54: Rachel Carr, Team GB Coach

Rachel is a Team GB coach and also Erin McNeice’s personal coach! She started as an athlete and competed in youth worlds, but moved down the coaching path shortly after. In this episode, we’ll talk about performance anxiety as an athlete, the difficulties she faced being taken seriously as a young female coach, and we’ll get insight into team GB’s training as well as Erin’s insanely huge team of coaches.


Show Notes

Guest links:

Rachel’s Instagram

Rachel’s Youtube

Reference links:


Timestamps

Timestamps of discussion topics

0:00 - Intro

1:23 - Mad Rock Shoutout!!

2:03 - Getting ready for British Bouldering Champs

4:41 - Performance anxiety as an athlete

8:59 - Being "realistic" on your performance

13:46 - Becoming a coach

15:44 - AUDIENCE Q: Difference between coaching youth vs senior?

20:48 - Weirdness of coaching your past competition

23:47 - Lack of trust in female coaches

31:44 - AUDIENCE Q: What advice would you give to aspiring female coaches?

34:29 - Erin's crazy huge team of coaches!

40:23 - Team GB's philosophy on training style

43:48 - Erin's 1 weird weakness...

45:47 - Overrated and underrated training techniques?

50:17 - Climbing goals

53:57 - What's better than coaching at the Olympics?

56:44 - AUDIENCE Q: Why was GB Climbing funding so bad?

58:43 - AUDIENCE Q: Team GB is so strong right now, how has that impacted camaraderie amongst athletes?

1:03:05 - AUDIENCE Q: How do you coach the mental side of competition?

1:07:53 - AUDIENCE Q: How do you think new comps like PCL will impact the scene for athletes and coaches?

1:10:05 - AUDIENCE Q: Tips for new coaches?

1:12:47 - Where to find Rachel

  • WEBVTT

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    I've had someone throw up on me before from nerves.

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    People thinking that I knew what I was doing

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    was a challenge, or at least it still feels like

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    a challenge. I think even now I've coached Erin

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    to a pretty high level and I don't have a queue

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    of other athletes at the door that are like,

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    I have to work with you because you coach so

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    well. It always feels like I've kind of been

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    brushed off as not being that involved. Somebody

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    questioned the fact that there was all -male

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    coaches going to it. and the response that they

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    got is there's no female coaches functioning

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    at the level but when we're trying to do trainings

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    and stuff we'll always make sure that there's

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    at least one day of a training where it's just

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    brutal and people get shut down welcome to another

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    episode of the that's not real climbing podcast

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    i'm your host Jinni and i'm excited to introduce

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    my guest for today Rachel Carr Rachel is a Team

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    GB coach and also Erin McNeice's personal coach.

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    She started as an athlete and competed in youth

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    worlds, but moved down the coaching path shortly

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    after. In this episode, we'll talk about performance

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    anxiety as an athlete, the difficulties she faced

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    being taken seriously as a young female coach,

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    and we'll get insight into Team GB's training

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    as well as Erin's insanely huge team of coaches.

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    I hope you enjoy this episode with Rachel. Thank

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    you. Please pardon this brief intermission, but

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    Now, back to the show. How are you doing today?

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    Yeah, good. Had a kind of busy day, but managed

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    to just get a climb in just now, so I'm feeling

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    pretty chilled. You don't get much time to climb

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    for yourself. Like, this time of year we get

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    a fair bit, I guess, because... like the athletes

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    are at the wall so if I'm training the athletes

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    sometimes I can stay afterwards but it's like

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    such a busy period just now like I'm going away

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    next week and we've got British boulder champs

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    this weekend so I'm not going to get to climb

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    Saturday or Sunday um so it's like my last day

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    because I'm super busy tomorrow so it's sometimes

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    it's really inconsistent but sometimes we actually

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    have loads of time it's just getting the consistency

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    across multiple weeks is the challenge Yeah,

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    that's kind of the important part of making improvements

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    with climbing. Do you have to like prepare anything

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    for the British bouldering champs? No, we kind

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    of, so we have our events team, which is Zoe,

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    who I think you've actually done an episode with.

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    So she, because it's like a BMC run event, it's

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    the national champs, like selection is only a

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    small part of it. So she kind of organizes all

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    of that. And then my part is I just show up on

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    a coach on the day. But it's kind of like. even

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    my role there is just in case anybody needs me

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    or like helping run the day a little bit because

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    I don't actually have really any athletes that

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    need me anymore they either all work as other

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    people as well so they can get coached by them

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    um or they don't need my help really okay so

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    that'll be kind of chill just like a fun event

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    for you to watch I mean it's a long day it's

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    like 9am till 9pm on Saturday I think so a lot

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    of time in a bouldering wall because we'll have

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    to stay to help it with everything and like be

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    there from the start right up until it's finished

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    So it'll probably be quite tiring, but I might

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    be doing very little the whole day. You mentioned

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    that you don't have too many athletes that you're

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    coaching for anymore? Yeah, it's kind of the

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    way that this setup works. Because I'm full -time

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    with GB, I basically only coach GB athletes.

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    I have one or two that I'll write training plans

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    for or I'll do what I used to do some sessions

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    with, but I'm so busy now that I don't have time

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    to do sessions with them because I'm so involved

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    in the GB side of things. I coach like a couple

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    of people that are in the program like in receipt

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    of funding but a lot of them have other coaches

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    so they don't actually like need my help or they

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    just don't want it for whatever reason they work

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    with other people because there's Liam that's

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    there as well so I mainly just coach Erin and

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    then I do some sessions with like Emma Everards

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    and then I do like team trainings with people

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    but in terms of like on a weekly basis it's pretty

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    limited I do a lot of like the behind the scenes

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    stuff as part of my time okay so I guess for

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    those who don't um know your backstory super

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    well how did you get into climbing and then competing

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    and then coaching um so I was a gymnast first

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    I did gymnastics from like a young age but my

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    mom's friend was really into adventure sports

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    she did like paragliding and stuff and she took

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    me climbing I think it was either for the first

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    time or the second time because I'd done one

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    of those like temporary walls that they had in

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    like car parks I don't know if you've ever done

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    that um but yeah wait did you do paragliding

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    yeah she might like she was really into all of

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    that extreme sportsy stuff yeah and the thing

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    that she introduced me to I never got to do paragliding

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    maybe I would have gotten to that um but yeah

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    she took me climbing and because of gymnastics

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    I was quite good at it straight away so got really

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    psyched on it and was like oh I want to do this

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    this is way more fun it's way less like rigid

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    you don't have to be absolutely perfect you can

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    just do it your way so then i it's good gymnastics

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    pretty quick and i think it was like within the

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    first year maybe i was like british champ or

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    like shortly after having climbed for a year

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    um it wasn't that many people competing at the

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    time um and then was on the team like a year

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    and a half after starting and competed until

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    i was 19 on the youth circuit i did like i competed

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    in lead boulder and speed technically but Not

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    to any successful level in any of them, definitely

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    not in speed. Why did you decide to stop competing?

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    And how did you know it was time for you to move

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    on to something else? I guess I was kind of lucky

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    in that I wasn't good enough to transition to

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    senior. So it was kind of decided for me. But

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    I didn't realize I hadn't made the senior team.

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    And I had the conversation with the coach, like,

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    I don't think I want to keep competing because

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    I just had loads of performance anxiety. It wasn't

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    really understood at that time. Nobody turned

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    around and said it was performance anxiety. It

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    was only years later that I was like, oh, that's

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    why I felt so miserable all the time. I felt

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    like I was always underperforming in competitions,

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    which I think a lot of athletes do. But the anxiety

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    that I feel now felt very similar to what I was

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    feeling every day at a competition and when I

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    was on the mat. constantly like in my own head

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    and thinking so many negative things I couldn't

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    just get past it and like try hard on the boulders

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    and it got to the point where I would finish

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    a round and I wouldn't want to look at the results

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    because I'd be like oh I actually think I climbed

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    quite well there I'm really happy with that and

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    then somebody else would come up and be like

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    oh congrats you finished here and then I would

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    just like spiral even though it would be a pretty

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    okay result nothing terrible I would just like

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    completely spiral and feel horrible afterwards

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    and I was like I don't think this is worth it

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    anymore. Interesting. I actually never heard

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    that perspective before of like, yeah, what performance

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    anxiety feels like. Now, as a coach, if you're

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    thinking back about like what you would tell

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    yourself at that time, is there anything you

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    would have said to like help make it feel better?

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    Yeah, I mean, it's kind of what's helped me in

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    my coaching. I can actually empathize a lot more

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    with most athletes because I think a lot of athletes

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    do experience performance anxiety. It's so rare

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    that people actually don't ever. have any of

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    this at all because of course you're putting

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    yourself out there you're like on a stage you

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    have to perform consistently your results do

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    matter because you are competing but it's how

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    they matter and what they mean to you and I think

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    the things that I would look back on now and

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    I just wish that somebody had said here's where

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    you really are like here's where you actually

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    compare and how you should do because I always

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    had this idea in my head of like being on the

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    British team we were like a really small team

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    we weren't expected to do really well. And then

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    I would go out on the mat thinking, oh, if I

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    can just do one boulder, that's quite good. But

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    then other people would obviously do a lot more

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    boulders or it would be very varied. And one

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    or two athletes would perform really well, but

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    the rest of us would be in the midfield. And

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    it was this battle in my head of, we're a small

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    nation. There's a few outliers talented, but

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    generally we're not that good. Whereas if somebody

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    had actually said to me, no, you're actually

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    really good. We've picked you to go to these

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    competitions because we think you can make a

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    final and make a podium. So you have to aim for

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    that. Then I might have actually gone out and

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    believed that I could do that. Whereas I don't

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    remember at any point thinking I can definitely

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    make a final. I remember being disappointed when

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    I didn't, but never actually believing that I

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    could be in a final or be on a podium. Well,

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    maybe this is like my bad mentality, but sometimes

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    I'm just like, okay, I should just be like realistic.

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    And maybe I'm like not really that good and it's

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    fine. And that would like help me mentally. I

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    mean, I was definitely the same. I was like,

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    if I expect the worst and it goes well amazing

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    and if it goes bad I expected it so I'm not going

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    to be disappointed right I was always disappointed

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    it didn't matter I was if anything more disappointed

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    because it was like I was trying to trick myself

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    into not expecting it and then just like in the

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    back of my head I'd be like oh but today's probably

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    going to be the day where like I'll I'll win

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    right no never because I was never thinking that

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    I could do it there was never that like outlying

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    belief it was hope it wasn't like determination

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    that actually was pushing me to try harder as

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    much as i felt like i was trying really hard

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    like if i didn't have the belief behind it how

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    hard can i really be trying so you have to like

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    yes there's some like there's some reality in

    00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:03.080

    it and it's the same with athletes now if i if

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    i don't think that an athlete can at least get

    00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:06.320

    close to a final i'm not going to sit there and

    00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:07.740

    be like you're going to definitely make this

    00:10:07.740 --> 00:10:11.720

    final i'll have like a pretty constructive conversation

    00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:14.210

    with them about like what they should be aiming

    00:10:14.210 --> 00:10:16.149

    for and what they're capable of what they need

    00:10:16.149 --> 00:10:18.409

    to do to get there as well it's not just you

    00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:21.169

    can do it or you can't do it but I often try

    00:10:21.169 --> 00:10:23.289

    and say to other people and like it might have

    00:10:23.289 --> 00:10:25.409

    been helpful to me if somebody was saying like

    00:10:25.409 --> 00:10:27.490

    you struggle on these ones okay so just focus

    00:10:27.490 --> 00:10:29.370

    on this one thing and if you can do that then

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    you can get this and then we'll get this one

    00:10:31.529 --> 00:10:33.990

    out of the way and you probably need to do xyz

    00:10:33.990 --> 00:10:35.809

    and that might get you this and if you can't

    00:10:35.809 --> 00:10:37.769

    do that that's okay we can go away and we can

    00:10:37.769 --> 00:10:40.470

    work on this and bring it back and it's more

    00:10:40.470 --> 00:10:44.629

    constructive it's more like tactical in the approach

    00:10:44.629 --> 00:10:47.129

    which I could have had that from coaches it just

    00:10:47.129 --> 00:10:48.970

    didn't it was never said in a way that stuck

    00:10:48.970 --> 00:10:52.529

    with me so I was always just like oh I'm talented

    00:10:52.529 --> 00:10:56.710

    but not good enough and I can do some boulders

    00:10:56.710 --> 00:10:59.769

    but I just can't do these ones and it was little

    00:10:59.769 --> 00:11:01.789

    things like when I would approach a downer I'd

    00:11:01.789 --> 00:11:03.289

    be looking at the mat rather than looking at

    00:11:03.289 --> 00:11:05.129

    the hold because I was like already thinking

    00:11:05.129 --> 00:11:06.789

    I wasn't going to do it like I don't know what

    00:11:06.789 --> 00:11:09.389

    I needed to be told in that moment but I wasn't

    00:11:09.389 --> 00:11:12.019

    being told it because I couldn't do it so. Okay.

