Lead Headspace

I'm looking for advice on getting more comfortable above gear,  and reducing fear in general trad climbing! What tips and tricks have worked for you guys? Thanks!

Hate to be that guy, but there are a decent amount of threads on this topic if you search around the forums - may give you a good start.

Start hanging on your gear. This will give you confidence in how incredibly strong it is. Then start taking whips. 

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/117849550/lead-climbing-anxieties

The Rock Warriors Way by some guy with a weird name...Arno Ilgner

That, and a healthy "I don't give a fuck if I live or die" attitude.  Seriously, if you are not concerned with getting hurt or killed, you climb better. You have removed the main cause of stress, fear of injury.  Most people way overthink injury/death...be smart, you won't (probably) get hurt.

Go aid climbing. Nothing helps you learn to trust your gear quicker than standing on 000 C3. Plus, you're backed up extensively so if the piece pulls, you're not (assuming you did everything else right) going to get hurt. It will also teach a lot about gear placements.

If aid climbing is too much, you could always just lead some single pitch trad, lower off a bomber anchor, and bounce test your gear on the way down. Another way to convince your brain that a tiny RP will actually hold a fall...

Competency tends to lessen fear.

Tim Stich wrote: Competency tends to lessen fear.

Totally agree...an old mentor once said to me, your number one piece of protection is your climbing ability. 

I include your downclimbing ability in there as well.

For me, spending enough time trad climbing to have a clear sense of what terrain is and isn't good for pushing climbing difficulty helped a lot. I think it goes beyond the PG-13/R/X safety territory and into somewhat more nuanced questions - how straightforward are the placements? what about the route-finding? what would bailing look like, and am I comfortable with that possibility?

A weird side-effect is that I've found that spending a fair amount of time recently climbing easy-to-protect cracks near my limit has made my head a little worse for dealing with fiddly gear and/or longer runouts on easier terrain.

I vote with Buck Rio: mostly, learn how not to fall, by working up the difficulty scale of R climbs and by practicing downclimbing so you know when you get in a tight spot you can return to a stance or piece lower down. If you go to a gym, work on picking climbs you are sure you will not fall, and downclimb. If you trad climb, you actually probably already trust gear at anchors. If not, see above. But it seems like you aren't trusting yourself enough. I thinking working on being confident leading easier ground, then doing the fall-on-the-gear thing is better. If you are still fearful on easy climbing with crappy or distant gear, reassess. Leading isn't super fun for everyone and there's nothing at all wrong with that. 

https://warriorsway.com/

Just lead climb as much as you can and get mileage. Don't stray far from your comfort level and you'll find that it increases over time.

It also helps to train strength and endurance. You'll feel more comfortable climbing above your gear if you're confident that you can pull the moves and not pump out

Buck Rio wrote: you won't (probably) get hurt.

Read:

Yer (probably not) gonna die!

Yeah, not the first it's asked, might wanna search it.

I've taken to finishing most of my climbs indoor with a fall. I just don't clip the anchor/last draw. I also try to actively focus on the fall as it happens. I used to sort of tune out while falling and just sort of wake up once the rope's tight again. Focusing on the fall, what actually happens during a fall, helps makes clearer at an instinctive level that there's nothing wrong with falling per se. Of course sometimes you just shouldn't - ledges / shit gear etc. But I guess my point is that part of the fear of falling is the fall itself, which isn't relevant from a rational perspective. So if you can take out the apprehension about the free-fall itself, that's already a decent start.

The other thing for me is time above gear. It can be easy terrain. You can be standing on your toes with a no-hands rest - doesn't matter, just spend time above gear. Don't rush to place a piece if you have a good stance - shake out before, take note of what gear you got left, look above for what you think you might need. Heck re-arrange your gear on your harness if you need. Then place something. Similar reasoning to what I was saying about taking falls indoor often - being above gear should just be normal. In itself there's nothing wrong about being above your piece. Of course sometimes you may end up in situation when it is not so, when you do need to plug in something decent asap. But for all those times when it's not really a problem, spending time above gear has, at least for me, normalized this situation.

So now I only need to care about truly dicey situations which, let's be honest, aren't the norm for most of us on most of our leads.

Then as others have said, place good gear and fall on it when it's safe. Doesn't have to be huge whippers - just fall from knee level.

