Climbing Training Drills for “The Fighter”

In my story about “the Dancer” and “the Fighter,” I break down the mindset and approach differences between two types of climber. To help each archetype find more balance, I developed some drills to help different climber types grow and improve. These drills for “the Fighter” require enough practice within a short amount of time that the ego can be re-trained. This of course requires practice spread out over years so that the training is remembered, internalized, and regularly utilized.

You can do these drills at the crag, at the gym, or ideally at both. Both settings will yield different results. I would recommend making these drills a core portion of one to two climbing days per week for one to three months. Then, depending on the complexity of the drill, incorporate them into a warm up or a cool down for at least one full day per month for the next six months. Finally, incorporate at your discretion. These drills will never not be helpful to practice.

Fighter Drill 1: No Send Sunday

Purpose: To help Fighters dance.

We are going to avoid the traps of flash-pumps and sloppy climbing with this simple drill.

The Drill:

Pick a specific day when you take and hang at the first bolt of every single route on every single try. Simply eliminate the ability to send so that the fight is less likely to enter your system.

If you eliminate the ability to send, you become more likely to work on the moves at any point on the route. When you make moves that are not quite optimized (dynamic when they could be static with better lower body positioning, or stiff when they could be more fluid), take and hang, and explore other options.

You’ve already un-sent the route by bolt one, so there is no reason to put up a fight now. Repeat this question to yourself:

Where can I learn to dance on the route instead of fighting through it?

Pro tip: Find a supportive partner for these practice days. Surprise! That might not be your boyfriend or girlfriend.

A drill for Fighters who are starting to dance

I call this one the “Second-Go-Balancing-Act.”

Purpose: To help Fighters find the balance.

Planning: This drill encompasses both techniques and, in my personal opinion, is the benchmark of a talented climber. If a climber can send something very hard on the second go (or potentially the third), it demonstrates their ability to combine high effort and high precision in a relatively short amount of time.

Many pro climbers are incredible at this, especially if they have competition experience. They have this special (and by special, I mean they have spent loads of time training it) ability in which they gather so much beta on their first try that they can turn on a readily available amount of try-hard to send on their second go. While this requires serious effort, it also necessitates incredible focus and beta-finding. And it entails memorizing skills, climbing tactics, and a controlled ego.

Practice: 

Pick a climb that is higher than your onsight or flash grade, but lower than your redpoint grade. If you have redpointed 5.11c and onsight or flashed 5.10c, then a 5.10d or 5.11a is perfect for this.

On your first go, do not spend all of your energy achieving perfection on every move. Also: Don’t try to onsight the route. The goal is to spend as little energy as possible learning as many of the important moves as you can. Also, learn how and where to rest, and which sections require try-hard vs. slow and controlled precision.

During your first go, try to commit the moves to memory. Then return to the ground and spend some time rehearsing the moves before attempting a second go. This is the Dancer-heavy part of the drill.

Next, try to send. The second go is when you introduce the Fighter part of the drill. Mix the Dancer memorization with the Fighter try-hard and intuition. On this redpoint attempt, give a full effort, while keeping an open mind for beta that feels more intuitive.

To retain the Dancer memory while fighting, you need to stay in the present. Do your best to think about only the moves directly in front of you. If you find your mind straying to “those hard moves before the anchor,” then you might forget your beta in the middle of the route and have to try harder than necessary. This could lead to falling by the time you reach “those hard moves by the anchor” (i.e., a self-fulfilling prophecy). I know I’m at risk of being a broken record, but breathwork is a fantastic way to stay present and limit your try-hard when you don’t need to activate it just yet.

Even if you do get so pumped that you can’t climb for the rest of the day, remember: This is still a goal-oriented session, so not sending is okay and productive.

Each attempt is a learning experience, and at the end of the day, it’s all money in the bank. Often, a route of that grade would take someone four tries to send normally. This is a practice in condensing four attempts of unfocused effort into two fully focused attempts.

Explore more about the Dancer, the Fighter, and Ego Grade.

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