When you fail on a route or boulder problem of a grade you expect to cruise, it is easy to blame the climb and its grade calling it sandbagged. However, here’s an article from Kris Hampton of The Power Company and author of our 8-Week Endurance Training Program that talks about how blaming failure on something being “sandbagged” is a response that not only gets you nowhere, but one that can even be holding you back.
“Funny, I never hear ‘Damn, that 10d kicked my ass. I guess I’ve got some things to learn’, or ‘That 13a felt hard to me, I guess I should actually work on slopers for a while’.”
“Nope. Instead, we blame the grades. The numbers. The proposed suggestions of vague measurement.”
“You’re kidding yourself. Worse, you’re stunting your growth. Holding yourself back. Even worse than that, if your friends believe your bullshit, you’re holding them back as well.” – Kris Hampton
Kris goes onto argue that the reason this response is holding you back is because you are missing a valuable opportunity for improvement. As Kris points out the moment you fail is a valuable because it teaches you exactly what you need to work on. In other words, if you’re failing on a very crimpy boulder problem instead of complaining that its under graded see it as a sign that you need to work on your crimp strength.
Click through bellow to read the entire article. The mental shift Kris is advocating is an important lesson for all climbers to learn or be reminded of.
Click Here: Sandbagged. Are You Kidding Yourself
(photo courtesy of powercompanyclimbing.com)
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