    00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.440

    Now that's an interesting perspective because

    00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:19.139

    I have like a coach that I like sometimes work

    00:11:19.139 --> 00:11:22.500

    with and he'll say things about like what I could

    00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:25.360

    do. And I'm like, I think you're lying to me.

    00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:28.840

    I don't feel like I could do that. And I think

    00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:30.879

    you're just trying to say things so that I feel

    00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:33.539

    like I can do it when you know I can't do it.

    00:11:34.019 --> 00:11:37.419

    So it's interesting to hear you say that you

    00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:39.740

    wouldn't lie to an athlete about what they could

    00:11:39.740 --> 00:11:43.330

    do at least. Yeah, I mean, I'm also quite optimistic

    00:11:43.330 --> 00:11:47.429

    as well. So if I, I would never lie to them,

    00:11:47.450 --> 00:11:49.309

    but I know what the coaches might be like, but

    00:11:49.309 --> 00:11:51.870

    they've got no chance of doing that. So I'll

    00:11:51.870 --> 00:11:53.509

    just not say it. I don't think any coach would

    00:11:53.509 --> 00:11:55.750

    be like, you can't make a seven final World Cup.

    00:11:55.850 --> 00:11:58.350

    I think they would just say, just keep trying.

    00:11:58.490 --> 00:12:01.009

    Maybe next time I keep going. Whereas I'm always.

    00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:03.620

    the optimistic one in our team where if we're

    00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:05.679

    predicting results for next year i'll be like

    00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:07.299

    oh yeah i think this athlete can make a final

    00:12:07.299 --> 00:12:09.159

    consistently easily yeah they've got they've

    00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:10.500

    done this this year they'll definitely do it

    00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:12.639

    next year and people are like are you sure but

    00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:15.620

    like so far touch wood i've been fairly right

    00:12:15.620 --> 00:12:22.580

    um and like i'm a firm believer that if you don't

    00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:25.620

    actively like be positive to people then it's

    00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:27.460

    really hard for them to be positive to themselves

    00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:31.399

    like in the uk especially everybody's a bit too

    00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:33.080

    real all the time they're a bit too negative

    00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:35.620

    nobody wants to like run away with themselves

    00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:38.759

    and get excited and just be really like happy

    00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:40.039

    about everything because they're like oh it's

    00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:44.100

    not a happy calm down so I try and just say like

    00:12:44.100 --> 00:12:47.000

    a nice thing like a compliment or like pull out

    00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:49.279

    all the positive stuff some people have like

    00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:51.279

    said that I'm like toxically positive before

    00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.320

    because I'm not realistic I don't call stuff

    00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:56.259

    out but then it's equally if you were to ask

    00:12:56.259 --> 00:12:58.440

    Erin for example like she's joked about the fact

    00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:01.809

    that I'm just mean so it's like it depends on

    00:13:01.809 --> 00:13:04.090

    the context I'll try and if they've had a bad

    00:13:04.090 --> 00:13:05.830

    performance really draw on the positives because

    00:13:05.830 --> 00:13:08.009

    there's always positives to draw on it but then

    00:13:08.009 --> 00:13:10.250

    if there needs to be a harsh conversation I'll

    00:13:10.250 --> 00:13:12.629

    have that harsh conversation at the same time

    00:13:12.629 --> 00:13:15.029

    so it's like I try to get that balance so that

    00:13:15.029 --> 00:13:17.049

    they know if I'm saying something I do genuinely

    00:13:17.049 --> 00:13:20.870

    believe that that can be a possibility like if

    00:13:20.870 --> 00:13:23.850

    Erin's there like oh I can't possibly do this

    00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:26.509

    boulder and I don't think she can I'm like okay

    00:13:26.509 --> 00:13:28.129

    well let's focus on how we get you as far up

    00:13:28.129 --> 00:13:30.529

    as possible that's not saying you're going to

    00:13:30.529 --> 00:13:32.429

    do the boulder but maybe if you work on it you

    00:13:32.429 --> 00:13:34.669

    might break it down whereas if she can do it

    00:13:34.669 --> 00:13:35.990

    i'll be like are you joking obviously that one's

    00:13:35.990 --> 00:13:37.889

    easy for you like just just go and get on with

    00:13:37.889 --> 00:13:39.850

    it which is like maybe a bit mean to say it like

    00:13:39.850 --> 00:13:43.269

    that it's like positive it's really it's hard

    00:13:43.269 --> 00:13:45.629

    to read a lot of the time but it's hopefully

    00:13:45.629 --> 00:13:49.889

    genuine a lot okay good to know um so yeah we

    00:13:49.889 --> 00:13:52.269

    got derailed a bit but after you stopped competing

    00:13:52.269 --> 00:13:54.470

    yourself um how did you get into the coaching

    00:13:54.470 --> 00:13:58.830

    side So I kind of mentored younger athletes when

    00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:01.629

    I was still competing. So I think when I was

    00:14:01.629 --> 00:14:04.610

    16, there was like a local charity club that

    00:14:04.610 --> 00:14:07.129

    would go climbing. And my mom was basically like,

    00:14:07.230 --> 00:14:09.250

    come and help out, come and do some coaching

    00:14:09.250 --> 00:14:11.129

    or mentoring as a younger athlete. So I started

    00:14:11.129 --> 00:14:15.529

    it in that sense. And then was main team captain

    00:14:15.529 --> 00:14:18.370

    on my last year in the boulder team, which was

    00:14:18.370 --> 00:14:20.549

    basically like one of the older kids looking

    00:14:20.549 --> 00:14:23.450

    after younger kids. But in that, I kind of was

    00:14:23.450 --> 00:14:26.000

    coaching. like I would say it was definitely

    00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:28.879

    coaching now based on what I remember doing feedback

    00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:31.200

    wise and I remember some of the younger athletes

    00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:32.700

    were like crying and I was comforting them would

    00:14:32.700 --> 00:14:34.120

    be like go on try the boulder again and that

    00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:36.980

    that to me is coaching um and it just kind of

    00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:39.379

    like carried on that way I started working with

    00:14:39.379 --> 00:14:41.039

    a couple younger athletes and coaching them at

    00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:44.320

    like local competitions and then in like 2017

    00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:46.399

    I think I'd been out of the team for like a year

    00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.519

    and a half I got asked to come in I guess it

    00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:53.419

    was chaperoning youth worlds um but I was I felt

    00:14:53.419 --> 00:14:54.799

    like I was doing the role that I'm doing now

    00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:56.539

    in that sense. I was kind of coming back as a

    00:14:56.539 --> 00:14:58.879

    coach and got loads of really good feedback from

    00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:00.200

    the athletes where they were like, oh, that was

    00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:02.700

    great. Can we get her back again? And then got

    00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:05.480

    various roles that pushed me up from like youth

    00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:08.120

    team coach for like Scotland to then British

    00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:11.620

    team to then where I am now, basically. And do

    00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:13.960

    you also coach like the speed team or is that

    00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:17.879

    a totally different person? We kind of don't

    00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:21.399

    have a speed team coach. I definitely don't.

    00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.779

    coached them I have supported them at competitions

    00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:26.179

    I would never try and claim that I have coached

    00:15:26.179 --> 00:15:27.820

    them because they've got as far as they have

    00:15:27.820 --> 00:15:29.879

    on their own there's some really impressive like

    00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:33.059

    what they do but I have supported them at competitions

    00:15:33.059 --> 00:15:36.120

    and I technically did coach a speed team like

    00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:39.700

    a local speed team when I was like 19 but I'm

    00:15:39.700 --> 00:15:41.559

    definitely not a speed coach I don't know how

    00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:45.399

    to do that it's very different yeah with my skillset

    00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:47.940

    One of the Instagram questions that also come

    00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:51.440

    through kind of related to this from Lucky Penguin

    00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:54.159

    3. What's the difference between coaching the

    00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:57.440

    youth team versus the senior team? Well, coaching

    00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:59.960

    the youth team is kind of early development stages.

    00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:03.559

    So you have a lot of athletes, a lot of different

    00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:05.700

    ages, but also a lot of different stages and

    00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:09.000

    where they are at. So some of them might be really

    00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:11.639

    self -sufficient in a lot of ways already and

    00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:13.440

    have a really good understanding of what they

    00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.700

    need to do to perform. And you can kind of just

    00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:18.039

    leave them to it, be there if they need you.

    00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:20.840

    But a lot of the time, you're getting athletes

    00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:22.799

    that don't know how to warm up, don't know how

    00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:25.100

    to fuel for the session, don't know how to read

    00:16:25.100 --> 00:16:28.019

    boulders, are stressed a lot. There's a lot more

    00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:30.679

    tears and youth. I've had someone throw up on

    00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:35.320

    me before from nerves. Wait, oh my God. Was this

    00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:39.159

    like during a competition? Yeah, I'd feel for

    00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:42.879

    her because she got really stressed. And I was...

