Head Problems - do we all have them?
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Everyone has given really good advice already. Kinda comforting to see we aren't alone in our struggles. I have been dealing with this quite a bit as well. I would agree that motivation plays a huge role. Also I think strength training has helped me feel more confident in certain movements. These are both continous works in progress for me. |
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As frustrating it is to fight with your thoughts while cruxing, that internal conflict is a great reminder of just how fascinating climbiing is. I pass most days on a mindless cruise control. But when climbing something challenging it aleays kicks me out of that numb space. I'm actually pretty thankful for the fear. |
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New Alpinism has some interesting reading on fear. |
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I just have to lead a bunch. I stay on the sharp end, even if I have to dial it back sometimes. I've been climbing 38 years and prefer not to follow, and frankly I suck at toproping! If I don't lead, I don't focus, I don't conserve, I don't plan. |
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Will S wrote:Committing - When the climbing becomes hard enough that I may fall, I assess the gear, where the next place I can stop to protect or rest is, and the consequences of a fall. If those are reasonable in my assessment, I try to fully commit and go to that next place. When it gets hard, many people will hesitate and not fight, and the rising fear and panic will overtake them. Make the decision, empty your mind and go.this is good advice |
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Tom Stryker wrote: If I don't lead, I don't focus, I don't conserve, I don't plan.This really resonates with me. I am trying an easy 9 pitch route tomorrow in RMNP, and will be thinking about this. |
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I don't think you truly understand climbing until you have stepped out on the sharp end and gone for something that you aren't completely sure you can do. This doesn't always even mean climbing something in a hard grade level than what you are capable. I mean when you look up at a 500ft or 1500ft wall and even though you have looked in the guide book and feel like you can make it to the top you don't really know. |
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Head problems are an issue in many corners of our lives, climbing isn't unique. My work ( besides guiding) deals with fear and how to manage it so I do have some relevant thoughts. |
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Angie P wrote: I was dropped indoors, but these troubles were brewing well before that incident. (In which I was not hurt and didn't deck, just lost some faith in belayers in general.) Not a good place to be! But it is great to see there are things I can read and things I can do to get to the bottom of it.Hi Angie, I've been climbing for 9 years and have/had progressed to a point where falling on sport routes did not really scare me anymore. Last year, I was dropped 30' indoors onto concrete, left in an ambulance, pissed blood for days, etc. (Somehow I miraculously did not break anything in my body). The belayer's cinch didn't bite and evidently he did not have his hand on the brake hand. Anyways, I had to relearn to trust belayers and it wasn't easy. FWIW, I found that what helped me the most to push myself was and still is to communicate with your belayer that you might fall. A simple "watch me" to my belayer and I feel that he/she will be ready to catch me. Eventually, I regained my full confidence in belayers and am back where I was prior to the fall. |
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Angie P wrote:... I was dropped...I know "oldtimers" don't like them but autoblock/assisted belay devices are our friends. I don't say anything to my friends about it but ATC/tubular belay plates are fine but in my opionion out dated. So many well crafted semi-auto and automatic devices are availale and light weight.That is all I use now. They are "safer", in many cases lighter, and easier to use. I am always slightly more relaxed when some body has me on with a modern device. |
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The anser to the question do we all have head problems is no, some people do not have them. I am never really afraid on the rock because I know that my belayers are good and my gear is good and my fall will be safe. I basically do what I would call calculated risk assessment (this goes for climbing, biking, skiing, anything where not being all about what you are doing can lead to bad things). I look at what I want to do and what I need to do to get there and then take the time and steps to put myself in a position to succeed. I have been in some "scary" spots climbing and skiing but I know I can trust myself, my gear, and my buddies so I go for it. |
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Maybe it's not so much about fear and climbing but about mental control in general. Have you done sitting meditation consistently? Try basic sitting meditation for a month or two (every single day). If you can't control your mind when you are sitting there is no way you are going to control it in a highly stressful environment like lead climbing. Meditation did wonders for my lead head. I have practiced all the advice mentioned above and nothing comes even close to what meditation did. |
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jim ongena wrote:Head problems are an issue in many corners of our lives, climbing isn't unique. My work ( besides guiding) deals with fear and how to manage it so I do have some relevant thoughts. 1) Pay attention to your language ( inner & outer voice) as it is powerful and can hurt or help performance. 2) Avoidance is the most popular response to a fear but also the worst. Approach what scares you. Managing fear is the greatest single learning I have had and has enabled many achievements, better climbing being only one of them.Avoiding irrational fear is a bad thing, but avoiding rational fear items isn't bad. There is a reason you don't grab hold of something that is glowing red hot with your bare hand because it will burn you. You have to learn to properly assess the situation you are in and push forward if you know it is safe but it is still scaring you. I think anyone rational should be scared to some degree the first time you have an all trad hanging belay, and to some degree anytime you are on one there should be some sense of fear to make sure you aren't being careless. You have to judge the risk vs reward and determine for yourself if the risk is worth it. No 2 people are going to be exactly the same. |
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adam brink wrote:Maybe it's not so much about fear and climbing but about mental control in general. Have you done sitting meditation consistently? Try basic sitting meditation for a month or two (every single day). If you can't control your mind when you are sitting there is no way you are going to control it in a highly stressful environment like lead climbing. Meditation did wonders for my lead head. I have practiced all the advice mentioned above and nothing comes even close to what meditation did.This is really great advice. I do have training in meditation/sadhana and should be practicing daily. Thanks so much! |
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Jake Jones wrote: How's your belayer? I'm a pretty conscious climber, meaning that I have a pretty good idea where I am above pro at almost all times, and when I pop, I know how far I should fall. So when I have a belayer that lets me fall 20 feet when I'm 2 feet past a bolt, that's a problem. When I call take and someone has to yard out three full armloads while walking backward to take, that's a problem. I'm a stickler for good belaying, and I won't climb at my limit on lead unless I have that.+5! For me, trust in the belayer is absolutely paramount. Not that it fixes everything, but it sure is a requirement! |
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Alexey Dynkin wrote: +5! For me, trust in the belayer is absolutely paramount. Not that it fixes everything, but it sure is a requirement!+1 I think I have more than one partner due to my belay skills. Anyone ever feel like their friend doesn't trust them until they fall? After a couple good catches then I hear "Hey I got this project I wanna do today.." |
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If you're primarily a boulderer, and you get spooked at a committing move on lead, just remind yourself: You have stuck much, much harder moves than whatever is right in front of you. Often works for me. |
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And don't be afraid to fire a bad belayer |
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Angie P wrote: This is really great advice. I do have training in meditation/sadhana and should be practicing daily. Thanks so much!The thing that really help me was that I started practicing on lead what I was practicing when I was sitting. I treated leading as an extension of sitting meditation. When a thought came up when I was leading I labeled it as a though and let it go. I then returned to my posture and breathing. It took about a year of consistent practice and it hasn't been an issue sense. |
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I've had all the fears that you mentioned. I check knots I just checked and I'll check them again. Double triple quadruple checking. I have done a reasonable job controlling it with this idea I speak to myself. " I understand my fear want to be a ten on a scale to ten but I need it to be a two because when I'm afraid I lose my wits and nothing will keep me safer that me staying composed" |