’m a v3-4 climber, the third tip really resonated with me bc I feel like recently I’ve been avoiding certain v2’s(mostly slabs) bc I think they look kinda hard so I just don’t do them. So I’m definitely gonna start doing them again even if I feel should be able to do them and it damages my ego a bit, thanks for tips :)
As someone who has been doing this a while now my number one project in the gym is always the lowest graded boulder I can’t do. This has gotten me super well rounded and really keeps you always progressing no matter what. Also it’s important that you be able to do the lower grades the INTENDED WAY and not using your strengths to avoid improving your weaknesses
Something I realized like 6 months into climbing that I felt really dumb realizing but made a massive difference in my climbing--keeping my eyes on my next move. Visually watching the hold I'm moving towards until I firmly have a hold on it really improved my climbing. It seemed so obvious and dumb, but I just had a day where I noticed I was zoning out mid-climb and not really watching where I was reaching/jumping.
The same goes for looking where your feet are going!
I love this. It feels like you are less coaching climbing technique and more instilling wisdom about how to approach movement practices in general - with attentiveness, humility, and an awareness of our unconscious tendencies.
It's interesting how all of the tips regardless of grade are focusing on the mental side of climbing rather than the physical like form and positioning and such.
Louis is a real master at his craft. Just by watching him coaching someone I learn something every single time. I appreciate his individual approach and especially his mindful choice of words. These collabs are really helpful and much fun to watch.
Couldn't agree more!
Great tips on how to shift your perspective or mindset in order to improve your climbing! The discussions and demos for each tip were very helpful. Thanks Hannah and Coach Louis!
1:32 V1 to V3: Commit to moves and maintain your confidence in the face of sticking points
8:50 V3 to V5: Do not measure your progress solely based on the grades you have climbed successfully.
14:59 V5 to V7: Don’t let a fear of embarrassment or failure prevent you from trying climbs outside your comfort zone (i.e. challenging climbs at lower grades, climbs outside your specialty, etc).
25:29 V7 to V9: Avoid junk mileage during warm-ups by drawing as much knowledge as you can from lower grade boulders.
29:02 V9+ Keep that beginner’s mindset. Don’t assume you’ve mastered everything.
Im a V5-V7 climber and I feel exactly that way, I hate feeling like I either lost progress or Im being proven wrong. This helps so much!!
Glad to hear it ☺️
What I used to do was let my belayer pick some routes for me when I had given my projects a try. I was allowed to pick a grade range, but not allowed to deny a climb and would have to actively fail the climb a whole lot to be lowered. This, plus downclimbing my warm up boulders in the same sequence I climbed them on the way up, has helped me such a monumental amount. Thanks for the video, the plateau bit hit close to home ;).
Downclimbing is excellent training/ especially slabs
Always enjoy Hannah and Louis. Might be worth featuring an, ahem, older climber sometime. I am 67 and have recently got back into bouldering after a pandemic hiatus. I was climbing about V6 before but now I seem stuck at V4/5. I would like to get better but there is so little specifically for climbers of my age. Maybe I need a training plan!
Long comment alert🚨
As an almost 40yo climber, after a 10 month break due to a shoulder injury I learned, as we aren’t in your 20s anymore we need to focus on a healthy foundation and a balanced training plan. Like that we still make constant progress whilst minimizing injury risk.
I split my trainings in 3 sessions:
-1 high volume/endurance session doing circuits or lead climbing
- 1 hard projecting session
- 1 off the wall session to let my fingers recover (weighted pull-ups, front lever progressions, peg board training)
- Additionally I have a daily (not only training days) 15-20 min mobility routine for shoulders and hips.
On training days I do the mobility routine plus rotator cuffs stability exercises with therabands and low intensity hangboarding.
P.S.:Most of my mobility exercises i got from a Ross Fulkerson video, you find him here on TH-cam.
PPS: I’m not a pro, but have collected and distilled info from 1000s of hours of TH-cam content 😅
That sounds a great approach and one that I broadly follow in my mid 50s, the only other thing I would add is for the mobility part do a yoga, and or pilates class at least once a week, having a good hour session with structured stretching is the way to go
54, Falling hurts! Keeping a regular practice, doing some exercises at home, pull ups, sit ups, press ups, ab wheel, yoga asana etc. Pack running, hang boarding, and a can do attitude. Meditate. Remember, our bodies are self fixing entities, trust them! and keep on having fun!!
i need a louis parkinson to cheers me in my every day life, not only climbing but everything i do!