    00:16:43.509 --> 00:16:45.870

    i wasn't like 100 % believing her so it's my

    00:16:45.870 --> 00:16:47.730

    fault because i was like no no you're fine you're

    00:16:47.730 --> 00:16:49.870

    fine you're gonna just go it'll be all right

    00:16:49.870 --> 00:16:52.049

    oh you've thrown up on me not on me but like

    00:16:52.049 --> 00:16:54.590

    very close to me and i had to clean it up like

    00:16:54.590 --> 00:16:57.250

    mid -competition um and then she went out and

    00:16:57.250 --> 00:16:58.809

    she like did really well on the route and came

    00:16:58.809 --> 00:17:00.169

    back and was like okay i feel better now i was

    00:17:00.169 --> 00:17:03.690

    like how did you do that that was insane um it

    00:17:03.690 --> 00:17:06.950

    only happened once though but like there's there's

    00:17:06.950 --> 00:17:09.400

    obviously a lot of stress and it's exactly what

    00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:11.839

    i remember from competing so again i have a lot

    00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:13.460

    of empathy for them i have a lot of time for

    00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:16.380

    them i'll sit with them while they cry but sometimes

    00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:18.420

    it's like a harsh word sometimes it's just supportive

    00:17:18.420 --> 00:17:20.500

    so you're doing a lot of like emotional management

    00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:24.559

    but also kind of like herding cats and that you

    00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:26.980

    have to just check that everybody's like actually

    00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:28.519

    started growing up at the right time that they

    00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:30.660

    know what boulders are on that they have actually

    00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:33.140

    paid attention to like what sequence they're

    00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:34.940

    going to do for like the european format because

    00:17:34.940 --> 00:17:37.259

    it's that like flash format rather than on -site

    00:17:38.089 --> 00:17:41.150

    and it's a lot of like also hanging out with

    00:17:41.150 --> 00:17:42.670

    them entertaining them you have to take them

    00:17:42.670 --> 00:17:45.250

    around for like five days so i found youth comps

    00:17:45.250 --> 00:17:49.890

    exhausting like super super tiring um but it's

    00:17:49.890 --> 00:17:51.089

    obviously good training and then when you get

    00:17:51.089 --> 00:17:54.670

    to seniors in theory they've already had all

    00:17:54.670 --> 00:17:56.609

    that support and that learning so they should

    00:17:56.609 --> 00:17:59.549

    come to us and know their warm -up a bit better

    00:17:59.549 --> 00:18:01.289

    but obviously there's always things where you

    00:18:01.289 --> 00:18:02.710

    have to be like oh i think you should add this

    00:18:02.710 --> 00:18:04.369

    to your warm -up or stop doing this or maybe

    00:18:04.369 --> 00:18:07.410

    you should do this um or we're just like setting

    00:18:07.410 --> 00:18:09.910

    orders for them or sometimes it's just reminding

    00:18:09.910 --> 00:18:11.809

    them what time it is there's one athlete that

    00:18:11.809 --> 00:18:13.690

    my only job for them is to tell them what time

    00:18:13.690 --> 00:18:17.009

    it is constantly and just check where they're

    00:18:17.009 --> 00:18:19.710

    at give them updates bring good vibes play cards

    00:18:19.710 --> 00:18:24.109

    whatever it's very like they are very much more

    00:18:24.109 --> 00:18:27.269

    autonomous with it and we're adapting to the

    00:18:27.269 --> 00:18:28.950

    athlete needs whereas like the youth team you

    00:18:28.950 --> 00:18:31.789

    kind of have to be really proactive and assume

    00:18:31.789 --> 00:18:33.369

    that they don't know anything so that you can

    00:18:33.369 --> 00:18:34.930

    come in and just check that they do actually

    00:18:34.930 --> 00:18:37.579

    nothing Yeah, actually, I'm now realizing it

    00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:39.799

    seems like actually a lot more work to do youth

    00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:42.460

    than senior. Yeah, I remember my first World

    00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:45.079

    Cup, like I was obviously very scared because

    00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:47.380

    I was out front doing like the appeals and the

    00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:49.559

    filming on my own. So I was like, OK, if I mess

    00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:51.839

    this up, there's no one else here to to help

    00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:53.819

    me. And at the end of the day, they were like,

    00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:55.359

    oh, how was your first senior? I was like, oh,

    00:18:55.380 --> 00:18:57.779

    so much easier, so much easier than a youth comp.

    00:18:57.920 --> 00:18:59.640

    This is so chill. And they were like, what? Really?

    00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:01.240

    I was like, yeah, God, I don't have to like,

    00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:04.210

    nobody's cried. It's great. True. Yeah, so I

    00:19:04.210 --> 00:19:06.349

    guess the appeals process didn't stress you out?

    00:19:06.430 --> 00:19:10.410

    I know some coaches are very intense about their

    00:19:10.410 --> 00:19:13.490

    athletes and putting in appeals. Do you feel

    00:19:13.490 --> 00:19:18.769

    like that's your vibe? I flip between. I find

    00:19:18.769 --> 00:19:22.970

    it's quite fun. I think because I competed myself

    00:19:22.970 --> 00:19:25.269

    and I've never really left competitions, my understanding

    00:19:25.269 --> 00:19:28.390

    of the rules was pretty in -depth anyway. I didn't

    00:19:28.390 --> 00:19:31.859

    really have to... go through and like study the

    00:19:31.859 --> 00:19:33.599

    rules and memorize the numbers or anything I

    00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:35.900

    kind of just instinctively knew what was a rule

    00:19:35.900 --> 00:19:40.019

    and what wasn't and like I remember in the first

    00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:42.059

    comp that somebody topped and they didn't talk

    00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:43.579

    properly or they topped out of the time or something

    00:19:43.579 --> 00:19:45.720

    and I straight away just with total confidence

    00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:47.220

    wrote the appeal and handed it in and was like

    00:19:47.220 --> 00:19:50.299

    yeah great fine no questions like wasn't stressed

    00:19:50.299 --> 00:19:53.819

    and I was pretty comfortable that I could go

    00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:56.940

    up and I I kind of had a card to play if I was

    00:19:56.940 --> 00:19:59.720

    a young coach So I would just go, oh, can I just

    00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:02.240

    check what this is? I'm just not really sure.

    00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:05.559

    And I wasn't, so it was accurate. But then it

    00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:07.819

    would be a case of like, oh, no, let me check

    00:20:07.819 --> 00:20:09.339

    it or let me do this. And then I'll have to put

    00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:12.180

    an actual appeal in or something. So it can be

    00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:16.319

    like a tactful game, but generally it's viewed

    00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:18.359

    from my perspective anyway. You're just trying

    00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:19.940

    to actually make the competition fair because

    00:20:19.940 --> 00:20:22.859

    judges do make mistakes. We've seen some competitions

    00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:25.400

    like Madrid where the judges were very inexperienced.

    00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:27.599

    So there was a huge number of appeals that went

    00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:29.619

    in, but all of them got passed because actually

    00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:32.559

    it was just bad judging. So generally, that's

    00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:33.839

    the position that our coaches are coming from.

    00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:36.539

    But of course, when you're in a finals position

    00:20:36.539 --> 00:20:39.180

    or a podium or semifinals and you're trying to

    00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:40.839

    get your athlete through to the finals and you

    00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:42.619

    see something that's like, oh, that could definitely

    00:20:42.619 --> 00:20:44.700

    be taken away from them. I'm not sure that's

    00:20:44.700 --> 00:20:47.940

    100%. Get a bit competitive then and be like,

    00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:49.799

    oh, I'm going to go and get this one. And you

    00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:53.359

    also mentioned that you were like quite a young

    00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:57.240

    coach, I guess, when you first started. How old

    00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:02.000

    were you at the time? Oh, my God. Well, for seniors

    00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:09.680

    anyway, I was 24, I think. Oh, wow. Yeah, that's

    00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:11.380

    like the same age as a lot of the competitors.

    00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:14.839

    Yeah, so I was younger than... I think all of

    00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:17.640

    the athletes on the team were two at the first

    00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:20.180

    competition that I went to. I think there was

    00:21:20.180 --> 00:21:22.460

    like, was there 10 athletes? There was maybe

    00:21:22.460 --> 00:21:24.059

    10 athletes and only two of them were younger

    00:21:24.059 --> 00:21:27.180

    than me. So that was maybe three, but it was

    00:21:27.180 --> 00:21:28.519

    a very small number. There was a huge amount

    00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:30.299

    that were older than me and most of them I'd

    00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:34.619

    competed with when I was younger and they'd been

    00:21:34.619 --> 00:21:36.700

    more successful than me because they'd made it

    00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:38.900

    to seniors and World Cups and I'd dropped out.

    00:21:38.980 --> 00:21:41.980

    So it was an interesting dynamic to sort of manage

    00:21:41.980 --> 00:21:44.660

    initially. I guess like how do you command respect

    00:21:44.660 --> 00:21:46.680

    as a coach when you're coaching people who are

    00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:49.420

    like older than you or had like better results

    00:21:49.420 --> 00:21:52.559

    than you? I guess I was not in any way striving

    00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:56.480

    for respect. I was kind of just, I knew that

    00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.039

    I was never going to be able to come in and be

    00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:01.279

    this coach where I was like, I know more than

    00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:03.019

    you, you have to listen to me because I've done

    00:22:03.019 --> 00:22:05.700

    this for however many years. I didn't have that.