Repeated exposure, like the previous commenter mentioned, just having time above gear. Also, competency. You wont be able to perform if you are second guessing every placement. Spend some time aiding and bounce testing to get an idea of what is a bomber/marginal/strictly mental pro hail mary piece. I guess the best "tip" I have is to place two pieces right next to eachother before any difficult looking sections/anytime you're feeling sketched. This can be just the confidence boost you need to flow through the crux.
 
What exactly is causing your anxieties? My main headspace problem is leading near my limit. 5.8 R/X is no sweat, but a 5.10d well protected route gets me shook.

Some good advice has been posted.  Like Will K and Frank V said:  get mileage, don't stray far from your comfort level, and spend time above gear.

A mentor a long time ago told me:  "don't fixate on the worst possible outcome....focus on the most likely outcome"

You are your best piece of protection.  Learn and be comfortable  downclimbing....bouldering is a great way to hone that skill in!!

I like all the down climbing advice! Thanks ya'll. I feel super comfortable on lead ok very bolts, and have no problem taking monster whips as long as I'm not decking. I just want to get that cozy above gear. It sounds like I'll have to check out rock warriors way!

Sam X wrote: Repeated exposure, like the previous commenter mentioned, just having time above gear. Also, competency. You wont be able to perform if you are second guessing every placement. Spend some time aiding and bounce testing to get an idea of what is a bomber/marginal/strictly mental pro hail mary piece. I guess the best "tip" I have is to place two pieces right next to eachother before any difficult looking sections/anytime you're feeling sketched. This can be just the confidence boost you need to flow through the crux.
 
What exactly is causing your anxieties? My main headspace problem is leading near my limit. 5.8 R/X is no sweat, but a 5.10d well protected route gets me shook.

I'm not sure to be completely honest. Truthfully we just got back from a trip to zion np and I felt way more scared than comfortable above gear, which is my reason for starting the thread. I knew pieces were bomber, as they were in perfect desert splitters. But I'll push aiding hard this spring and see if I can make some progress!

Franck Vee wrote: Yeah, not the first it's asked, might wanna search it.

I've taken to finishing most of my climbs indoor with a fall. I just don't clip the anchor/last draw. I also try to actively focus on the fall as it happens. I used to sort of tune out while falling and just sort of wake up once the rope's tight again. Focusing on the fall, what actually happens during a fall, helps makes clearer at an instinctive level that there's nothing wrong with falling per se. Of course sometimes you just shouldn't - ledges / shit gear etc. But I guess my point is that part of the fear of falling is the fall itself, which isn't relevant from a rational perspective. So if you can take out the apprehension about the free-fall itself, that's already a decent start.

The other thing for me is time above gear. It can be easy terrain. You can be standing on your toes with a no-hands rest - doesn't matter, just spend time above gear. Don't rush to place a piece if you have a good stance - shake out before, take note of what gear you got left, look above for what you think you might need. Heck re-arrange your gear on your harness if you need. Then place something. Similar reasoning to what I was saying about taking falls indoor often - being above gear should just be normal. In itself there's nothing wrong about being above your piece. Of course sometimes you may end up in situation when it is not so, when you do need to plug in something decent asap. But for all those times when it's not really a problem, spending time above gear has, at least for me, normalized this situation.

So now I only need to care about truly dicey situations which, let's be honest, aren't the norm for most of us on most of our leads.

Then as others have said, place good gear and fall on it when it's safe. Doesn't have to be huge whippers - just fall from knee level.

I love the advice! It sounds like more mileage is key! 

Christian Sperry wrote: I like all the down climbing advice! Thanks ya'll. I feel super comfortable on lead ok very bolts, and have no problem taking monster whips as long as I'm not decking. I just want to get that cozy above gear. It sounds like I'll have to check out rock warriors way!

I did one of the Trad clinics with Warriors Way back when I thought I wanted to trad  climb more. 

It was mostly a day of doing falls onto gear I had placed. Really helpful for feeling comfortable with placements. 
You could do the same thing yourself but the clinic was well organized and worth the cost, IMO. 

Christian Sperry wrote:

I'm not sure to be completely honest. Truthfully we just got back from a trip to zion np and I felt way more scared than comfortable above gear, which is my reason for starting the thread. I knew pieces were bomber, as they were in perfect desert splitters. But I'll push aiding hard this spring and see if I can make some progress!

Dude I was just in zion as well for the first time, and imo on many routes (especially the lesser climbed lines) the pro is not exactly confidence inspiring. The rock is extremely soft . I can see why you were scared!