Hype man x 100
Coach Louis is oddly satisfying to listen to. Explains things in a really calm way... like a dad way
This was so powerful... I climb up to V2/3 and as you said "commitment" I nodded to myself knowingly. Sent a nemesis today that I'd been failing to commit to... it was so easy once I went for it! Thanks guys! (Popped a quick video on my channel of it, but it's not very exciting because it looks like I've always been able to do it!)
i had a very bad climbing session today. I was alone, in a gym im not familiar with, it was PACKED, and i felt intimidated and didn't perform very well. was feeling shitty and sad. Then i saw this video and made me feel so much better. Relentless optimism!!!
That's really great to hear. We all have bad sessions soon but it doesn't make our progress any less. Hope your next session is better :)
Watching the v1 climbers is so fun. I just brought a couple first timers to my climbing gym and they felt so good by the end of the session
I love this. Been climbing for 2+ years and feel stuck around the V2-3 range and focused on "getting stronger" or "better technique" without thinking much on my mindset. Feels like all of the tips here are applicable to what I've been missing.
Louis is such a supportive coach! The way that he guided every single one is super humbling and non-judgemental. Even though he is already a skilled climber, he still manages to put his feet into the other's shoes and be able to understand what are their struggles! Absolutely AMAZING coach!
2:03 "Maggie, is the climb in the room with us now?"
8:16 - I do like the Rugne merch colabs with various creators
as a v1-3 climber i love this video, would be happy to see more. its cool seeing incredible climbers doing incredible things but theres so little content (that i can find!) thats actually helpful for a beginner
I really like Louie's incremental approach to confidence. Not trying to overcome your intuition, just feel out a challenging situation carefully.
Louis left out the most important bit of coaching: Cat treats on every hold.
Louis just seems like the nicest guy ever, when Maggie was climbing the way he was boosting her confidence, shouts ‘come on Maggie!’, ‘yes Maggie you’re so good at this!’ is so nice. He’s not one of those people who just shouts if you find it hard, I’d definitely learn if he was my teacher 🤍
The tips given to Nathan are super applicable to most other climbers honestly. Doing laps and really putting a lot of time into focusing on technique in boulder problems that we can complete decently easily is by far the best spot to polish and work on technique, because we aren't climbing near the limit of our strength/endurance/technique, and we have the time to very specifically consider what we are doing. Even if a boulder is "easy" for a climber, they are still going to feel various levels of "easy" based on the technique they use.
After watching many climbing videos, I gotta say Louis is my favorite coach to watch in action. The way he explains everything is just brilliant.
The Louis Reverb encouragement
A new video! Looking forward to this, as usual. Maggie did so well! ❤️
Hope you enjoyed it! Maggie was ace :)
@@hannahmorrisbouldering lots of great pointers from you and Louis, and your guests. Thanks!
So, I commented somewhere on here that, as a relatively new climber, Ive climbed a lot of V3 and a few V4 climbs.
After watching this, I have any back to a climb I have hopped on and quit a couple of times, spent nearly an hour working each individual move and eventually sent, then repeated it.
My first V6, and I'd never have tried it, let alone succeeded, without the help from this video.
Cheers Hannah and Louis!
I'm a bouldering coach, this was a really useful video , thank you
"cultivating relentless optimism is a really useful skill that makes it much easier to be persistent at something." - great advice for life as well as for climbing!
Had to drop a like for the support when Maggie sent it. Love that energy
Great stuff. The should/could distinction is a great way to describe the pitfalls of grade entitlement that so often trip us up.
I primarily sport climb, and try to break the phases of a project into Exploration, Commitment, ≥10%, and Send. The ≥10% phase simply means there's a real chance that I could actually send the climb in my current or upcoming session. It's easy for a partner to see when I probably *will* send, but it doesn't help for them to tell me that any more than it helps Janja to be told that she'll probably win another gold medal.
14:45, honestly one of the best tips in climbing no matter what level. I did my first v10 about 4 years ago and after I had non-climbing injuries and had to "start from scratch". I just now sent a v11, but I never realized until now just how much I've improved during this process.
This video is incredible -- so valuable! I was breaking into intermediate grades when I fell off the slab and broke my ankle, so now that i'm finally permitted to get back on the wall, of course i'm right back at the v0-3 issue of struggling with commitment, and while ALSO sadly relating to the common issues for higher grade climbers. I was so exhilarated to hear Hannah and Louis talking about the "should vs could" issue and the super common issue of semi-conciously avoiding climbs that are "below our grade" that we fear we're likely to fail on, when in reality that's where we could learn the most. I feel like this video has given me a massive boost, thanks Hannah and Louis!!