    00:22:05.980 --> 00:22:08.759

    And I didn't really want to take that angle anyway

    00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:11.359

    because I wasn't totally sure what I knew at

    00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:15.700

    that point. had coached a few athletes to a pretty

    00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:17.339

    high level of youth but I'd never coached an

    00:22:17.339 --> 00:22:19.200

    athlete to senior so I was never going to come

    00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:20.940

    in and assume that I knew how to make a world

    00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:24.339

    cup successful athlete at that point and my main

    00:22:24.339 --> 00:22:27.299

    aim was just to provide the support of the competitions

    00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:29.420

    that like their coaches couldn't provide because

    00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:32.339

    it's very rare that private coaches can go out

    00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:34.099

    to all of the world cups and attend all of those

    00:22:34.099 --> 00:22:36.500

    so in my in my head i was just being a team coach

    00:22:36.500 --> 00:22:38.680

    and supporting and that was slightly different

    00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:41.319

    i we did some like debriefs at the end of it

    00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:42.880

    where i would sort of say like hey i spotted

    00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:44.299

    this when you were climbing you might want to

    00:22:44.299 --> 00:22:46.619

    try and do this next time what do you think about

    00:22:46.619 --> 00:22:48.700

    that and so we're like no i'd be like yeah you're

    00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:51.920

    probably right okay great like i'll stop um but

    00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:54.140

    that was like the absolute extent of the coaching

    00:22:54.140 --> 00:22:56.859

    that i was doing for those athletes at the time

    00:22:56.859 --> 00:22:58.559

    it was only later on that i started actually

    00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:01.990

    coaching senior athletes and actually moved into

    00:23:01.990 --> 00:23:04.309

    that space and now I would kind of feed back

    00:23:04.309 --> 00:23:07.269

    a bit more but even then I don't think I like

    00:23:07.269 --> 00:23:10.289

    command respect from anybody I think I want them

    00:23:10.289 --> 00:23:14.009

    to respect my knowledge understanding but if

    00:23:14.009 --> 00:23:15.589

    somebody doesn't want my opinion I'm never going

    00:23:15.589 --> 00:23:18.369

    to force it on them because I don't 100 % know

    00:23:18.369 --> 00:23:20.410

    that I'm right I don't think anybody does know

    00:23:20.410 --> 00:23:22.130

    100 % that they're right so it's kind of just

    00:23:22.130 --> 00:23:24.670

    here's some ideas I've had if you're interested

    00:23:24.670 --> 00:23:27.829

    in them go away and explore them And if you want

    00:23:27.829 --> 00:23:30.089

    some stuff that I might think will help, then

    00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:32.549

    come back to me. And if not, then carry on. I

    00:23:32.549 --> 00:23:34.569

    didn't mean to say like command respect as in

    00:23:34.569 --> 00:23:37.789

    like you are trying to, I don't know, be like

    00:23:37.789 --> 00:23:40.829

    an authoritarian figure. But I guess I would

    00:23:40.829 --> 00:23:45.029

    think that like having a coach and being a coach,

    00:23:45.170 --> 00:23:47.930

    they would need to like trust you in some way

    00:23:47.930 --> 00:23:51.049

    to be able to help them improve. Otherwise, it

    00:23:51.049 --> 00:23:53.490

    just like doesn't really work in that way. Yeah,

    00:23:53.490 --> 00:23:57.390

    I mean, people. like thinking that I knew what

    00:23:57.390 --> 00:24:00.230

    I was doing was a challenge or at least it still

    00:24:00.230 --> 00:24:03.049

    feels like a challenge I think even now like

    00:24:03.049 --> 00:24:05.890

    I've coached Erin to a pretty high level and

    00:24:05.890 --> 00:24:08.549

    I don't have a queue of other athletes at the

    00:24:08.549 --> 00:24:10.390

    door that are like I have to work with you because

    00:24:10.390 --> 00:24:14.289

    you coach so well um and I definitely have got

    00:24:14.289 --> 00:24:18.549

    like male colleagues that have done like either

    00:24:18.549 --> 00:24:21.400

    the same amount or a little bit less or maybe

    00:24:21.400 --> 00:24:22.619

    they've done a little bit more but then they

    00:24:22.619 --> 00:24:23.960

    have like this queue of people that are like

    00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:25.200

    oh I have to work with you I have to work with

    00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:27.799

    you and there's of course reasons for that of

    00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:29.539

    like maybe they've got better knowledge or like

    00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:31.619

    S &C training it's all these things that factor

    00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:33.740

    into it and I can definitely rationalize those

    00:24:33.740 --> 00:24:36.599

    but it's hard not sometimes to think like it's

    00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:39.640

    because I'm younger or female that actually people

    00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:43.119

    just don't think I know things and still when

    00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:44.559

    I talk to some people they're like all right

    00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:46.940

    okay yeah yeah sure like when I say stuff to

    00:24:46.940 --> 00:24:49.769

    them whereas others are like take it on board

    00:24:49.769 --> 00:24:52.630

    fully so it's hard to it's hard to make that

    00:24:52.630 --> 00:24:54.349

    transition into the place that I am now where

    00:24:54.349 --> 00:24:56.950

    I can give feedback and people don't just roll

    00:24:56.950 --> 00:24:58.849

    their eyes or don't think anything of it or maybe

    00:24:58.849 --> 00:25:01.190

    that was internal for me that that was happening

    00:25:01.190 --> 00:25:04.390

    but it's still like an ongoing struggle and I

    00:25:04.390 --> 00:25:06.609

    think unless I was distinctly working with a

    00:25:06.609 --> 00:25:08.490

    group of athletes that were all improving all

    00:25:08.490 --> 00:25:10.089

    the time and I had all the time to give to them

    00:25:10.089 --> 00:25:12.930

    I don't think I'll ever get to the point of people

    00:25:12.930 --> 00:25:14.730

    would just be like yeah she's a coach that can

    00:25:14.730 --> 00:25:16.470

    coach everyone I think people still have this

    00:25:16.470 --> 00:25:18.029

    thing of like oh it's worked for one time but

    00:25:18.029 --> 00:25:20.130

    maybe that's just with that athlete but this

    00:25:20.130 --> 00:25:23.170

    could all be my insecurities in my head is that

    00:25:23.170 --> 00:25:25.329

    like something that you would want to prove like

    00:25:25.329 --> 00:25:27.650

    you would want to coach more individual athletes

    00:25:27.650 --> 00:25:29.990

    and show that it's something you can do there

    00:25:29.990 --> 00:25:32.490

    was definitely a point where I wanted that um

    00:25:32.490 --> 00:25:36.250

    I think before I started working with Erin I

    00:25:36.250 --> 00:25:38.450

    or maybe even like while I was working with Erin

    00:25:38.450 --> 00:25:41.930

    um a year ago there was a point of oh i wanted

    00:25:41.930 --> 00:25:43.650

    like i want to show people that i actually know

    00:25:43.650 --> 00:25:45.369

    what i'm talking about like i i'm understanding

    00:25:45.369 --> 00:25:47.990

    everything i'm not just hanging out with her

    00:25:47.990 --> 00:25:50.970

    on sessions like i am coaching i am like delivering

    00:25:50.970 --> 00:25:52.589

    part of the training plan i'm feeding back on

    00:25:52.589 --> 00:25:54.490

    the training plan i'm looking at the snc i'm

    00:25:54.490 --> 00:25:56.569

    like inputting on the nutrition i'm managing

    00:25:56.569 --> 00:25:59.750

    everything together like i wanted people to know

    00:25:59.750 --> 00:26:02.670

    that because i wanted to be like respected as

    00:26:02.670 --> 00:26:04.970

    one of the top coaches in the world because that's

    00:26:04.970 --> 00:26:07.089

    kind of like theoretically where i am with the

    00:26:07.089 --> 00:26:10.509

    results that i've got from the athletes um but

    00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:13.660

    as the time's gone on I've kind of got more comfortable

    00:26:13.660 --> 00:26:16.980

    with actually who am I proving that to what am

    00:26:16.980 --> 00:26:18.940

    I going to gain from it what's the point like

    00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:21.940

    as long as I know that I'm doing the best that

    00:26:21.940 --> 00:26:24.819

    I can do and I believe in what I'm delivering

    00:26:24.819 --> 00:26:27.400

    for the athletes that I can I'm not going to

    00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:28.980

    chase after other athletes I'm going to make

    00:26:28.980 --> 00:26:30.660

    myself accessible to all of them and if more

    00:26:30.660 --> 00:26:32.339

    people want to work with me that's great it would

    00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:34.539

    definitely fill me with a bit more confidence

    00:26:34.539 --> 00:26:37.089

    that people wanted that but If I am going to

    00:26:37.089 --> 00:26:38.930

    spend all my time chasing that and trying to

    00:26:38.930 --> 00:26:40.569

    prove myself, then I'm not actually going to

    00:26:40.569 --> 00:26:42.650

    be focusing on the right things. So I've tried

    00:26:42.650 --> 00:26:46.009

    to like take a step away from that. But there's

    00:26:46.009 --> 00:26:48.109

    definitely still times where I'm like, why does

    00:26:48.109 --> 00:26:50.490

    nobody want to work with me? Do you feel like

    00:26:50.490 --> 00:26:54.630

    at least like other coaches have that respect

    00:26:54.630 --> 00:26:57.529

    for you? Yeah, I mean, like my colleagues are

    00:26:57.529 --> 00:27:00.730

    really good. We're all we've been through like

    00:27:00.730 --> 00:27:04.519

    tough times in. the history of like the GB team

    00:27:04.519 --> 00:27:07.680

    and like different management and like we've

    00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.559

    like had it where everybody kind of was out to

    00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:12.480

    get us at times so we've all been really good

    00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:14.359

    at like building each other up and trying to

    00:27:14.359 --> 00:27:17.359

    have each other's backs and like me and my colleague

    00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:19.099

    will always sort of say like hey you did that

    00:27:19.099 --> 00:27:21.099

    when there's a good result that happened so like

    00:27:21.099 --> 00:27:23.160

    isn't it amazing that like we've achieved this

    00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:25.400

    like this is great and other people don't always

    00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:26.940

    see that they think that we're just like negative

    00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:30.559

    and like sarcastic all the time because externally

    00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:32.279

    we are but we do have our moments where we'll

    00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:35.000

    turn around and be like hey like good work very

    00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:36.480

    few people in the world have achieved this like

    00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:38.240

    this is great and we kind of like pick each other

    00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:40.680

    up so definitely other people have respect but

    00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:43.500

    it's like how far does that go what are some

    00:27:43.500 --> 00:27:46.200

    of the difficulties you feel like you faced as

    00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:50.140

    a female coach um I mean it comes back to that

    00:27:50.140 --> 00:27:52.039

    sort of respect thing or people thinking that

    00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:54.799

    I'm as good a coach as my male colleague like

    00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:58.339

    I've had several interactions where people have

    00:27:58.339 --> 00:28:00.410

    kind of looked me up and down and sort of gone

    00:28:00.410 --> 00:28:02.869

    who are you and what are you doing in this space

    00:28:02.869 --> 00:28:04.569

    and whether that's like an age thing or whether

    00:28:04.569 --> 00:28:08.710

    it was um being a female I always feel like I've

    00:28:08.710 --> 00:28:11.569

    kind of been brushed off as not being that involved

    00:28:11.569 --> 00:28:14.990

    and again there's other factors into people building

    00:28:14.990 --> 00:28:19.750

    their opinion but I heard recently um to be part

    00:28:19.750 --> 00:28:23.410

    of like this conference thing somebody questioned

    00:28:23.410 --> 00:28:24.970

    the fact that there was all male coaches going

    00:28:24.970 --> 00:28:27.599

    to it and the response that they got is there's

    00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:29.980

    no female coaches functioning at the level which

    00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:33.119

    for me was like well it's not just me that's

    00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:35.220

    coaching at the elite level and climbing there's

    00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:37.700

    like a lot of us there's a lot of nations that

    00:28:37.700 --> 00:28:40.880

    are led by impressive female coaches that have

    00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:44.079

    been leading them for a long time so why does

    00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:45.859

    somebody think that these men are the only ones

    00:28:45.859 --> 00:28:47.500

    that are leading it like those men are great

    00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:48.960

    coaches they are definitely doing impressive

    00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:51.380

    things they definitely have a lot to say but

    00:28:51.380 --> 00:28:53.650

    there is also women that are out there and it

    00:28:53.650 --> 00:28:55.349

    should really be representative because it's

    00:28:55.349 --> 00:28:57.109

    not just the men in the pit or behind the wall

    00:28:57.109 --> 00:29:00.509

    but people still seem to think that it is and

    00:29:00.509 --> 00:29:03.210

    I don't know how you change that perspective

    00:29:03.210 --> 00:29:06.769

    and now I'm going to it because one of the male

    00:29:06.769 --> 00:29:08.450

    coaches was having a baby so that's great for

    00:29:08.450 --> 00:29:10.630

    him but he had to pull out last minute so now

    00:29:10.630 --> 00:29:13.650

    I'm going to speak at that but initially was

    00:29:13.650 --> 00:29:17.089

    not counted as one of being the good coaches

    00:29:17.089 --> 00:29:19.500

    at the time so it's interesting Yeah, that's

    00:29:19.500 --> 00:29:24.019

    interesting. Because there's also Katarina on

    00:29:24.019 --> 00:29:26.960

    the Austrian team. Yeah, Katarina. But there's

    00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:30.579

    so many other female coaches. I mean, for us

    00:29:30.579 --> 00:29:33.839

    in the UK, the majority of our department is

    00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:36.039

    female. So I have a female head of performance.

    00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:38.160

    There's me as a female podium coach. There's

    00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:40.400

    a female academy coach, and she's the only academy

    00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:43.700

    coach. In the youth space, the youth team is

    00:29:43.700 --> 00:29:46.299

    run by women. The talent team is run by women.

    00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:51.109

    We have a lot. in our yeah in our country so

    00:29:51.109 --> 00:29:52.549

    we're quite lucky in that sense but there are

    00:29:52.549 --> 00:29:55.829

    multiple other teams French team have them Belgian

    00:29:55.829 --> 00:29:59.250

    Austrian Germans lots of other teams work with

    00:29:59.250 --> 00:30:00.750

    women so I don't know why they thought that there

    00:30:00.750 --> 00:30:04.009

    was no women coaching at the level yeah I mean

    00:30:04.009 --> 00:30:06.210

    do you think it's like been harder for women

    00:30:06.210 --> 00:30:09.630

    to get into coaching or maybe like it's not something

    00:30:09.630 --> 00:30:12.130

    that they're as interested in pursuing there's

    00:30:12.130 --> 00:30:16.089

    definitely like a gap in I think in all sports

    00:30:16.089 --> 00:30:19.069

    not just in climbing for female coaches it's

    00:30:19.069 --> 00:30:21.589

    it is harder to get in because there's always

    00:30:21.589 --> 00:30:24.430

    going to be this argument of like men just want

    00:30:24.430 --> 00:30:26.150

    to work with men they work better with them in

    00:30:26.150 --> 00:30:28.490

    the same way that maybe female athletes would

    00:30:28.490 --> 00:30:31.950

    work better with women there's always that argument

    00:30:31.950 --> 00:30:34.150

    and if you're working towards a higher level

    00:30:34.150 --> 00:30:36.809

    then the general idea is that the men are better

    00:30:36.809 --> 00:30:39.029

    at delivering at that level they have a better

    00:30:39.029 --> 00:30:42.069

    understanding and I think climbing is a bit different

    00:30:42.069 --> 00:30:46.349

    because to understand how hard somebody else

    00:30:46.349 --> 00:30:48.009

    climbs just by looking at them that you don't

    00:30:48.009 --> 00:30:50.069

    need to be able to climb a certain grade to do

    00:30:50.069 --> 00:30:52.650

    that but I think historically that's kind of

    00:30:52.650 --> 00:30:55.170

    how it worked like it was historically ex -athletes

    00:30:55.170 --> 00:30:58.250

    that were coming in to to be the coaches and

    00:30:58.250 --> 00:31:01.190

    to teach other people and it's only in more recent

    00:31:01.190 --> 00:31:04.470

    years where it's less ex -athletes coming through

    00:31:04.470 --> 00:31:06.730

    and like even I'm counted in that but there are

    00:31:06.730 --> 00:31:08.630

    definitely coaches out there that were never

    00:31:08.630 --> 00:31:12.099

    an athlete they've just come in as a coach But

    00:31:12.099 --> 00:31:14.319

    yeah, I think in all sports you have that issue.

