I want to talk more about confidence. The physchophysiological differences that I have noticed in my climbing when I truly ‘believe’ in myself... it’s funny, because I’ve always been told by my coaches not to do these things... yet for the first time I’m understanding how to not do these things. I don’t necessarily avoid these things by focusing on executing the opposite action, but it simply happens when I attain the right headspace and everything falls into place. When I am confident and when I believe in my capabilities, I can step onto a route and without a doubt in my mind, know that I can send it...right here and now. So what are these things that you shouldn’t do? Read on my friends, they are listed at the end!
It was an interesting competition I’d say... I walked into the Edelweiß center about 4 hours late. The front desk staff was organizing score cards, children were running around in the hof and the buffet table had been plucked of it’s finest offerings. A results list hung on the wall beside the staircase. Most of the winners had already been awarded their prizes and gone for some time. But silly foreign me...I was just arriving.
You have to know that misinterpreting information on this side of the world sets me off more than most things. I’m sure that, if in Canada, I had misjudged the start time of a competition or mixed up the dates of some event, I’d be frustrated of course...but I wouldn’t let the mistake consume me. Here... I’ve been conditioned to associate all of my mistakes and misunderstandings as part of this wrath that plagues foreigners. The constant states of confusion... the broken instructions without opportunity for questions, the friendly jokes that can’t possibly be funny after the amount of time it takes to translate, analyze and comprehend them. So things like this.... like missing a competition.....really....set....me...off. I had to fight back tears.
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| TDB Finals, Calgary Climbing Center. Photo: Ben Haley |
Competitions are one of the few things I can do here to blend in. After the technical meeting in gibberish, I can just climb. I can shrug off everything that weighs be down and literally climb out of my sorrows. weightless and free. I am in control over which problems I try and how I choose to use my attempts. I can understand the language of movement fluently instead of grasping at the threads of this german dialect that everyone keeps jabbering. I don’t know how to explain it really... other than competitions are my happy place. My sanctuary. And I had just missed one.
Correction: I had COMPLETELY missed it.
So these were my choices:
1. Turn around, go home, get hammered and hate myself
2. Strength train as planned in my training schedule
3. ..... Compete?
Compete eh... I thought to myself for some time, standing like a scarecrow in the lobby. “Kann ich bitte eine Karte haben?” ( Can I please a card have?) I say to the front desk staff.
A man gives me this strange look as he tells me that the competition has finished. ( When you don’t speak the language, you get really good at ‘assuming’ people say things depending on the context or situation.... I’ve discovered that when I try to anticipate someones response.. I can pick out words from their actual response that either confirm or contradict what I have predicted.).
“Ja, Ich weiss, aber ich möchte trotzdem meine bouldern zu recorderen bitte” ( Yeah, I know, but I would like despite the fact my boulders to record please)
Another strange look was shot my way, but this time with a scorecard and a pen.
I sauntered downstairs and slowly changed into my climbing gear. Soon I stood alone .In an empty gym with rubber smeared boulder problems that had already been crushed. I tried to muster up the ‘try hard’ motivation that only a competition can foster. It didn’t really work at first, I was still very upset about how the entire day had commenced. The worst part is that from noon till 4, I was in my bed relaxing watching episodes of Seinfeld and playing guitar... missing everything. I couldn’t stop beating myself up about this!
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| Flashed: MOVE WITH CONFIDENCE |
I pouted for a bit while I warmed up on problems 1 - 10. Then it occurred to me that instead of being a cry baby about this whole situation and feeling sorry for myself, I could actually use this to my advantage. I was in one of the worst possible mental states I have ever been in. period. What better time to practice headspace than now? Since I couldn’t battle fellow #girlswhocrush, I decided to face my real competition... my demons! Those pesky voices of self doubt that chatter in my head on every testing move. The part of me that deems a problem ‘too hard‘ before I even put forth my best effort... the demons.... Well, here are the results from the competition:
Jelisa 1, Demons 0
In my previous blog post I talked a lot about my beef with self confidence and why confidence is so crucial to success in the sport of climbing... or in any sport for that matter. I’d like to share the differences that I noticed in my climbing on the attempts where I mastered a cool and confident headspace. Of course I didn’t succeed on every attempt...but I’m still toying around with this whole psychology thing!
Alas! Here are the things that your coach tells you not to do. Confidence is the key in avoiding such hindrances:
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| The Hive, 2014 TDB Finals |
1)Don’t hesitate:
Hesitating on committing or complex moves is a very common problem for many climbers. Personally, hesitation is my kryptonite. You’ve probably seen me on dynos pumping 10 times before blast off. Hesitation wastes time and energy all the while feeding self doubt. Sometimes, even when you practice a move over and over again and continually stick it, you can still worry about it! Say if that move is the crux move in the middle of your project! There are so many scenarios where hesitation weasels it’s way into our movement... it’s important to stomp it out before it escalates! I’ve found, that I can avoid hesitation completely when I a) trust in my sequence, and b) expect that I am able to execute my sequence
2)Don’t give up:
When you are going for it and I mean really going for it...you don’t go anywhere but up. Even if you fall. You are going to fall upwards so long as you are putting forth your best effort. If you are truly confident in your abilities as a climber and not only believe that you will top a route/boulder problem, but expect yourself to top it. Up is the only direction. It’s the only possibility. Unless it’s a traverse ;)
One thing I noticed on the attempts that I was giving it my all was how genuinely surprised I was when I fell. Not once did I ever anticipate that I might fall. Out of no where I would just blow off the line and land on my ass without warning. It was shocking... and it made me realize how much more often I should be experiencing this feeling.
3)Don’t over think it!
This is about attaining a state of flow. When your mind is quiet and you can trust in your body to take over. Once I have my sequence dialed I can sometimes get into this headspace... where I know what I am doing but I don’t have to think about it. I focus on my breathing and I feel like I am floating. Not really sure how to tap into this one yet, but it’s possibly a product of #1 & 2
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| Me so selfie. Thanks for reading! If you like what you hear #followme on my Facebook page! Jelisa Dunbar or instagram JellyDZ Big Thanks to the Best of Sponsors: Calgary Climbing Center Evolv Glow Health Flashed |
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