21 December 2022
Lorenzi's approach to climbing 9A
Simon Lorenzi who just did his second 9A, has published some interesting thoughts on Facebook which could describe how he works with mental training. (c) Gilles Charlier
"Obsession: this is the word that represents best a hard climb for me. The day before sending Alphane I couldn't sleep before 3am because I was thinking about what I could do better than the previous session where I fell in the easy traverse at the end. During the night I started to be convinced that I'll send the next session because I knew exactly what went wrong last time. During hours I thought of what could be the best warm up to not be flash pumped at the end and I visualized the send go again and again with every feeling and every holds of the boulder before falling asleep.
The next day I woke up confident and ready to do what I have to do. During my first try something not planned happened and I opened my index. Depressed, no chance to send it with tape and I know I needed 3 days for my skin to heal. Obsession pushed me to try a last taping technique before leaving. From the ground it seems to be ok so I go for a last try without conviction. What a surprise when 3 min later I was standing on the top. The contrast of the situation was so big and went so fast that it took me a bit of time to realize what just happened! Everything doesn't need to be always perfect you just need to climb relaxed."
"Obsession: this is the word that represents best a hard climb for me. The day before sending Alphane I couldn't sleep before 3am because I was thinking about what I could do better than the previous session where I fell in the easy traverse at the end. During the night I started to be convinced that I'll send the next session because I knew exactly what went wrong last time. During hours I thought of what could be the best warm up to not be flash pumped at the end and I visualized the send go again and again with every feeling and every holds of the boulder before falling asleep.
The next day I woke up confident and ready to do what I have to do. During my first try something not planned happened and I opened my index. Depressed, no chance to send it with tape and I know I needed 3 days for my skin to heal. Obsession pushed me to try a last taping technique before leaving. From the ground it seems to be ok so I go for a last try without conviction. What a surprise when 3 min later I was standing on the top. The contrast of the situation was so big and went so fast that it took me a bit of time to realize what just happened! Everything doesn't need to be always perfect you just need to climb relaxed."
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โI stopped focusing on competition bouldering after last yearโs World Cup in Prague, partly because I can already feel it on my body, especially in my shoulders. The modern competition style, with a lot of jumping from one hold to another, is very demanding for the shoulders.
Outdoor bouldering isโฆ
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