New climber advice

The things that worked for me were:

1. Having little else in my life to distract me, and

2. Finding a few partners who were in the same place as me, to give me a reason to be dedicated, and foster some competition, so we all tried harder, and we were

3. Going to the gym religiously 2-3x a week and climbing all weekend, every weekend.

There's probably a lot of good reading you can do, but honestly I have barely ever read about climbing. What you really need right now is to build some forearm strength and some muscle memory. Climb a lot! Every time, climb some routes that you can't do on the first try, that will make you learn something. Hook up with someone more experienced than you and watch how they move.

If you really want to get serious there's a book called How To Climb 5.12, which gives some good training ideas even if you only want to climb 5.10. But really, at your level, I think you just need to gain a lot of experience. Climb a lot!

Watch other climbers! In the gym, at the crags, on your computer, any chance you get(When you aren't climbing yourself)! Watching other people climb has helped me progress immensely. You get to see great examples of what TO do, and what NOT TO do, and things start to really click mentally once you get back on the rock.

Remember to have fun!

It's easy to get sucked into difficult projects or to get caught up in climbing harder and progressing. There's a time and a place for all that, but remember to have fun.

Dont rush. If you climb too hard without developing your tendons you risk injury. Climbing can be something that you'll be doing when you're 70 years old if you take your time and intentionally climb sustainably.

Climbing is just like any other sport in the sense that it has a cluture and a lingo and all that. Sometimes people who are really good and have been in the game for a while lose perspective and can seem like jaded assholes to beginners... don't pay them any mind, do your thing.

Umm, that was six months ago. She is now climbing 5.14 and V12. Check it out: dpmclimbing.com/climbing-vi…

Bahaha. Well done.

Find someone that you think is a good climber and watch their technique. Pay attention to their body position and footwork. Most importantly ask them questions and keep climbing.

Guys I don't think she is still looking to this thread for advice... I think that if she does not have a partner by now she may have quit climbing. But keep laying out the advice.

Hey! I know this response is coming pretty late - but I figured someone else with similar concerns might click on this and I wanted to throw a new resource out here:

The biggest new challenge for a lot of new climbers is not having anyone to climb with, or at least not having anyone the same level as them. I work for a climbing company and we're currently just in the beginning of a brand new training program where we show the benefits of using an auto belay in your gym to reach your personal climbing goals - one of these benefits being you don't need a partner to belay you, so you're always able to hit the gym, even if you've only got an hour. It's also a great tool for doing laps to improve endurance.

We've got every level of climber represented in our group - newbies who have never touched a wall before all the way to guys climbing 5.12s and fighting for 5.13s. I actually get to participate myself (I'm an intermediate climber) and it's been a huge help to me so far! You can see the progress and training regimen of all the climbers on our website - check it out and have some fun! Good luck!

reachyourpeak.autobelay.com

Megan ^ you are spamming with your own commercial interests !
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Laney555:

Best book I ever read for my climbing was:

Zen in the art of Archery

Seriously ^. That was what taught me how to breath, relaxe and move in the moment.

regarding movement:
If you want to improve your style and fluidity...
Don't get sucked into the lungey, mexican jumping bean attitude of the typical gym climber. Take your time in your moves, be fluid in thought and motion. coordinate your breathing with your motion/moves.
Allways exert on the exhale. Concentrate on the exhale, don't give a half a ratz ass about your inhalations they willcome naturally if you concentrate on your exhalations.
A fun game I play with beginners is what I call 'Touch and go"
reach with hand or foot, slowly, deliberately and place your apendage exactly how you will use it on the hold (be it hand or foot). Then slowly with draw it back to it's previous position and then...
breathing 1.exhale (for the money) 2. exhale (two for the show) and 3. exhale and go.
When you commit to the move use the hold the way you chose to on your 'touch' before your go. If it is not optimal, then you just learned but don't fidget/shift around on holds when playing 'touch and go'.

99% of the time footwork is 99% of the game. Don't be sloppy and drag your feet up or slap above and slide down into foot positioning. Be surgically precise (or at least aspire to being) with your foot work.

Do this (play touch and go) on easy routes. Then down climb them the same way.
Then build up to where you are playing 'Touch and go' on your harder/almost limit routes.
You just might find that the routes that you thought werenear your limit, you rushed through to get higher before getting pumped...
Now you are cruising them ;)