At the moment my climbing is in a ‘Spring time’ fizz of growth, its easy and natural. I am not 55; I am 5 months old, I cant walk so I crawl, If I cant crawl I roll, I just do what it takes. Because I had a year off I am weak, the old raging bull in me, is just not there. So why am I climbing ok’ish? Well there’s a ton of reasons but it’s mainly due to the transitions between moves going smoooooooth.When I am strong there’s a perfunctory set up of the feet, and wham, bam, thank you mam.
Yesterday I went on and old complicated link of bits of a huge roof, and the reason I have never been able to link it was clear, it’s the thousand transitions between moves that tire me out. Even the ‘moves’ between the transitions, where you don’t even think you are moving, are areas where you save strength.
You have probably been out climbed by weaker climbers, if you have been like me; I always got a thrill out of it, but now I am being out climbed by me!
A good way to understand transitions is to make less noise with your feet at a climbing wall. Or when you are mentally going through the climbs sequences, to count everything you have to do, not just the hand moves; count the shoulder down, the head turning; your breath, the every little thing.
