Movement Self-Assessment
CHALLENGES WITH ASSESSING MOVEMENT
There are far more challenges with assessing movement than there are solutions.
This assessment is meant to give you direction – not necessarily solutions.
Usually when a coach/analyst/etc. is analyzing a climber’s movement, it is on a specific boulder or route. And that can work well for that boulder or route, assuming the coach knows what they’re looking for and has an understanding of the climber’s strengths and weaknesses. But they must also keep in mind that in performance a climber’s strength or mobility deficits may lead to doing a move in a way that is sub-optimal, but in that moment, when trying to send, is absolutely optimal. Providing a solution that would require months or years for that climber to develop isn’t a good solution for performance, and might not be a good solution for practice either, if their performance is only rarely affected by that issue.
A much better way of analyzing movement with the goal of improving it is to look for patterns over time over a wide variety of climbing.
Patterns in what you do, as well as what you don’t. The choices you make, and how you make them. The small things, that ultimately affect larger percentages of your performance.
The problem is, a coach providing a quick beta suggestion results in immediate success, so it seems better. But that’s just beta, not an improvement in your movement. Not that better beta is bad, we just can’t conflate it with becoming a better climber.
The goal of this assessment section is to give you a direction toward becoming a better climber. To point out patterns and interrogate your decisions. To help you understand what parts of your movement could use a little more attention – and intention.