[James Malloch]

For Christmas I was given a present of a coaching session (or multiple if I go for cheaper ones) which I'm thinking about how to use.

My current level is that I can Boulder around 7A/+ without too much of a siege and have led up to 7b+. Though I haven't tried anything at that level for a while. I was getting 7a/7a+ second go at Malham in the Autumn though so feel I could still climb that grade if I invested a little more time.

I've never trained much but recently started a training plan for a sport trip in 8 weeks (it was taken from a friend with a lot more knowledge and modified for me).

Last time I climbed more frequently - when we had a board in the house - my grades increased pretty quickly. I'm hoping that my current program and more structure I will see similar increases.

So, this brings me on to the question of what to do with a training session(s)...

Is it worth getting a training plan drawn up or should I stick with what I have and see how that goes?

I thought about Tom's benchmarking thing but I'm right at the bottom of his grade boundaries so not sure how useful it would be at this stage?

I'm (unfortunately) moving to London at the end of March until September. This will follow a 3 week sport trip so maybe a training plan specifically designed to build from there and maintain my fitness for the summer.

Maybe something around injuries and hour to avoid them (I've had a couple over the years).

Or just a general session to try and assess my weaknesses.


So basically, I'm not really sure what types of training are available. As there seem to be so many around now there must be many different specialisms to choose from.

Any advice from the limited advice would be very much appreciated. Has anything worked particularly well for you or anything that comes highly recommended? I'm going into this pretty blind...

[tomtom]

Sorry if this sounds a bit blunt - but wouldn't those be the sort of questions you would hope to get answered by the coach, during/after a coaching session~?

Nice present though... might have to remember that for next years Xmas list!

[James Malloch]

Quite possibly - but knowing very little about training/coaching means I could go and waste a session if I don't consider what might be best to get out of it.

It was originally intended to be used for finding a good training plan. But I sorted one out before finding out about this so I feel I should give the current one a chance given I'm not aiming for something super specific and don't have much in the way of facilities available currently - just a fingerboard and a wall session once a week.

So if more of an open question regarding what others have found useful I suppose.

Maybe someone had a particularly good session around injury prevention/warming up. Or a session that taught them lots around climbing efficiently on steeper ground. Maybe Tom's lattice board could actually prove useful despite me being at the lower end of the grades.

I just thought that there will be people on here who have been in a similar situation and were able to add much more value to their climbing rather than just getting a training plan made up.

And it would be these kind of idea that I hadn't thought about or really considered.
Basically - I don't know what's out there, who's worth visiting etc and it's hard to narrow it down online.

For example, at one of the walls in Leeds I could get 3/4 sessions for the price of one with Steve Mac. But the former have very little details about them and might add less value than a few hours with Steve. But without opinions I wouldn't really know which would be better.

And it was a great present - just hard to decide what to go for!

[Rocksteady]

How well do you know your weaknesses? I'd have thought that's very much something a coach could help you with - identifying specific weaknesses in strength, fitness or technique.

[Muenchener]

One hears good things about John Kettle with regard to movement skills, mental patterns etc.

At the level you say you're at, those things are likely to be more relevant than somebody telling you which Beastmaker hold you should be hanging on.

[TheTwig]

London is awesome for (indoor) climbing btw. Depending on where you live you will have plenty of quality walls to train at. (I climb regularly at White Spider and semi at the Castle).

The problem with training plans is you won't know if they work for you until you do them. My advice would be just to go with one for a full season (or 2, or 3) and then you can start making your own changes. I did a few seasons of the Rock Climbers Training Manual prescribed stuff and still stick to it generally but I've modified it a bit to what I think works for me. I've been thinking of getting some coaching too, let us know how it goes 

[thekettle]

@Muenchener - is 10% commission still? 
James I'd suggest you ask your questions to Steve Mac, Tom or any other prospective coaches you're considering. Like tomtom suggested, but do it via email before you've parted with cash. Their responses will all vary and give you a better idea of who to go with, rather than chancing it.

[cheque]

London is awesome for (indoor) climbing btw.

Damning with faint praise there.

[Mike Tyson]

I'll second the nod towards John Kettle (posts on here as thekettle).

Top man.

[ghisino]

i suggest you watch the interview with the gimmekraft guys on the "training videos" post. Although long for what it says, it has some valuable insights about what good coaching should be.

the training plan is only one of the useful things you should get out of it.

imho you should also use the coach as:

-a mirror, assessing your strenghts, weaknesses and context (training and climbing opportunities, etc) in an objective way
-a sports psychologist
-a guru (seriously!)


without these three facets, i don't think a coaching session is much more valuable than a good training book.