    00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:17.180

    And it tends to be that the women won't get up

    00:31:17.180 --> 00:31:20.119

    to like academy, like transition spaces. So they

    00:31:20.119 --> 00:31:22.240

    use the senior space. That's where they'll be

    00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:24.420

    placed because actually like women tend to be

    00:31:24.420 --> 00:31:26.440

    better at coaching those age groups because there's

    00:31:26.440 --> 00:31:29.500

    like puberty, emotions, like hormones everywhere.

    00:31:29.660 --> 00:31:31.759

    And women tend to be a bit more empathetic. So

    00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:33.960

    they thrive better in that space. But that then

    00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:36.500

    means that they're not pushed up into the senior

    00:31:36.500 --> 00:31:38.779

    space very often. And that's where all the men

    00:31:38.779 --> 00:31:42.279

    go because that's where they work better. it's

    00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:44.660

    kind of hard to to fight it but there's definitely

    00:31:44.660 --> 00:31:47.220

    like imbalances still yeah i guess kind of keeping

    00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:50.039

    that in mind um one of the questions that came

    00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:53.059

    in from with flow in mind was what advice would

    00:31:53.059 --> 00:31:56.680

    you give to aspiring female coaches um and i'm

    00:31:56.680 --> 00:31:58.319

    thinking just about people who are interested

    00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:00.759

    in becoming coaches in general especially in

    00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:03.640

    like the competition space yeah i mean the one

    00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:06.619

    thing that always stuck with me in terms of like

    00:32:06.619 --> 00:32:08.700

    being women come into this space is that sort

    00:32:08.700 --> 00:32:11.180

    of statistic about the fact that women won't

    00:32:11.180 --> 00:32:13.740

    go for jobs unless they have all of the requirements

    00:32:13.740 --> 00:32:15.599

    and men will go for a job where they have 50

    00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:19.079

    % and just having that in the back of your mind

    00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:21.200

    if you don't think that you are qualified enough

    00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:23.880

    or that you have enough experience go for it

    00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:25.859

    anyway and let somebody else decide like put

    00:32:25.859 --> 00:32:27.779

    yourself out there and give it a go and if somebody

    00:32:27.779 --> 00:32:31.640

    says that you're not good at it then go and work

    00:32:31.640 --> 00:32:34.400

    hard and get better at it don't just avoid it

    00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:35.660

    because you don't think you're capable of it

    00:32:35.660 --> 00:32:39.079

    I speak to so many female coaches that some of

    00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:40.359

    them have even said that they're going to walk

    00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:42.099

    away from their athletes because they don't think

    00:32:42.099 --> 00:32:43.740

    that they have what it takes to support them

    00:32:43.740 --> 00:32:47.200

    how do you know until you try like you can work

    00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:50.299

    with other people I would almost say like encourage

    00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:51.960

    them to work with other people I've worked with

    00:32:51.960 --> 00:32:54.240

    other coaches for a lot of my career and that's

    00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:56.140

    helped me to develop and just sense check my

    00:32:56.140 --> 00:32:59.240

    work but I've always had the understanding to

    00:32:59.240 --> 00:33:00.839

    get there because otherwise they would just be

    00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:02.380

    like dragging me along and that's not the case

    00:33:02.380 --> 00:33:07.960

    so Try and quieten the voices that say you don't

    00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:10.079

    have enough experience or enough knowledge. Put

    00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:12.240

    yourself out there in a way. Ask other people

    00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:15.079

    to support you in it. But you probably have the

    00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:16.539

    capabilities. You just need to give it a shot.

    00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:19.220

    Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. And I guess that

    00:33:19.220 --> 00:33:22.980

    also kind of tracks with how you grew as a coach.

    00:33:23.099 --> 00:33:25.339

    Like you kind of filled a different role. Like

    00:33:25.339 --> 00:33:27.720

    when you were younger and you were coaching,

    00:33:27.819 --> 00:33:31.059

    you felt like you supported your athletes in

    00:33:31.059 --> 00:33:33.180

    a different way than the other coaches did. yeah

    00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:36.599

    it was it was always very relaxed I never did

    00:33:36.599 --> 00:33:38.859

    I don't know if it's actually really that different

    00:33:38.859 --> 00:33:42.240

    to what I do now I never did the full like just

    00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:45.299

    delivering the training plan like quite harsh

    00:33:45.299 --> 00:33:47.119

    get it get it done I don't think that's the nature

    00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:50.079

    of climbing anyway but I think I leaning into

    00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:53.160

    my style is what helped me to develop and grow

    00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:55.690

    because just almost naturally i've developed

    00:33:55.690 --> 00:33:58.250

    all the like knowledge i've i've kind of absorbed

    00:33:58.250 --> 00:34:01.309

    it by going on different courses and shadowing

    00:34:01.309 --> 00:34:02.730

    different people and working with different coaches

    00:34:02.730 --> 00:34:05.130

    i've learned from all of their knowledge and

    00:34:05.130 --> 00:34:07.789

    brought that into my own and if i'd gone straight

    00:34:07.789 --> 00:34:09.670

    in trying to do what i thought was the right

    00:34:09.670 --> 00:34:12.809

    way to do it it wouldn't have worked out whereas

    00:34:12.809 --> 00:34:14.889

    it's gone much better just kind of doing it my

    00:34:14.889 --> 00:34:16.829

    way figuring it out and adapting as i go and

    00:34:16.829 --> 00:34:18.510

    it's worked better for some of the athletes as

    00:34:18.510 --> 00:34:21.369

    well so you never know what's going to be right

    00:34:21.369 --> 00:34:24.829

    until it's already right yeah and I think now

    00:34:24.829 --> 00:34:26.789

    might be a good time to get into I guess like

    00:34:26.789 --> 00:34:29.389

    what coaching actually looks like I think for

    00:34:29.389 --> 00:34:31.889

    a lot of people it just kind of seems like oh

    00:34:31.889 --> 00:34:33.949

    you write a training plan maybe you like give

    00:34:33.949 --> 00:34:35.889

    some feedback on what they're doing on the wall

    00:34:35.889 --> 00:34:38.449

    but then you had mentioned like with coaching

    00:34:38.449 --> 00:34:40.889

    Aaron you also do like nutrition plans and like

    00:34:40.889 --> 00:34:44.690

    emotional support and things like that so what

    00:34:44.690 --> 00:34:47.789

    else all goes into it yeah I mean when you you

    00:34:47.789 --> 00:34:50.820

    have athletes like Aaron that are as advanced

    00:34:50.820 --> 00:34:53.539

    as they are in that sense like they're full -time

    00:34:53.539 --> 00:34:56.400

    training eight hours a day six days a week there's

    00:34:56.400 --> 00:34:59.280

    a lot more time to provide all this extra support

    00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:02.380

    so yes there's the aspects of we're just going

    00:35:02.380 --> 00:35:04.400

    to the wall maybe I'm belaying maybe I'm setting

    00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:06.880

    some boulders maybe I'm just there reminding

    00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:08.760

    her that she's actually capable of climbing when

    00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:10.219

    she falls off those boulders and thinks that

    00:35:10.219 --> 00:35:13.320

    she's rubbish like there's that sort of psychological

    00:35:13.320 --> 00:35:16.340

    support there but I would say that my role at

    00:35:16.340 --> 00:35:18.559

    least in that setup is sort of oversight of everything

    00:35:18.559 --> 00:35:21.579

    so I'm technically her team lead, and she has

    00:35:21.579 --> 00:35:24.309

    a team of coaches. Pardon this brief interruption,

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    commenting and sharing helps a great deal as

    00:36:00.030 --> 00:36:03.489

    well. Back to the show. So for her, coaching

    00:36:03.489 --> 00:36:06.429

    looks like a variety of different experts all

    00:36:06.429 --> 00:36:09.550

    leaning into their own areas. So we have a nutritionist

    00:36:09.550 --> 00:36:11.409

    who's on the job as nutrition. She's very good

    00:36:11.409 --> 00:36:14.869

    at what she does. She provides a nutrition plan

    00:36:14.869 --> 00:36:17.110

    and then I just kind of check in and go, hey,

    00:36:17.130 --> 00:36:18.929

    have you had that snack? Hey, have you done this?

    00:36:18.949 --> 00:36:21.789

    Hey, have you drank that water? And if it's...

    00:36:21.960 --> 00:36:25.099

    too much for like aaron to do then we go right

    00:36:25.099 --> 00:36:26.900

    okay we need to feed this back and we need to

    00:36:26.900 --> 00:36:29.099

    say that that part of the plan's not working

    00:36:29.099 --> 00:36:32.219

    we need to adapt it and i try to get aaron to

    00:36:32.219 --> 00:36:34.039

    do it as much as possible but it's quite stressful

    00:36:34.039 --> 00:36:35.380

    being an athlete there's quite a lot going on

    00:36:35.380 --> 00:36:36.739

    so sometimes i'll just be like don't worry i'll

    00:36:36.739 --> 00:36:38.500

    send the message i'll sorry for you we'll get

    00:36:38.500 --> 00:36:41.619

    this changed um and we have like physio that

    00:36:41.619 --> 00:36:44.400

    ideally she doesn't need to see that that often

    00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:46.780

    but obviously it's their sports masseuse for

    00:36:46.780 --> 00:36:49.139

    like maintenance there's snc coach there's her

    00:36:49.139 --> 00:36:52.699

    training plan coach um And then she has like

    00:36:52.699 --> 00:36:54.739

    a mindset coach as well as like some psych support.

    00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:58.539

    So she has like a whole team and as well as her

    00:36:58.539 --> 00:37:00.699

    family and her partner and everybody that she's

    00:37:00.699 --> 00:37:02.679

    got around her like externally is wider support.

    00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:04.980

    She's got like a whole team of different people

    00:37:04.980 --> 00:37:07.780

    that we all focus on the bits that we're best

    00:37:07.780 --> 00:37:10.699

    at. And there's obviously overlapping communication

    00:37:10.699 --> 00:37:12.800

    between everybody to kind of check in and go,

    00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:15.380

    does the S &C line up with the training, line

    00:37:15.380 --> 00:37:17.199

    up with the nutrition, line up with the resting?

    00:37:17.460 --> 00:37:20.179

    Is the massage at the right time? Is she in a

    00:37:20.179 --> 00:37:22.000

    good place psychologically? There's all of these

    00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:25.500

    considerations all the time, which she has to

    00:37:25.500 --> 00:37:28.139

    deal with. But ideally, we're trying to preempt

    00:37:28.139 --> 00:37:30.559

    and make sure that it's as easy for her as possible.

    00:37:30.639 --> 00:37:32.059

    She just has to show up and climb and leave.

