Diffusing tension in the body
Me with a relaxed face (read on… many photos show I don’t always do this!) on Cubby’s Lip 7b+ Northumberland by Steve Crowe
I’ve been enjoying watching the recent World Cups. I often ask myself what really separates the finalists from the rest? Usually people say it’s ‘mental’, and that is true to an extent, but just from my observations I’ve noticed something else.
You can’t see what is going on in someone’s head, but their body language gives a lot away. This is something I look out for in my own observation when coaching. I’m looking for excess physical tension, which burns unnecessary physical and mental energy, which also affects technique.
And for me it’s evident that the very top performers’ movement is free of so much tension. It’s clearer to watch in competition bouldering because of the parkour style of jumping around. When someone is carrying tension, you see the movement halting prematurely, lacking full committment or the lower body not pushing sufficiently with the legs. Basically the dynamic technique is simply not possible if there is any tension in the body. Outside at the crag I see mental tension manifesting in tense legs, kicking against the rock or overly static, jerky upper body movement.
The other giveaway is the face.
Your face is both a passive indicator of how you feel about the state of affairs in the body-mind and an active control centre for the bodymind. If you have a facial expression of doubt, then the bodymind is doubting. Adopt a look of confidence, and a sense of confidence builds in the bodymind. Arno Ilgner in ‘The Rock Warrior’s Way’
I love it when the camera zooms in on people’s faces. In the midst of enormous difficulty and pressure I’m always astounded how much control these top climbers have over the tension in their body – they use it just when needed. This is always visible when you watch the slow motion of the 100 metre runners too - their faces are so relaxed, whilst the rest of their body is putting in maximum effort. Japanese legend Akiyo Noguchi, 4x World Cup champion always demonstrates this amazingly. In fact the Japanese team are all good at this. Watch below at this video of Akiyo Noguchi (at 26.27 minutes) to see what I mean - you can see her face in the slow motion. No tension, no wasted energy being scrunched up on her face and neck. I can’t tell you the number of pictures I have of my face taut with effort.
Watch Akiyo Noguchi at 26.27 minutes
Mental and physical tension are linked. But it is possible to free it from the body with practice.
The first step is awareness. I can't tell you the number of times my pilates teacher has said to me 'release the neck tension Katherine', while I'm moving my leg - an entirely different part of my body. And then it becomes obvious to me, until that point though I didn't even know I was doing it!
British climber Max Milne was impressive in the May Salt Lake City World Cup. He jumped up just under 40 places from the previous round the week before to make it into the final in this second World Cup of the year (and his second ever World Cup). When he climbed it was apparent to me that there was so much freedom in his movement. Because I didn’t know him, I didn’t know the reasons. So I seized the opportunity to find out. On Saturday I went to watch the British Bouldering Championships qualifications and he basically appeared next to me as I was talking to someone else! So I asked him!
He told me that whilst he knew there was no room for hesitation in this very dynamic style of movement, that first competition he did hesitate in his mind and it came out in his movement. His single aim for that second World Cup round in Salt Lake City was to climb without hesitation - that single intention resulted in a a whole different movement and a World Cup final. He also said that he practises meditation and breathwork everyday. Aha. And that is what it takes to become the new British Bouldering Champion.
And for an all out example of letting it all go, no time to hesitate or pause, regardless of outcome watch Belgian Simon Lorenzi’s top, with 1 second to go, at the recent Innsbruck World Cup. Literally incredible.
And then it happened in England’s Euros semi final with Denmark last week. There was this incredible moment when the ball arrived at the feet of Raheem Sterling, a handful of metres from goal. I saw it and the commentators mentioned it. In the midst of all that pressure, with the world’s eyes upon him, surrounded by the Danish opposition, Sterling almost slowed to a walk. Somehow he took all the tension out of the situation as if he was saying to his teammates ‘we do have time... just get into position... we can get through this’.
To do that takes astonishing confidence and trust in yourself, the game and your teammates. Did you see it? It was quite a sight to behold.
And this applies directly to climbing. Right there in the middle of it, to consciously notice the tension in your body and remove it. To breathe it out. Adam Ondra is king of breathing out and releasing tension – you can easily hear it! I’m not saying that the aim is to climbing entirely tension free (that is not possible), rather to use necessary tension in the body where and when appropriate and to release any tension (be that mental of physical), also when appropriate. It’s not easy, it takes practice. And to do it throughout a climb, from start to finish, as those World Cup competitors show is something else.
So when you reflect on your climbing, are you conscious of physical tension in your body? Are you able to diffuse it?