How Climbers Can Control Fear

Fear of falling affects everyone, even the pros. If you climb with a rope you need to watch this video. If you don’t, you still need to watch this video because it applies to bouldering too! We're talking about the science of fear!

We first need to understand what happens to the body when we experience fear so that we can best take control of these processes. Cue the fight or flight response!

Fight or Flight is a fear response - As soon as you anticipate a dangerous situation your amygdala gets to work and triggers the sympathetic nervous system, signals are sent out to release ‘stress hormones’, like adrenaline. These kick the body into high gear, so it becomes tense and alert. Some can be good but too much is not a good thing. It will become difficult to focus on small tasks since your brain is preoccupied with the fear.

However, the brain also releases dopamine during the fight or flight response. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter “chemical messenger” that plays a role in how we feel pleasure. So when the fearful situation does not become overwhelming or traumatic we can end up enjoying the experience. This is why we like roller coasters and watching scary movies.

Controlling the situation to manage the dose and frequency of fear we can start to overcome our fear of falling. We also discuss how counterfactual thinking, visualisation, self-talk and ego play a big role in the journey to overcoming fear.

Climbing Partner checklist;
- Someone you can be open with (leave your ego at the door)
- Someone that understands the process
- Someone that won’t shout at you “go higher!” but will say words of confidence
- Someone that can give a soft catch.

Step 1 - Top Rope
- Bouncing and Swinging - get comfortable hanging
- Small falls to take up the slack - Focus on breathe, flow and relaxing

Step 2 - Lead
- Bolt-to-bolt + Bouncing
- Clip Fall
- Clip-Move Fall
- Above Bolt Fall

Step 3 - Lead Performance
- Redpoint where you’ll need to try hard and falling is highly likely.
Hyper-focused climbing practice. This is about attention and being in the moment while climbing. Focus on the body position, the tension in your grip, the texture of the holds, the depth of your breath.

Find out more about our Lattice Training Plans here: https://latticetraining.com/plans/

Read more from Lattice Training and Climbing Psychologist, Allegra Maguire here; https://latticetraining.com/2022/04/0...

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