As a V7 climber I found so many things I could relate to, so that I quite enjoyed breakdown of even easy levels of climbing in this video! ♥
Also as a fairly positively minded climber I will steal several encouraging techniques from Louie for my fellow friends 😅
Have confidence in your competence
I'm actually tearing up a bit right now because of the change in mindset. I was very proud of Maggie for comitting, the break downs of the move are things that I can do for myself. Expecting it to still be scary after committing and saying it's going as expexted/according to plan is such a great mental trick. I also really love the mental excercise of finding things that are going better or proof that you van eventually get the move. It's a kinder way of speaking to myself and it's nice to have a counter voice in my head. It feels like my train of thought is being rewired 😂
Came to the video for technical advice on how to climb harder. Stayed for the impeccable demonstration of how advancing in climbing comes down to a positive, yet competitive, mindset. pretty cool guy he is
Louis’ comment on how we measure progress is terrific. I havent sent a new grade in 18 months. But after suffering a couple stints of finger injuries by pushing grade really hard, I haven’t been working hard projects for months. I’ve improved my climbing on a variety of styles, worked on flash and onsite climbing, and improved my consistency on near limit climbing on all styles. I always try to get new climbers to try the moonboard for that exact reason. Not only do you get stronger, but you also learn from not being able to send a single problem or even pull a single move that just trying and looking at every attempt for learning opportunities how to stay positive and take even the smallest of victories.
Of all the loads of helpful “top 10 clips for new climbers” this video has the most helpful new information once you’re past that very beginner stage. Love it.
Glad it was helpful!
I just started climbing last month, and the first segment with Maggie totally helped me send two problems this morning I have been working on for a couple of sessions. I got to the crux and said "This is scary and I might fall, thats ok though". Thanks Hannah and Louis for the great content!
Great to hear! Glad you liked it ☺️
Louis is such a good encouraging coach!
One tip that seems to work for all grades: seek out and listen to Louis' advice! From my experience, the added bonus is: you also feel better about your climbing.
I’m growing into Louis’s teaching style. Super valuable. Thank you Hannah, Louis, and gang!
And really nice send, Maggie!
I love when he falls off and says, I’ve got more to lear. Awesome attitude
Coach Louis it is clear that you are a master at teaching and helping students achieve more and feel confident, coming from a teacher myself (albeit a language teacher), you possess the rare skill of being able to fully place yourself in a beginner's shoes and understand exactly how they feel and what they are struggling with while being encouraging and even joyful during their moments of "failure". You aspire me to be a better teacher even though the subjects we teach have nothing to do with each other! Great job and keep up the good work.
🫶🫶
Climbing instructor myself find Louis an inspiration, this video is gold
Hannah, you've got the best content for those of us looking to get better. Thank you and thanks to Louis !!
You're so welcome! Glad you like the tips :)
This was such a high value video! Should be required viewing for any climber. In a world of click bait titles like "The secret that this climber used to climb v10 in 2 years!!!", this is actually incredibly instructive and useful information. Keep it up Hannah!
Louis seems to be the best coach ! Love his humor and how supportive he is
The V5 - V7 tip is so relatable. I just did my first V7 the other day, and then immediately went and fell off a V4 like 4 times lol. For me this grade range is really where your strengths and weaknesses as a climber start to show. Like, I would consider myself a V6 overhang climber, but like a V4 slab climber. It can be discouraging to have to go back down in grade to work on weak spots, but its totally necessary.
This makes me feel better about repeatedly hitting the same climbs. I finally got my project V3 today, after four sessions. I'm gonna keep repeating it to make sure I can improve my underhangs, and do all the moves to perfection.
At my climbing gym when the lower (for me) grades change I just do them all anyway which has helped to get over the idea of never failing easier climbs. The ones I find easy are quick and still good exercise so it's no loss, the ones I find difficult force me to face weaker areas of my climbing or try things that wouldn't be my usual projects.
Love how all these tips are actually mental coaching rather than technique or strenght tips!
I didn't expect those mistakes to all revolve around the mental game but it makes sooooo much sense !! Thank you so much Hannah, it was really helpful !!