    00:37:32.500 --> 00:37:36.420

    But yeah, I kind of oversee everything. I would

    00:37:36.420 --> 00:37:38.559

    say chat to her the most, feedback to everybody

    00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:40.800

    else, arrange team meetings to check in. So it's

    00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:44.219

    a whole, it's a bit more like manager -y than

    00:37:44.219 --> 00:37:47.019

    coach at times. Jeez, I did not realize that

    00:37:47.019 --> 00:37:49.619

    there was this whole team like going into this.

    00:37:49.739 --> 00:37:53.059

    That's kind of crazy. And I really wish that

    00:37:53.059 --> 00:37:57.780

    I had that. Yeah, I mean, it's grown a lot. So

    00:37:57.780 --> 00:38:02.440

    like even this time last year, we had two or

    00:38:02.440 --> 00:38:05.320

    three less people, I think. There was... initially

    00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:09.099

    it was just Erin her training plan coach that

    00:38:09.099 --> 00:38:11.300

    did her robot plan which was lattice and then

    00:38:11.300 --> 00:38:14.559

    I did some one -to -ones and then after like

    00:38:14.559 --> 00:38:16.780

    2023 she had a really tough season she felt really

    00:38:16.780 --> 00:38:19.280

    tired she wasn't happy with things we kind of

    00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:21.920

    completely mixed it up and did something new

    00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:24.300

    by at the time just bringing in an S &C coach

    00:38:24.300 --> 00:38:26.960

    and bringing in me more regularly and then that

    00:38:26.960 --> 00:38:28.820

    grow into okay we'll bring a nutritionist in

    00:38:28.820 --> 00:38:30.619

    we'll bring a psych in okay we'll bring physio

    00:38:30.619 --> 00:38:32.300

    in and then it's just kind of like grown and

    00:38:32.300 --> 00:38:35.559

    grown and it's just kind of you don't want to

    00:38:35.559 --> 00:38:39.159

    miss anything you don't want to like risk not

    00:38:39.159 --> 00:38:41.380

    trying to do something and all of them factor

    00:38:41.380 --> 00:38:43.159

    in together like if you train too hard and you

    00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:45.480

    don't feel enough then you're going to get injured

    00:38:45.480 --> 00:38:47.099

    if you train too hard and you don't get the recovery

    00:38:47.099 --> 00:38:49.000

    mass you're going to get injured if you don't

    00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:51.099

    train hard enough because snc is not there to

    00:38:51.099 --> 00:38:53.260

    do these extra little bits that you could do

    00:38:53.260 --> 00:38:55.340

    when your skin's too thin then you're not going

    00:38:55.340 --> 00:38:58.039

    to be as strong as possible so it's trying to

    00:38:58.039 --> 00:38:59.920

    like consider every possibility and make sure

    00:38:59.920 --> 00:39:02.199

    that we address it do you still do like the one

    00:39:02.199 --> 00:39:05.719

    -on -ones yeah so i see our own like um sometimes

    00:39:05.719 --> 00:39:08.719

    like three times a week um it's kind of the same

    00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:11.460

    offer that's like my gb role so like any athlete

    00:39:11.460 --> 00:39:15.380

    that's on the the program and is like one of

    00:39:15.380 --> 00:39:17.260

    the funded athletes then they can technically

    00:39:17.260 --> 00:39:19.000

    like come to us and get as much coaching time

    00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:21.139

    as they as we can fit in a week so it's generally

    00:39:21.139 --> 00:39:24.780

    like three days um but i was in in sprinkler

    00:39:24.780 --> 00:39:27.519

    for 10 days at the start of the year and then

    00:39:27.519 --> 00:39:29.039

    we have like a training camp with a bunch of

    00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:31.760

    the athletes coming at the end of um january

    00:39:31.760 --> 00:39:34.059

    so There's quite a lot of contact time because

    00:39:34.059 --> 00:39:36.119

    like when we're in comp season, I obviously see

    00:39:36.119 --> 00:39:37.900

    them every day and there's a lot of feedback

    00:39:37.900 --> 00:39:39.980

    loop there. But yeah, generally with Aaron, it's

    00:39:39.980 --> 00:39:42.059

    like three days a week at least. Yeah, what are

    00:39:42.059 --> 00:39:44.199

    the one -on -one sessions kind of look like?

