Remembering pockets for your feet

Hey y'all.  I struggle on lead to remember where the pockets I literally just used a few seconds ago for my hands were in order to place my feet.  Often times it can be hard to see them anymore and someone told me that scrabbling around with my toes trying to locate a pocket that I thought was there while pumping out is not the best way to climb.

Any tips or tricks you guys use to help? I can't be the only one with a bad short term memory?  Should I start training my brain?

pay more attention?

Simon Leighwrote:Any tips or tricks you guys use to help? I can't be the only one with a bad short term memory?  Should I start training my brain?

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Do you have. A gym near you to trailnindoors? Try climbing problems without looking down at your feet, I found it helps immensely. 

Charles DuPontwrote: pay more attention?

Bruv, I was looking for short cuts.  None of this "git gud".  

There are no miracle shortcuts. And it’s not your short-term memory that’s a problem, it’s your brain functioning under stress.

How do you train it? By climbing the routes/problems that have these blind pockets, repeatedly. Hopefully you have access to a combination of routes with these features. Some easy enough that you aren’t struggling, and some harder ones.

And instead of saying “climb without looking at your feet” I would actually say the opposite. Do look for your feet very carefully. Relax and breathe, before you make that foot move. Note what the rock looks like just above the pocket, so you would recognize where the pocket is, when you move above it. If you are working the route, put a small tickmark that would point you to the pocket. Erase it when you are done. Or, try erasing it after you had done the move well a few times, and were finding the foot well with the help of the tick mark.

Simon Leighwrote:

Bruv, I was looking for short cuts.  None of this "git gud".  

alot of routes in AF canyon are like this. sometimes I mark the area above the pocket with a line of chalk so I can see it while looking down. Just clean it up afterwards

Cairn War Machinewrote:

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Do you have. A gym near you to trailnindoors? Try climbing problems without looking down at your feet, I found it helps immensely. 

Gyms still closed here, but yes that's a good idea.  I reckon it's more stress/anxiety related when leading closer to your limit.  It's reminiscent of when someone tells you their name, and you immediately forget it.  

Lena chitawrote: There are no miracle shortcuts. And it’s not your short-term memory that’s a problem, it’s your brain functioning under stress.

How do you train it? By climbing the routes/problems that have these blind pockets, repeatedly. Hopefully you have access to a combination of routes with these features. Some easy enough that you aren’t struggling, and some harder ones.

And instead of saying “climb without looking at your feet” I would actually say the opposite. Do look for your feet very carefully. Relax and breathe, before you make that foot move. Note what the rock looks like just above the pocket, so you would recognize where the pocket is, when you move above it. If you are working the route, put a small tickmark that would point you to the pocket. Erase it when you are done. Or, try erasing it after you had done the move well a few times, and were finding the foot well with the help of the tick mark.

I was joking about  short cuts, but yes i think you're right about stress factor.  Maybe squashing that and working on fear.  I'm not a fan of tickmarks, but it might be helpful to use them to start getting in the habit of looking for an identifying feature and what features I could even see from above, then start reducing them over time and rely more on the rock :)

helpful hint - don't forget to take your foot OUT of the pocket before you move it.  OUCH!

Cairn War Machinewrote:

Try climbing problems without looking down at your feet, I found it helps immensely. 

Weird because I hear all the time how important it is to watch your toe make solid contact with the foothold. 

Cairn War Machinewrote:

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Do you have. A gym near you to trailnindoors? Try climbing problems without looking down at your feet, I found it helps immensely. 

Terrible advice. You should be watching your foot all the way to the hold and seeing exactly how it places. Unlike your hands where you can feel and adjust on the hold, your foot placement should be assisted with visual confirmation to assure precision. 

If you are working a route, try taking your shoe off and placing it in the pocket so you can see and understand what kind of contact you get. Small tickmarks above or below the pocket, wherever helps you see it from above. If it is a project rather than an onsight attempt, rehearsing the section in your head, hand and foot beta so you anticipate the pocket. Also for these blind foot placements, learning to feel your toe as much as seeing it is helpful. But yes, definitely look at your feet.

I think you need to work to develop rolling cognizance of where they are as you move up the rock. If you are climbing at your limit you will not have the free mental energy to develop this. Try backing down a couple grades for a while and focus exactly on this aspect. When you develop this you will find it easier to climb your current grade and you'll improve a half number, I bet. What was said above, about noting the identifying features above a pocket, or ticking it if you must, should help. You basically have to have a radius of awareness around you, kind of like interstate driving through cities. You will know you're getting better at this when your feet start to naturally go where your hands just were.

One thing I learned while attempting to onsight pocketed eyebrow faces in North Carolina was ticking the tops of pockets as you climb by. Makes all the difference for blind from above feet.

Grug Mwrote:

Terrible advice. You should be watching your foot all the way to the hold and seeing exactly how it places. Unlike your hands where you can feel and adjust on the hold, your foot placement should be assisted with visual confirmation to assure precision. 

This is reiterated immensely by any good coach or solid climber, I don’t know why you’d climb a route/problem without looking at foot placement, that’s a recipe for poor technique. If it’s a memory issue, time spent on a training board where feet follow hands will force you to memorize real quick.