La strada per l'8a
[under translation, please wait, it's a long work!!]
We have ranked 12
strategical and practical short cuts in order to push grades. Most
climbers focus on strength, i.e. in comparison it is easier to
develop technical, tactical and mental skill, which are in focus here.
Give highest priority to the first four short cuts as the biggest gains
are found here. The last four are really supplementary studies for
reaching 8a and beyond. Ifthis doesn't work our last trip is to go to
Railay beach or Kalymnos!
Abbiamo stilato 12 punti strategici per incrementare il proprio
grado. La maggior parte dei climber si focalizza sulla forza, ma in
effetti e' piu' facile sviluppare la tecnica, la tattica e le abilita'
mentali, temi che tratteremo in questo articolo. Date la massima
priorita' ai primi quattro punti, la parte piu' importante
dell'articolo. Gli ultimi quattro sono quasi superflui per raggiungere
l'8a e oltre. Se tutto cio' non dovesse funzionare, il nostro ultimo
consiglio e' di andare a Railay o a Kalimnos!
1. Look down on your feet
Some
90 % of all climbers would improve simply by giving more
attention to footholds instead of handholds. A climber that is
looking down will automatically stay more relaxed, find better
positions for the feet and body and also lean less outwards than
the one using the neck as a periscope. If you do this while
training you will quickly adapt. An easy way of checking the
experience of a climber is measuring how much of the time he
spends looking downwards.
1. Guardate gli appoggi
Il 90% dei climber migliorerebbe semplicemente facendo piu' attenzione agli appoggi invece che solamente agli appigli. Guardando verso il basso, il climber si sentira' piu' rilassato, trovera' una posizione migliore per i piedi e per il corpo e sporgera' di meno verso l'esterno di chi usa il collo come periscopio. Se comincerete gia' in allenamento, vi adatterete velocemente. Un facile metro di misura dell'esperienza di un climber e' la quantita' di tempo che spende guardando verso il basso.
2. Avoid lactic acid - Lift your arms
If
you could avoid lactic acid in your arms for a month or so, you would
probably advance one grade as your muscles could grow instead of being
broken down by acid. Top climbers (8a<) and other competitive
athletes sometimes teach their muscles to work with acid as a
source of energy, but only for short periods, as acid in the long run
will break down their muscles. Warming up is the key to avoid acid.
Very often, the arms are flooded and the blood circulation decreases as
a result of too hard warming up. One trick of increasing the
circulation is to lift and sink your arms when needed.
Practical short cuts |
Strategical short cuts |
1. Guarda verso i piedi |
2. Evita l'acido lattico. Alza le braccia |
3. Respirazione e rilassamento |
4. Piu' metri/movimenti possibili |
5. Alti obiettivi |
6. Consigli e promemoria nel sacchettino della magnesite |
7. Posizione delle dita |
8. Sicurezza e paura |
9. Pulsation holding |
10. Reclutate fibre muscolari |
11. Moschettonate dopo |
12. Hang-dog |
3. Breathing & Relaxation
'Breath'
is something everybody has screamed or been encourage to do after some
desperate moves. With your breathing you can either get more
relaxed or, with some hyperventilation, more tensed and stronger. As
yoga is based on breathing, so could your climbing. Before you
start, concentrate on your breathing. This is something you have to
practice. The best way of getting immediate relaxation on jugs
after the crux is to focus on your breathing. Count down from 10, shut
your eyes and imagine you are placed in syrup. Take some quick
breaths and push through the next crux.
3. Respiro e rilassamento
Qualcuno
consiglia di respirare solamente dopo il passo duro. Col respiro
potrete rilassarvi, o essere piu' tonici grazie all'iperventilazione.
Cosi' come lo yoga e' basato sulla respirazione, cosi' anche puo'
esserlo l'arrampicata. Prima di partire, concentrati sul tuo respiro.
Dovrete farci un po' di pratica. Il miglior modo per rilassarsi dopo un
passo duro e' quello di concentrarsi sul proprio respiro. Conta alla
rovescai partendo da 10, chiudi gli occhi ed immagina di essere [placed
in syrup]. Fate qualche respiro veloce e preparatevi per il prossimo
passo duro.
4. As many meters/moves as possible
During an hour a top climber do up to 100 metres per hour while other climbers fight to get 20 - 40. In order to build a broad base and avoid acid and injuries one should strive towards climbing easier grades. Some 50 % of your training should just be based on easy climbing where you could focus on technical training.
