Board Meetings | The Pros and Cons of Gamifying Climbing

PodcastsBoard Meeting
Written By Kris Hampton

This episode is the first 40 minutes of a nearly 2 hour long episode for our Patrons. In it, Nate and I discuss the pros and cons of many of the gamified versions of climbing that we all participate in. Add-A-Hold, Lists, Challenges, Pitch Counts, Counting V-Points, and even Moonboard Benchmarks.

Some games we like more than others. Does your favorite get a thumbs up, or does it get skewered?

For as little as $3 per month, you can become a patron and get 2 extra Board Meetings every month, including the final hour of this episode.

MORE BOARD MEETINGS
Board Meetings | Is Your Climbing Training Corrective or Constructive?
Board Meetings | Is Your Climbing Training Corrective or Constructive?

There's a fine line between reactive and proactive training. If you're constantly being corrective or reactive, you may want to rethink things.

Board Meetings | Our Favorite Finger Strength Protocols
Board Meetings | Our Favorite Finger Strength Protocols

Kris and Nate discuss their favorite protocols, both that they use themselves and in programming for their clients.

Board Meetings | A Better Way to Look at Climbing Movement
Board Meetings | A Better Way to Look at Climbing Movement

Kris presents his idea of the Atomic Elements of Climbing Movement to Nate and asks for his thoughts.

CONFLICTED | Boards as Climbing Movement Assessment Tools
CONFLICTED | Boards as Climbing Movement Assessment Tools

If we want to assess our climbing movement skills over time, are the standardized boards the best option? We're conflicted…

Board Meetings | How Nate Assesses Climbing Movement Skills and How You Can Self-Assess
Board Meetings | How Nate Assesses Climbing Movement Skills and How You Can Self-Assess

How do we decide where to focus our efforts when it comes to becoming a BETTER climber – rather than just a stronger one?

Board Meetings | How Much Climbing Skill Is Guaranteed With Experience?
Board Meetings | How Much Climbing Skill Is Guaranteed With Experience?

If the more you climb, the better you get, then why do we all know that one guy that’s been climbing forever and still stuck at 5.10?

REWIND | Board Meetings: The Art of Learning Climbing
REWIND | Board Meetings: The Art of Learning Climbing

One of our favorites: Kris and Nate discuss ideas about our mental models for learning, and how we might apply these ideas to climbing.

Board Meetings | Indoor Climbing Lessons That You Should Take Outdoors (Bonus Episode)
Board Meetings | Indoor Climbing Lessons That You Should Take Outdoors (Bonus Episode)

There are lessons from the climbing in a gym that should absolutely be applied outdoors in order to become a better climber faster.

Board Meetings | Outdoor Climbing Lessons You Should Take Indoors
Board Meetings | Outdoor Climbing Lessons You Should Take Indoors

There are aspects of climbing outside that lead us into learning specific things that we don't necessarily find as easily indoors.

Board Meetings | Improved Learning from Podcasts, Books, and Videos
Board Meetings | Improved Learning from Podcasts, Books, and Videos

With more and more information out there, it would seem that we can learn faster and better. But that isn't always the case.

Board Meetings | Where We Go Wrong When We Get Training Right
Board Meetings | Where We Go Wrong When We Get Training Right

You nailed the training and showed up stronger. Still, things went wrong.

Board Meetings | Lowpointing: The Most Overlooked Climbing Tactic
Board Meetings | Lowpointing: The Most Overlooked Climbing Tactic

You know what highpointing is, and definitely redpointing, but what about lowpointing?

CONFLICTED | Kneebarring on Boulders
CONFLICTED | Kneebarring on Boulders

Does kneebarring hard boulders make you stronger? We're conflicted.

Board Meetings | What Pro Climbers Can Learn From Taylor Swift
Board Meetings | What Pro Climbers Can Learn From Taylor Swift

Whether a pro, writer, filmmaker or coach, Taylor has some advice for you.

Board Meetings | BONUS EPISODE | Things That Should Affect Grades But Don't
Board Meetings | BONUS EPISODE | Things That Should Affect Grades But Don't

In an ideal world, grades would be objective and we’d have some universal formula for how they’re decided. But we don't live in an ideal world.

Board Meetings | The Pros and Cons of Replicas
Board Meetings | The Pros and Cons of Replicas

Watching Will Bosi and Aiden Roberts work on the Burden of Dreams replica is fun, but is it valuable for the rest of us?

BOARD MEETINGS | The Art of Learning Climbing
BOARD MEETINGS | The Art of Learning Climbing

A way to think about improvement based on ideas from Josh Waitzkin, author of The Art of Learning.