    00:39:44.280 --> 00:39:46.219

    Not necessarily just for Aaron, but for like

    00:39:46.219 --> 00:39:49.079

    anyone else on the GB team. I mean, it kind of

    00:39:49.079 --> 00:39:50.800

    varies depending on what they're doing. So sometimes

    00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:54.699

    it's just pointing circuits and kind of... like

    00:39:54.699 --> 00:39:56.579

    cheering them on to try harder telling them to

    00:39:56.579 --> 00:39:59.360

    rest that sort of thing sometimes it's like making

    00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:01.480

    up cool boulders and like funky moves to try

    00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:03.239

    and challenge them if we've not got the setting

    00:40:03.239 --> 00:40:06.460

    in the wall sometimes it's like facilitating

    00:40:06.460 --> 00:40:09.360

    a comp sim for them or like doing feedback on

    00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:14.159

    preset boulder sort of thing um and i guess like

    00:40:14.159 --> 00:40:18.280

    some days are just belaying non -stop just constantly

    00:40:18.280 --> 00:40:20.280

    my end of a rope like okay this one next okay

    00:40:20.280 --> 00:40:22.360

    this one next okay this one next and those ones

    00:40:22.360 --> 00:40:24.679

    are maybe the more tiring ones but necessary

    00:40:24.679 --> 00:40:27.739

    obviously interesting to know um yeah i guess

    00:40:27.739 --> 00:40:30.679

    in general in terms of like uh team gb training

    00:40:30.679 --> 00:40:33.559

    what's what are your thoughts for like split

    00:40:33.559 --> 00:40:36.980

    of strength training versus on the wall training

    00:40:36.980 --> 00:40:40.000

    versus board climbing or whatever other training

    00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:42.940

    methods there are out there i guess it's so different

    00:40:42.940 --> 00:40:46.670

    for everybody but generally i think the most

    00:40:46.670 --> 00:40:49.730

    important thing is kind of keeping track of what

    00:40:49.730 --> 00:40:52.429

    they need like if if somebody's naturally quite

    00:40:52.429 --> 00:40:55.429

    strong probably less strength training either

    00:40:55.429 --> 00:40:57.349

    make it your super strength and lean into it

    00:40:57.349 --> 00:41:00.090

    do the do the board sessions whatever or focus

    00:41:00.090 --> 00:41:01.670

    on the technical stuff and drop it back a bit

    00:41:01.670 --> 00:41:05.210

    um but then it can be like a huge psychological

    00:41:05.210 --> 00:41:08.119

    impact on that so if somebody mentally struggles

    00:41:08.119 --> 00:41:10.760

    with all the technical stuff the failing of going

    00:41:10.760 --> 00:41:12.659

    and doing the technical side of things then they

    00:41:12.659 --> 00:41:14.219

    probably need a board session to go and feel

    00:41:14.219 --> 00:41:16.599

    good or they probably need to get in the gym

    00:41:16.599 --> 00:41:18.519

    and just straight forward pick up some weights

    00:41:18.519 --> 00:41:20.059

    you can't get it wrong you can either pick them

    00:41:20.059 --> 00:41:21.400

    up or you can't pick them up it's nice and simple

    00:41:21.400 --> 00:41:23.940

    so you might need to do that equally you might

    00:41:23.940 --> 00:41:26.920

    have an athlete that's really technically talented

    00:41:26.920 --> 00:41:30.679

    and you want to get there stronger trying to

    00:41:30.679 --> 00:41:32.480

    get the balance of them getting stronger without

    00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:35.309

    losing the natural talent and technique is quite

    00:41:35.309 --> 00:41:37.150

    hard so you probably have to make sure that there's

    00:41:37.150 --> 00:41:40.809

    like at least one or two sessions probably like

    00:41:40.809 --> 00:41:44.170

    three or four sessions a week that at least start

    00:41:44.170 --> 00:41:46.750

    with a fully technical execution thing then playing

    00:41:46.750 --> 00:41:51.010

    around really free flow like just having a go

    00:41:51.010 --> 00:41:53.030

    at some moves and seeing what they can do and

    00:41:53.030 --> 00:41:55.570

    then only the rest of the time like maybe the

    00:41:55.570 --> 00:41:57.849

    other two or three sessions maybe like mixing

    00:41:57.849 --> 00:41:59.449

    it in so you've got a bit of both ideally you

    00:41:59.449 --> 00:42:01.929

    want to be hammering that sort of like physical

    00:42:01.929 --> 00:42:04.170

    side of things and It obviously changes as you

    00:42:04.170 --> 00:42:05.489

    go through the year as well. There's so many

    00:42:05.489 --> 00:42:07.829

    considerations. At the start of off -season,

    00:42:08.030 --> 00:42:10.949

    so November, December, January, you might want

    00:42:10.949 --> 00:42:14.730

    to do a huge gym block and just get bulky, get

    00:42:14.730 --> 00:42:18.309

    strong, get that base muscle there so that you

    00:42:18.309 --> 00:42:20.510

    can then transfer it by getting onto the wall

    00:42:20.510 --> 00:42:22.590

    and doing the really focused stuff later because

    00:42:22.590 --> 00:42:25.090

    it's so much easier and simpler. You're less

    00:42:25.090 --> 00:42:26.670

    likely to get injured. You can really build a

    00:42:26.670 --> 00:42:29.030

    base in all these areas and then you can transform

    00:42:29.030 --> 00:42:32.500

    it. But some people really... they don't like

    00:42:32.500 --> 00:42:34.019

    that they don't respond to that it stresses them

    00:42:34.019 --> 00:42:37.079

    out so it's hard because you have to like adapt

    00:42:37.079 --> 00:42:40.320

    it to to every athlete and some some rules stick

    00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:42.780

    of like obviously don't do too much but some

    00:42:42.780 --> 00:42:44.880

    of them you have to really adapt to with where

    00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:48.539

    they're at would you say that it's better to

    00:42:48.539 --> 00:42:51.980

    kind of like lean into a strength or for comps

    00:42:51.980 --> 00:42:53.980

    is it better to try to be like an all -rounder

    00:42:53.980 --> 00:42:56.400

    i mean if you're being objective of a competition

    00:42:56.400 --> 00:42:58.699

    athlete you should probably be an all -rounder

    00:42:58.699 --> 00:43:01.300

    like you're You can probably get through rounds

    00:43:01.300 --> 00:43:03.659

    having strengths, but if you want to win, if

    00:43:03.659 --> 00:43:05.780

    you want to get a medal, you need to be prepared

    00:43:05.780 --> 00:43:08.699

    for whatever is going to be on the wall. And

    00:43:08.699 --> 00:43:11.780

    some people's strengths, like you see some French

    00:43:11.780 --> 00:43:13.360

    athletes who are amazing at coordination and

    00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:16.179

    then you get some competitions where it's really

    00:43:16.179 --> 00:43:17.920

    coordination heavy, it fares really well for

    00:43:17.920 --> 00:43:20.480

    them. They're also pretty strong as well. They're

    00:43:20.480 --> 00:43:23.980

    also really good at slabs. But they'll have some

    00:43:23.980 --> 00:43:26.320

    comps where it is slightly easier for them because

    00:43:26.320 --> 00:43:28.579

    it's their style, whereas... you might have some

    00:43:28.579 --> 00:43:30.579

    comps that are really physical or like really

    00:43:30.579 --> 00:43:33.260

    grovelly and if you're only good at coordination

    00:43:33.260 --> 00:43:35.039

    then you're not going to get anywhere in that

    00:43:35.039 --> 00:43:37.199

    comp so it's kind of what are you aiming for

    00:43:37.199 --> 00:43:39.619

    you're aiming for one one -off performance where

    00:43:39.619 --> 00:43:41.380

    you might have your day and it's your boulders

    00:43:41.380 --> 00:43:43.800

    and it goes well okay great probably lean into

    00:43:43.800 --> 00:43:46.320

    your strengths then but if you want to be a successful

    00:43:46.320 --> 00:43:49.139

    comp athlete over a long period of time you need

    00:43:49.139 --> 00:43:51.719

    to be good at every style basically yeah when

    00:43:51.719 --> 00:43:54.679

    i think to like erin it's like hard for me to

    00:43:55.150 --> 00:43:58.230

    put a finger on like what her strengths and weaknesses

    00:43:58.230 --> 00:44:00.469

    would be it's like kind of just an all -rounder

    00:44:00.469 --> 00:44:03.969

    yeah i mean she she's pretty good at doing everything

    00:44:03.969 --> 00:44:06.130

    she definitely has weaknesses because we definitely

    00:44:06.130 --> 00:44:09.329

    have stuff that we work on but people get really

    00:44:09.329 --> 00:44:11.230

    confused by her like people have said that she's

    00:44:11.230 --> 00:44:13.309

    not very technical she's not good in the slab

    00:44:13.309 --> 00:44:16.090

    but then her stats from the season actually have

    00:44:16.090 --> 00:44:20.090

    really high slab performances um and it's really

    00:44:20.090 --> 00:44:22.070

    neat she's actually did really bad at like no

    00:44:22.070 --> 00:44:25.840

    thumbs squeezing okay like it's a wide that basically

    00:44:25.840 --> 00:44:29.139

    world champs qualifier exposed her massively

    00:44:29.139 --> 00:44:32.159

    she like qualified really low because the third

    00:44:32.159 --> 00:44:34.900

    boulder was a straightforward like flat squeeze

    00:44:34.900 --> 00:44:38.219

    boulder and that's somehow still a weakness we

    00:44:38.219 --> 00:44:39.780

    work on every year but i think she just like

    00:44:39.780 --> 00:44:42.940

    struggles on it um but that's really quite rare

    00:44:42.940 --> 00:44:44.519

    so it doesn't come up that much so it's generally

    00:44:44.519 --> 00:44:47.659

    it's hard because you have to like push up the

    00:44:47.659 --> 00:44:50.079

    whole level you can't just like okay you're really

    00:44:50.079 --> 00:44:51.559

    strong so we need to get your slabs up it's like

    00:44:51.559 --> 00:44:54.199

    okay everything's pretty good but if you want

    00:44:54.199 --> 00:44:56.159

    to like keep winning then we need to like push

    00:44:56.159 --> 00:45:00.579

    up everything so yeah it's uh it's hard to get

    00:45:00.579 --> 00:45:02.199

    it all up there and be like okay there's one

    00:45:02.199 --> 00:45:04.400

    weakness that comes up every three comps or even

    00:45:04.400 --> 00:45:05.840

    every six comps we gotta make sure that this

    00:45:05.840 --> 00:45:08.420

    is coming up as well yeah that's super specific

    00:45:08.420 --> 00:45:10.940

    i mean did you just like set a bunch of boulders

    00:45:10.940 --> 00:45:14.619

    with like no thumb squeezing i mean we tried

    00:45:14.619 --> 00:45:18.019

    we don't we don't really have much like free

    00:45:18.019 --> 00:45:20.039

    reign on setting in the uk we kind of have to

    00:45:20.039 --> 00:45:22.340

    work on commercial gyms quite a lot so it's a

    00:45:22.340 --> 00:45:25.559

    lot of work on spray walls and i kind of went

    00:45:25.559 --> 00:45:27.980

    to her snc coach and was like what do you think

    00:45:27.980 --> 00:45:30.360

    we could do with this and they were a bit like

    00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:31.800

    there's not really exercises that train that

    00:45:31.800 --> 00:45:34.260

    i'm like yeah but can we can we come up with

    00:45:34.260 --> 00:45:36.639

    some and now she has these like bizarre exercises

    00:45:36.639 --> 00:45:38.519

    even when she's doing them she's like i'm not

    00:45:38.519 --> 00:45:41.420

    really sure what this is for but then afterwards

    00:45:41.420 --> 00:45:44.469

    she's fully like oh yeah no all of the muscles

    00:45:44.469 --> 00:45:46.070

    that hurt from compression are hurting right

    00:45:46.070 --> 00:45:48.449

    now so i'm kind of like well done tom like you've

    00:45:48.449 --> 00:45:51.690

    done a good job right good to hear um do you

    00:45:51.690 --> 00:45:54.090

    think there's anything that's like the most underrated

    00:45:54.090 --> 00:45:57.030

    training technique for climbing it's so hard

    00:45:57.030 --> 00:45:59.849

    because like every nation does it differently

    00:45:59.849 --> 00:46:03.590

    and i think like a general rule is just going

    00:46:03.590 --> 00:46:07.190

    to do more boulders or more routes like more

    00:46:07.190 --> 00:46:10.090

    time on task is always gonna do better but i

    00:46:10.090 --> 00:46:12.670

    guess like the quality of the time is is key

    00:46:12.670 --> 00:46:16.369

    as well um i think board climbing really benefits

    00:46:16.369 --> 00:46:18.210

    us a lot like the fact that our guys can get

    00:46:18.210 --> 00:46:19.949

    on a woody board and just go and grind out and

    00:46:19.949 --> 00:46:21.969

    like do their strength training and get that

    00:46:21.969 --> 00:46:24.730

    done um and they're pretty open to snc as well

    00:46:24.730 --> 00:46:27.489

    so like that base building stuff like we're a

    00:46:27.489 --> 00:46:30.829

    pretty strong nation now um in that sense like

    00:46:30.829 --> 00:46:33.130

    physically so i think that's one thing that that

    00:46:33.130 --> 00:46:36.090

    helps us but equally like some of our guys fingerboard

    00:46:36.090 --> 00:46:38.889

    some of them don't it's hard to tell if that

    00:46:38.889 --> 00:46:42.590

    helps like some of them spend more time on set

    00:46:42.590 --> 00:46:44.409

    boulders than they do on spray wall and that

    00:46:44.409 --> 00:46:48.170

    benefits them so I think until we're like much

    00:46:48.170 --> 00:46:50.809

    further on as a whole sport with a lot more like

    00:46:50.809 --> 00:46:53.110

    studies behind things it's so hard to say like

    00:46:53.110 --> 00:46:55.309

    yeah this thing will make you really really good

    00:46:55.309 --> 00:46:57.789

    because each athlete is like totally different

    00:46:57.789 --> 00:46:59.630

    like some of them can do one armors some of them

    00:46:59.630 --> 00:47:02.329

    can have a one arm edge like some of them can't

    00:47:02.329 --> 00:47:04.110

    do it at all and yet they're still they're crushing

    00:47:04.110 --> 00:47:07.039

    it so Yeah, I guess that's true. Is there anything

    00:47:07.039 --> 00:47:10.420

    that you feel like is an overrated training technique

    00:47:10.420 --> 00:47:16.300

    then? I mean, if it makes the athlete feel good,

    00:47:16.420 --> 00:47:19.699

    then it can't be overrated. If an athlete's doing

    00:47:19.699 --> 00:47:22.079

    something and a coach turns around and says,

    00:47:22.199 --> 00:47:23.960

    that's not giving you anything, but the athlete

    00:47:23.960 --> 00:47:27.219

    believes that it's doing something, then it's

    00:47:27.219 --> 00:47:30.059

    probably doing something. It may be... could

    00:47:30.059 --> 00:47:32.000

    be slightly better time -wise it could be better

    00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:33.360

    to use the time but there's always that thing

    00:47:33.360 --> 00:47:36.000

    of like placebo effects of as long as there's

    00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:38.519

    belief in the program and you're seeing some

    00:47:38.519 --> 00:47:40.000

    improvements that it's got to be doing something

    00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:42.059

    if you're hammering an exercise for six weeks

    00:47:42.059 --> 00:47:43.900

    and nothing's getting better then you should

    00:47:43.900 --> 00:47:45.159

    probably change it but i don't think there's

    00:47:45.159 --> 00:47:49.920

    anything like nothing stands out like maybe old

    00:47:49.920 --> 00:47:52.860

    -fashioned campus boarding that's maybe not as

    00:47:52.860 --> 00:47:58.539

    useful There was a drip. Sorry. That's overrated.

    00:47:58.780 --> 00:48:01.099

    No, no, no. I think it's more like what does

    00:48:01.099 --> 00:48:04.920

    it bring at this point for comp climbing? If

    00:48:04.920 --> 00:48:07.980

    you can get on a spray wall on campus, then better

    00:48:07.980 --> 00:48:10.639

    grip type, better movement, like you're getting

    00:48:10.639 --> 00:48:13.380

    a full range. It's more appropriate than doing

    00:48:13.380 --> 00:48:16.159

    straightforward campus boarding. But if you want

    00:48:16.159 --> 00:48:18.679

    to just improve like fire and a range that's

    00:48:18.679 --> 00:48:21.539

    like that set, then it's useful. So it's what

    00:48:21.539 --> 00:48:25.239

    does that individual need to work on? And I don't

    00:48:25.239 --> 00:48:28.239

    think anything would be potentially too overhyped.

    00:48:28.300 --> 00:48:30.219

    There's always going to be hype exercises. There's

    00:48:30.219 --> 00:48:35.420

    the cuffs, the cuff blood circulation. They're

    00:48:35.420 --> 00:48:38.579

    really hype for a bit, but there's always going

    00:48:38.579 --> 00:48:39.940

    to be little things like that. But I actually

    00:48:39.940 --> 00:48:43.119

    don't think that many of the athletes at our

    00:48:43.119 --> 00:48:44.619

    level or the coaches at our level are actually

    00:48:44.619 --> 00:48:47.320

    getting too caught up in them. But I'm sure other

    00:48:47.320 --> 00:48:49.900

    people would think of things. Are people using

    00:48:49.900 --> 00:48:53.599

    the blood circulation cuffs for climbing? there

    00:48:53.599 --> 00:48:57.659

    was a stage in at least in Sheffield when I first

    00:48:57.659 --> 00:49:00.199

    moved down here it was maybe like in 2018 or

    00:49:00.199 --> 00:49:02.940

    2019 where I went into the wall and there was

    00:49:02.940 --> 00:49:05.280

    like three people that were doing like pickups

    00:49:05.280 --> 00:49:07.860

    and they were doing like seven on three off pickups

    00:49:07.860 --> 00:49:11.800

    with the cuffs and they were like I swear by

    00:49:11.800 --> 00:49:14.340

    it it's incredible my recovery my capacity has

    00:49:14.340 --> 00:49:16.860

    gone up so much or it was probably just the fact

    00:49:16.860 --> 00:49:18.559

    that they were doing seven on three off for the

    00:49:18.559 --> 00:49:20.639

    first time in ages but They were like swearing

    00:49:20.639 --> 00:49:22.059

    by it. And I'm sure there was like studies that

    00:49:22.059 --> 00:49:24.679

    didn't back up, but that was like a hype phase

    00:49:24.679 --> 00:49:27.900

    for sure. Huh. Okay. Interesting. I'm just, I'm

    00:49:27.900 --> 00:49:30.199

    also thinking about the old fashioned campus

    00:49:30.199 --> 00:49:32.119

    boarding. I feel like I do a lot of that. So

    00:49:32.119 --> 00:49:34.019

    maybe I need to, maybe I need to switch that

    00:49:34.019 --> 00:49:35.900

    up. I mean, it's great for cover. If you can

    00:49:35.900 --> 00:49:39.639

    like actually go in campus boulders, then it's

    00:49:39.639 --> 00:49:41.539

    like the first stepping stone to go in campus

    00:49:41.539 --> 00:49:46.139

    boulders. But then if you want to do wider moves

    00:49:46.139 --> 00:49:49.250

    or vary the hole type. then you could just get

    00:49:49.250 --> 00:49:50.849

    on boulders but then it's so hard because like

    00:49:50.849 --> 00:49:52.869

    how many walls actually have the perfect angle

    00:49:52.869 --> 00:49:55.170

    to campus on that also have appropriate boulders

    00:49:55.170 --> 00:49:59.110

    set on it like it's a tool for making the most

    00:49:59.110 --> 00:50:01.550

    of a situation it's not a tool that you should

    00:50:01.550 --> 00:50:04.250

    spend all your time on that's the main thing

    00:50:04.250 --> 00:50:06.510

    well i also like just kind of feel like a douche

    00:50:06.510 --> 00:50:09.429

    if i go into the gym and like campus boulders

    00:50:09.429 --> 00:50:11.409

    there's also that you could go in campus like

    00:50:11.409 --> 00:50:12.969

    a project that someone's on and then they'll

    00:50:12.969 --> 00:50:17.449

    never like how your ego will cope with that situation.

