Do you feel like…
Fear is holding you back and it’s stopping you from getting on the climbs you want to do?
You’ve researched extensively about resolving your fears and tried fall practice yet nothing has really worked?
You go from feeling fine on a climb to quickly overwhelmed and the fear appears from nowhere?
Once the negative thoughts start, you can’t stop them?
You’re fine falling at the climbing wall but not outside?
Everyone else seems to be in control of their fears apart from you?
You know your mindset is holding you back, your fears are just a niggle, but you don’t know what to do?
I don’t want you to feel like that!
Saying that, you’re not alone with your fear! A fear of falling is evolutionarily natural. Fluctuating confidence and a fear of falling has affected my climbing over the years and many, many of the people I’ve coached. I would go as far as saying this is quite normal.
Imagine if…
What people say about the course…
The aim of this online course is to enable you to...
Understand your own body, mind and the way your fear manifests and nervous system works (with regard to your heart rate, breathing & stress response)
Gain a set of tools to use before and during a climb to ground and manage stress & anxiety
Establish your comfort zone and when to push and when not
Notice tension in your body, mind and movement and release it
Create the ideal environment for you to access your optimal mindset
Trust your body and mind to make good decisions under stress
Develop a safe and confident fall practice
Assess risks with a clear mind
The only thing you need to do is to be kind, curious, patient and honest with yourself…
Our life and experiences are completely individual. This all shapes our unique wiring, especially when it comes to climbing. When we understand the science, the way our body & mind work together, what sets us alight & does not, and have the confidence to assert our own needs, we will tap into our best climbing movement and mindset.
Dealing with a fear of falling is simply not just about fall practice. I think you know that already.
The primary factor, requiring our awareness and attention, is how we feel in our body and mind. That is the key. The aim of this course is to provide you with a new process, habits and tools so that you can regulate your feelings, actively relax your body so you optimise your movement and technique and gently expand your comfort zone, so that when you fall you are ready and prepared.
Once you have developed these skills, you will be in a place to develop a safe falling practice. Safe falling involves many aspects; firstly, you are ready to fall (there is a lot to unpick here), secondly you can assess whether it’s safe to fall (it is not always safe), thirdly you are aware and conscious of your body positioning and landing and finally you are being belayed safely via a dynamic belay. The online course includes the stepping stones involved in learning to fall safely.
Here is what’s in the course…
Week 1: Motivation
Uncovering your intrinsic motivation and connection to climbing. Knowing your why and establishing your values. This sets the basis for how we approach everything on the course.
Week 2: Science
The autonomic nervous system: what this is, our stress response and how this is shaped individually. You’ll learn the subtle messages our mind/body gives you when you feel good and not so good (both are important here).
Week 3: Breathing
Grounding and breathing exercises to regulate the nervous system, how you feel and help with stress and anxiety.
Week 4: Comfort zones
Creating awareness of our unique comfort zones. How and when to push and also when not.
Week 5: Releasing tension
Identifying where you hold tension in your body and mind before and during climbing. Releasing tension from your movement - the link between our technique and how we feel.
Week 6: Environment
Creating a supportive environment: working with our climbing partners - asserting needs, boundaries and common values. Supportive belaying and taking the first steps to falling.
Week 7: Safe falling
How to fall safely in a controlled environment: falling position in the air, landing position, dynamic belaying. How to build up gradually using everything we’ve learnt so far.
Week 8: Yes and No falls
Beyond a controlled fall practice: discerning the difference between yes and no falls and falling in different environments and situations.
How the course works
What’s included:
8 x modules each delivered in video format
4 Bonus video resources
Weekly exercises to be done on and off the climbing wall (or crag)
Reflective questions to support the weekly exercises and learning
Safe fall practice resource
Access to the course community
Your questions answered once a week via the community page
Lifetime access to the course
Invites to safe falling days based in Sheffield & Peak District UK
Course cost: £225
Upgrade will be available if you are looking for more personal contact and input during the course
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Having delivered two live Climb Free courses, I’m developing a self paced version. Watch this space - hoping to release September 2023.
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Each video module is somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes long. You can do the exercises during your climbing sessions. Other exercises look into your wider mindset and you can do as you’re going about your normal day (away from climbing).
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Ideally yes. Some of the exercises you can practise away from the wall. Some you will practise on the wall.
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This course sets the foundation for any kind of route climbing. However it is not a specialist trad climbing course. Trad climbing is of course massively varied and has its own specific considerations. I recommend this course as a starting point for investigating falling on trad gear.
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Yes definitely. The content of the online course will work for any climber wanting to connect to their fears and increase confidence.
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Depending on your experiences, this may happen and this course is not designed to support you with specific trauma. This requires specialist support. However I’m senstive to these issues and will help you to find the right support you need.