Episode 71: Board Meetings | Goal Setting
Episode 71: Board Meetings | Goal Setting

Let’s talk goal setting. Not resolutions; goals. Different animals altogether. 

Episode 68: Board Meetings | I Wish I Knew Now What I Knew Then
Episode 68: Board Meetings | I Wish I Knew Now What I Knew Then

It would be amazing if we kept all our attributes forever, but the reality is that we sometimes stop doing some of the things that made us good to begin with. 

Episode 65: Board Meetings | Five Minute Fingers
Episode 65: Board Meetings | Five Minute Fingers

The interwebs are going crazy over Andrew Bisharat’s new miracle hangboard program “Five Minute Fingers” and folks have asked for our opinion.

Episode 44: Board Meetings | Top 2 Plateau Breakers
Episode 44: Board Meetings | Top 2 Plateau Breakers

Whether it's mental or physical, unless you're a mutant, you've gotten stuck. Well, we have some advice.

Episode 41: Board Meetings | Can Everyone Climb V10?
Episode 41: Board Meetings | Can Everyone Climb V10?

Jon Glassberg recently wrote in a blog that, “Climbing double digits is an attainable goal for any serious climber.” We agree.

Episode 38: Board Meetings | Top 3 Training Trends We Disagree With
Episode 38: Board Meetings | Top 3 Training Trends We Disagree With

Let's face it, there are some really bad ideas out there.

Episode 33: Board Meetings | Top 2 Sources of Information
Episode 33: Board Meetings | Top 2 Sources of Information

The whole team sits down together and discusses the Top 2 resources where we each get our information.

Episode 31: Devil's Advocate | The Moon Board (featuring Ben Moon)
Episode 31: Devil's Advocate | The Moon Board (featuring Ben Moon)

It's here.  The one you've been waiting for.  The Moon Board Episode.

Episode 24: Board Meetings | Top 3 Redpoint Tactics
Episode 24: Board Meetings | Top 3 Redpoint Tactics

We discuss our top strategies and tactics for redpointing that can help you approach projects more efficiently.

Episode 19: Board Meetings | Top 3 Things We've Changed Our Minds About
Episode 19: Board Meetings | Top 3 Things We've Changed Our Minds About

Fact is, if you still believe all of the same things you believed last year, then you're probably fucking up. 

Episode 15: Board Meetings | Top 3 Ways We've Invested in Ourselves
Episode 15: Board Meetings | Top 3 Ways We've Invested in Ourselves

Nate and I have a late night discussion about the Top 3 Ways We've Invested in Ourselves.

Episode 13: Board Meetings | Top 3 Mistakes We See Being Made
Episode 13: Board Meetings | Top 3 Mistakes We See Being Made

As we've taken our workshops to gyms across the country, we've seen lots of cool, positive things happen, but we've also seen lots of mistakes being made. 

Episode 11: Board Meetings | Top 3 Things We've Done to Positively Affect Our Climbing
Episode 11: Board Meetings | Top 3 Things We've Done to Positively Affect Our Climbing

Nate and I sat down and figured out a rough format for a new concept.  And thus "The Board Meetings" were born.

Featured
Is Board Climbing Fixing a Problem You Don't Have?
Is Board Climbing Fixing a Problem You Don't Have?

Giving artificially low grades to climbs increases their perceived value for our training and development. The more something is mis-graded the more we naturally want to prioritize it.

How to Set Limit Boulder Projects on a Spray Wall
How to Set Limit Boulder Projects on a Spray Wall

It’s all about manipulating the right variables.

System Boarding, Part II: What
System Boarding, Part II: What

How tall, how wide, what angle, and perhaps most difficult, which holds and in which configuration? 

System Boarding, Part I: Why and How
System Boarding, Part I: Why and How

I test my theory that a better way to system board for power would be to treat it more like bouldering, but on mirror-image symmetrical walls.

Reader Questions: System Boarding for Power
Reader Questions: System Boarding for Power

A reader asks: I'd love some advice on how to use the systems board and/or fingerboard to train power.

Kris Hampton

A climber since 1994, Kris was a traddie for 12 years before he discovered the gymnastic movement inherent in sport climbing and bouldering.  Through dedicated training and practice, he eventually built to ascents of 5.14 and V11. 

Kris started Power Company Climbing in 2006 as a place to share training info with his friends, and still specializes in working with full time "regular" folks.  He's always available for coaching sessions and training workshops.

http://www.powercompanyclimbing.com
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