It is kind of obvious when you think about it: Mental mistakes are much MUCH quicker to fix than physical shortcomings. Imagine half of his lessons being "Yeah, your tendons and muscles are just not strong enough to do this, you need to do years of focused training and hangboarding" instead of "Think and stay positive and just give it a go instead of feeling down about yourself".
I am not trying to throw shade at Louie, I think he is a wonderful coach and person, and his lessons are no less true just because they may be "easier" to implement. And as someone who has struggled with depression, I know how hard it can actually be to get out of your own head if you've spent enough time in there.
What a great way to teach. So many trainers could
Learn a lot from Louie and his way of talking to people
I have no real interest in bouldering but Louis' infectious enthusiasm and energy makes it really watchable.
Haha that’s cool to know! 🥲
The v3-v5 tips was exactly what I needed to hear after failing to reach the top of literally all the v4s i did today :)
That's great to hear - hope they were useful :)
I love how he debunked the v4-5 plateau, feels like the most common one. Love this guy's advices all around
Appreciate how you emphasize mindset and self-talk. Positivity and climbing coach extraordinaire!
There needs to be a whole series of these videos - so much fun to watch but also soo helpful!
Louis standing with the brush looks like a climbing wizard with their wizard staff
Lattice rarely mention the psychology so its a refreshing shift in teaching style. Thanks
Glad you think so!
I'm not a V7 climber, but the V7-V9 advice is really spot on. One of the more reliable commonalities between all the crushers at my gym is that they climb their warm ups and volume sets immaculately. No junk mileage.
This is the best climbing video I've seen in a while. It motivated me to go climbing today when I'd already written off the idea because I wasn't feeling it. I'm only just getting back to climbing and it can be frustrating not being able to do what I once could. This video single handedly changed my outlook today and hopefully in general. Thank you!
Great to hear! hope you had a great climbing session :)
Great video!!! Awesome tips from Louis! His assessments are spot on and the enthusiasm he displays when giving instruction is great!
Couldn't agree more! Louis' coaching is great :)
This is really helpful. I've recently tried to stop giving in if a problem looks too hard. Last week i finally managed a climb that took me 32 attempts. Previously I would have given up after 3 or 4 attempts.
I love the mindset he gives for the v5-7(?) about should vs could. I am about to graduate with a graduate degree in engineering and during grad school I TAed for a lot of undergrad classes. Originally I would be frustrated when I wouldn’t immediately know how to do one of their homework problems because I felt the class was beneath me at this point in my academic journey. But as time went on I realized that every professor or in this case every route has a slightly different flavor to the way they teach and you may have passed your class with an A but there will always be a few details or points of emphasis that you can learn more about when going through the material again
He's really good at explaining and giving options with also totally understanding how scary it all is ☺️😊
I approach all boulders with the mindset of "im going to fall off this" however its not in a way of "i cant do this" its in a way of "im going to fall off it and ill learn from it and after falling enough times itll go". I find that it takes a lot of pressure off of getting an actual top on a boulder. I find that if the outcome doesnt matter its more likely to be a good session. When topping a hard boulder that ive been working on for weeks is the goal, when i inevitably dont send it for another 2-3 weeks I can still see my session positively. I always said if your not falling your not trying and i think saying "im gonna fall on this" helps cement that I need to fall from trying hard rather than deciding to come off
Solid v4 climber this is spot on, when I feel like I’m plateauing I go around the gym climb all the v4s, also find v4 and v5 I find start getting harder to read of the move feels too hard it can’t be right but usually is
Louie is masterful in his coaching ability. This is such a great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Louis is definitely one of the best thing there is a climbing!
I train in pretty small gyms, and to mitigate the problem of avoiding 'easier' climbs, I usually challenge myself to do every climb of the lower grade bracket before moving on to limit bouldering, just to keep it varied as well
Louis + Hannah - another perfect collab, with actionable advice for everyone :) Thanks for this !
That v4 looked nasty btw
Glad you liked it!
oh gosh, I can't believe the coaches like this exists. it's great
Personally I love projecting v4-6 climbs even though I can climb 7s and 8s, because generally, like with the 4 hannah did, even if they don't feel good at first I can usually get through them relatively quickly, learn something, feel accomplishment, and get a nice workout in. In contrast, if I'm trying a 7 or 8, I often get stuck for longer and lose confidence because I'm not sure if I'm even strong enough to do a particular move, so it feels like there may not be any point in trying. I know there are benefits to working at one's limit, but maybe not all the time