4. Piu' metri/movimenti possibili
Un
climber d'alto livello arriva a fare fino a 100 metri all'ora, mentre
la maggior parte degli arrampicatori lotta per farne 20-40. Allo scopo
di creare un ampia base atletica ed evitare l'acido lattico e i traumi,
si dovrebbe insistere sui gradi facili. Il 50% dell'allenamento
dovrebbbbe essere basato su salite facili dove ci si puo' focalizzare
sulla tecnica.
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5. High point
Most climbers struggle with pushing themselves mentally but instead of falling they say 'Take' (I am one of these guys). By doing so you never learn where your limit is and you never practice making moves under pressure. It is very easy to give up when you realise this attempt won't take you to the top and you might be afraid of falling. However, if you once (or sometimes) go for a high point, meaning that you fight as long as possible including a jump to get chalk as high up as possible, you will get surprised. By climbing on top-rope you will make it easier to push yourself and by doing so you will take the advantage of training climbing under pressure.
5. Punta in alto
La maggior parte dei climber, invece che volare, dice "Blocca!!" (io sono uno di questi). Facendo cosi' pero' non si imparera' mai dov'e' il proprio limite e non ci si abituera' ad arrampicare sotto pressione. E' facile appendersi quando si capisce che in questo tentativo non chiuderemo il tiro. Invece, se una volta (o piu' volte) decidi di salire ancora un po', lottando il piu' possibile e magari volando, sarai sorpreso. Arrampicando in moulinette e' piu' facile andare al limite sfruttando i vantaggi di arrampicare sotto pressione.
6. Coaching & Memo in chalk bag
We
think most climbers would gain from being coached while redpointing.
This person should pep talk but also remind you of certain things like;
Breathing, Finger positions etc. You could also put a memo symbol in
your chalk bag like a coin or a stone which symbolises Breathing or
Looking down. It is very easy to, once you have started to climb,
getting into the zone and forgetting all your tactics.
7. Finger positions
The
key to do the last moves is often to keep that closed crimp
position. As you get more tired and lands on the last holds with open
hand, you have to stop to adjust to the crimp position before you
do the next move. This is almost impossible to do as a routine so here
you want to hear your friend scream - Criiiimp!
8. Safety
Do
you trust your partner 100%. If not, you will instinctively feel that
something could happen when you?re standing there shaking with you feet
well above the last bolt. By doing some short falls you will
be a better team and your climbing will be better. Tell him that you
want him to say ?? I got you, come on!?
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Supplementary studies for reaching 8a, once you have done your homework above ;)
9. Pulsation holding
This
is very hard to learn quickly but it's
nevertheless one the best ways to improve your endurance by
avoiding acid (pump). Your heart tries to pump out fresh blood
more than once every second. As you hold a hold for some
seconds the circulation is hindered. Try to pulsate your
holds often even if only for a fraction of a second to keep the
blood flowing. By training this technique you will quickly get a
much better endurance compared to simply working your muscles.
10. Clipping later
Let's
say you do five hard moves before reaching a jug and the clipping
position. If you immediately, with high tension, put in the
quick-draw and the rope it is like doing seven hard moves before
you rest. Instead, strive towards relaxing (see short cut 3) first
and chalk later, with low tension, then make the
clip and you have just saved energy.
11. Hang-dog
There
are many tricks how to hang-dog from bolt to bolt. With a
good technique, or a clip-stick, you will increase the actual climbing
time instead of just being frustrated from not getting to the
top of a climb. (We are preparing an article with some hang-dog tricks).
12. Recruiting muscles fibres
Most
of you do have to do some 30 minutes of climbing and some maximum moves
until you have recruited all your muscle fibres. Once you start
practicing and maybe hang-dog the route it is very easy to loose
self-confidence as you don't feel that strong in the beginning. Don't
start telling everybody that you feel weak or that it is bad
conditions. Instead, recruit your muscles. If you are a slow starter
you have to be like a robot (with no feelings) in the beginning of each
climbing day.
When you have done
a personal record it is very important to state that you think it was a
hard climb, which suited you perfectly, you are in good shape and you
have gor some tips from 8a and that you have been training hard lately.
Otherwise it is easy that you will start hearing downgrading rumours ;)