Training for Climbing, 2nd: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Performance (How To Climb Series)

some future event that may or may not happen to them (or some loved one). This type of negative visualization is most painful and depressing when done from an associated perspective. Such negative visualization is pathological, since you are putting yourself through the pain of some future event that may never happen.
    Some climbers become consumed in the same types of negative moviemaking of future events. For instance, if you visualize yourself failing on a route or in competition, you not only preprogram this possible outcome but also destroy your self-confidence in the process. To avoid this, it’s vital that you visualize only positive events and ideal outcomes when you project into the future in the associated state. Switch to the disassociated mode if you need to visualize things (from a risk management perspective) that might go wrong—say, on an on-sight lead. See from the on-TV view the possible falls you could take and what risks might be involved in the ascent. Described below are several settings where you can use visualization to improve your safety and mind-set (among other things), as well as the chances of the ideal outcome coming true.
PREPROGRAMMING A REDPOINT ASCENT
     
    Since you’ve been on the route before, you could begin with disassociated visualization of your last attempt. See yourself climbing the route and note what things need to be corrected or refined for the next attempt. Now use the associated perspective to create a movie, as seen through your own eyes, of the perfect ascent you plan to make. Imagine all the important aspects of doing the route, including the crux moves, gear placements or clips, rest positions, and such. Create all the feel of doing the moves as well as the feeling of being relaxed and centered as you move into the crux. Make the movie positive and perfect in every way, and always conclude with the feeling of reaching the top.
PREPARING FOR AN ON-SIGHT ASCENT
     
    Visualization is invaluable when applied to a climb you’ve never been on before. Since you have no firsthand experience, it will be very hard to create an accurate movie from the associated perspective. Therefore, you’ll want to spend most of your time visualizing from a disassociated perspective.
    After studying the climb from below, create images or a movie of yourself climbing the route from the on-TV perspective. See yourself dropping in gear at the obvious placements as well as hanging out at what appear to be good rest positions. As described above, you will want to visualize any hazards unique to this climb—where a lead fall might be dangerous, what you can do to minimize the risk, and so forth. Also, if you can see enough detail from the ground, consider creating two movies of possible sequences through the crux. This way, if you get up there and find that one will obviously not work, you can call up the second movie and continue climbing without delay.
    You might finish up your visualization by moving into the associated state and trying to imagine what you might feel and see as you climb the sequence you came up with from the disassociated perspective. This is not always possible but would be beneficial.
PREPARING FOR COMPETITION
     
    In competition climbing, good visualization skills might mean the difference between winning and finishing in the middle of the pack. Depending on the competition format, you will want to employ the redpoint and on-sight visualization strategies discussed above. Since many events allow only a brief preview period, you will only be able to create a “rough-cut” movie, including the basic route path, location of the obvious rests, and whatever you can glean about the moves or sequence. Even if you can’t decipher a sequence (or if you didn’t get a route preview), you can still take a mental picture of the wall and project yourself climbing with grace and confidence to the top. Most important, strive to eliminate any self-defeating images that might cross your mind in the hours and minutes leading up to your ascent of the wall.
“CLIMBING” INJURED OR TIRED
     
    If you climb for enough years, you will at some point likely find yourself laid up due to some type of injury. Whether you are out for a few weeks due to a finger injury or out for the season with a more serious problem, you can still keep climbing in your mind’s eye! While this may not sound like much fun, it is an effective way to maintain your knowledge of a sequence on your project