    00:50:18.010 --> 00:50:20.409

    Yeah, but it's very well makes sense. What are

    00:50:20.409 --> 00:50:25.389

    your own climbing goals? So I've bouldered 8a

    00:50:25.389 --> 00:50:29.829

    before and loosely have that goal again. I would

    00:50:29.829 --> 00:50:34.110

    like to at least get close to that. I feel like

    00:50:34.110 --> 00:50:36.530

    I'm close every year, but I am slowly coming

    00:50:36.530 --> 00:50:38.449

    around to the fact that my training is super

    00:50:38.449 --> 00:50:42.079

    inconsistent mid -season. The last two years

    00:50:42.079 --> 00:50:44.480

    I've had finger injuries either just before the

    00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:46.460

    season or just after the season because of the

    00:50:46.460 --> 00:50:50.840

    inconsistency. And I can still fairly regularly

    00:50:50.840 --> 00:50:54.980

    boulder 70, 70 plus. So like my main aim right

    00:50:54.980 --> 00:50:57.619

    now is just maintaining that. But like maybe

    00:50:57.619 --> 00:50:59.900

    a little bit of me is pushing to try and find

    00:50:59.900 --> 00:51:02.579

    an 80 that I can like have a good go at. Something

    00:51:02.579 --> 00:51:04.639

    that's at least close to try and train for. But

    00:51:04.639 --> 00:51:06.599

    I think I have to like reality check myself.

    00:51:06.739 --> 00:51:08.219

    I'm like, okay, well, I don't really have time

    00:51:08.219 --> 00:51:09.880

    to train. I'm not going to be disappointed if

    00:51:09.880 --> 00:51:12.199

    I... keep pushing for this and it's never going

    00:51:12.199 --> 00:51:15.219

    to be a reality so it's kind of maintaining i've

    00:51:15.219 --> 00:51:16.780

    actually just like got into running as something

    00:51:16.780 --> 00:51:18.400

    that's not climbing that i can do when i'm at

    00:51:18.400 --> 00:51:21.099

    the comps and try and push on that instead do

    00:51:21.099 --> 00:51:24.260

    you have any interest in like the dynamic indoor

    00:51:24.260 --> 00:51:26.800

    style of setting these days or is that not for

    00:51:26.800 --> 00:51:30.619

    you i actually like i really enjoy them um i

    00:51:30.619 --> 00:51:33.500

    sucked at them when i was competing and i still

    00:51:33.500 --> 00:51:35.480

    so very much suck at them now but when they have

    00:51:35.480 --> 00:51:37.659

    like the nice easy versions that they set for

    00:51:37.659 --> 00:51:40.809

    the customers i love those favorite um because

    00:51:40.809 --> 00:51:42.349

    it's always like i find it really interesting

    00:51:42.349 --> 00:51:45.070

    those movements like biomechanics the way that

    00:51:45.070 --> 00:51:46.869

    the like physics of the movements work the way

    00:51:46.869 --> 00:51:49.230

    that you generate all that stuff i find really

    00:51:49.230 --> 00:51:52.570

    interesting to coach and it's one of the things

    00:51:52.570 --> 00:51:54.570

    i kind of lean into so i always find it interesting

    00:51:54.570 --> 00:51:56.610

    when i look at a boulder and i'm like cool i

    00:51:56.610 --> 00:51:58.670

    understand what i need to do on this and then

    00:51:58.670 --> 00:52:00.949

    my body just completely fails to do it and i

    00:52:00.949 --> 00:52:02.989

    have to go right let me just take a step back

    00:52:02.989 --> 00:52:05.289

    and like build up to it but it always just feels

    00:52:05.289 --> 00:52:07.250

    so satisfying when you do like a cool coordination

    00:52:07.250 --> 00:52:09.670

    move people that say they don't like them just

    00:52:09.670 --> 00:52:11.130

    aren't very good at them and are too scared to

    00:52:11.130 --> 00:52:13.309

    try them and I definitely sometimes are too scared

    00:52:13.309 --> 00:52:15.429

    to try them but when I when I get on a good one

    00:52:15.429 --> 00:52:17.429

    and I manage to do like the easy ones I'm like

    00:52:17.429 --> 00:52:19.690

    yeah sick that was cool. Do you feel like you

    00:52:19.690 --> 00:52:23.369

    have a better understanding of how to do that

    00:52:23.369 --> 00:52:25.469

    kind of movement compared to your athletes or

    00:52:25.469 --> 00:52:29.170

    do you think that the athletes would have a better

    00:52:29.170 --> 00:52:31.789

    understanding of it compared to you? I would

    00:52:31.789 --> 00:52:35.230

    say that they have a better understanding but

    00:52:35.230 --> 00:52:38.329

    I also think that my understanding is quite hi

    00:52:38.329 --> 00:52:41.510

    we've had this debate actually I pissed a lot

    00:52:41.510 --> 00:52:45.570

    of people off in a warm up because it was like

    00:52:45.570 --> 00:52:48.329

    this theory of like if you were to put my brain

    00:52:48.329 --> 00:52:52.710

    into an athlete's body would I be able to do

    00:52:52.710 --> 00:52:54.409

    the moves and do the boulders and I was like

    00:52:54.409 --> 00:52:58.309

    oh well yeah I think because like I'm not just

    00:52:58.309 --> 00:53:00.869

    like looking at people doing the moves like I

    00:53:00.869 --> 00:53:03.650

    said I am trying to do these moves and I'm it

    00:53:03.650 --> 00:53:06.849

    would take me longer but I would in theory be

    00:53:06.849 --> 00:53:08.929

    able to use their muscles and understandings

    00:53:08.929 --> 00:53:10.610

    and stuff that way and it piss people off and

    00:53:10.610 --> 00:53:12.369

    so sometimes I'm like was that right was that

    00:53:12.369 --> 00:53:14.110

    not right but I kind of stuck by it like no I've

    00:53:14.110 --> 00:53:15.429

    been doing this for a long time like I've watched

    00:53:15.429 --> 00:53:17.650

    a lot of world cups I've been on the mats and

    00:53:17.650 --> 00:53:19.389

    I've not just seen that one athlete do the movement

    00:53:19.389 --> 00:53:21.829

    I've seen all of the athletes and the first 20

    00:53:21.829 --> 00:53:25.030

    people come and do this movement so like I understand

    00:53:25.030 --> 00:53:28.449

    the differences and like I have to to be able

    00:53:28.449 --> 00:53:30.909

    to teach those athletes how to do those things

    00:53:30.909 --> 00:53:32.570

    so I have to have some sort of understanding

    00:53:32.570 --> 00:53:36.369

    but I don't think that I have more than them

    00:53:36.369 --> 00:53:37.909

    because definitely they rock up and sometimes

    00:53:37.909 --> 00:53:39.489

    she's doing it like oh okay i don't think you

    00:53:39.489 --> 00:53:42.449

    would do it that way so true yeah there's gotta

    00:53:42.449 --> 00:53:43.969

    be something that they've got over me otherwise

    00:53:43.969 --> 00:53:46.650

    surely if i just trained hard enough i'd be on

    00:53:46.650 --> 00:53:49.750

    the mats too yeah yeah yeah i think seeing like

    00:53:49.750 --> 00:53:51.969

    a bunch of people on the mats doing a bunch of

    00:53:51.969 --> 00:53:53.590

    different ways and then seeing what actually

    00:53:53.590 --> 00:53:55.489

    ended up working that probably helps a bunch

    00:53:55.489 --> 00:53:59.190

    so in terms of i guess like what's next for you

    00:53:59.190 --> 00:54:02.030

    i mean you're still a super young coach you've

    00:54:02.030 --> 00:54:04.769

    already coached at the olympics Like, what do

    00:54:04.769 --> 00:54:07.349

    you imagine would even be next? Like, is there

    00:54:07.349 --> 00:54:11.230

    any higher achievement than that? Yeah, I mean,

    00:54:11.269 --> 00:54:14.789

    I mean, I guess I could just go like, oh, sweet,

    00:54:14.849 --> 00:54:16.949

    I've done it. Ticked it. Coached an athlete to

    00:54:16.949 --> 00:54:19.329

    a gold medal, won the overall, coached at the

    00:54:19.329 --> 00:54:22.829

    Olympics. But I think the way that I've done

    00:54:22.829 --> 00:54:25.110

    those things, like, could always have been better.

    00:54:25.329 --> 00:54:29.289

    So my aim is to sort of continually develop what

    00:54:29.289 --> 00:54:32.449

    I do. So I want to go to the Olympics and...

    00:54:33.009 --> 00:54:36.989

    be like a head coach eventually um i want to

    00:54:36.989 --> 00:54:38.489

    see how many olympics i can get to because i

    00:54:38.489 --> 00:54:40.030

    always find it really cool when i speak to like

    00:54:40.030 --> 00:54:41.550

    other coaches in the uk and they're like yeah

    00:54:41.550 --> 00:54:43.769

    i've done 10 games and i'm just like wow true

    00:54:43.769 --> 00:54:46.670

    many um i'm not sure i want to do that many but

    00:54:46.670 --> 00:54:49.250

    i would like to do more than just the one especially

    00:54:49.250 --> 00:54:51.869

    because like the one for me i was like the last

    00:54:51.869 --> 00:54:54.469

    coach to go in i was kind of like it was like

    00:54:54.469 --> 00:54:57.070

    three four weeks five weeks before that i got

    00:54:57.070 --> 00:55:01.070

    told um oh wow whirlwinds and it was cool that

    00:55:01.070 --> 00:55:03.079

    i was there but there was just like a kind of

    00:55:03.079 --> 00:55:05.019

    bitter taste to it of like oh well I wasn't the

    00:55:05.019 --> 00:55:07.500

    first pick or whatever so I'd like to be just

    00:55:07.500 --> 00:55:09.780

    one of the Olympic coaches that's going out and

    00:55:09.780 --> 00:55:12.420

    that's what you do and have supported the athletes

    00:55:12.420 --> 00:55:14.639

    to that point and not just kind of like swooping

    00:55:14.639 --> 00:55:17.460

    in maybe like not having supported them as much

    00:55:17.460 --> 00:55:18.920

    as I could have even though I feel like I supported

    00:55:18.920 --> 00:55:22.980

    a lot of the last guys a lot but yeah I'd just

    00:55:22.980 --> 00:55:24.940

    like to do it again and like do it really well

    00:55:24.940 --> 00:55:29.599

    and eventually like be a head coach for GB and

    00:55:29.599 --> 00:55:33.210

    kind of like I'm okay not doing the hands -on

    00:55:33.210 --> 00:55:34.829

    coaching stuff that much I'm definitely better

    00:55:34.829 --> 00:55:40.329

    at like leadership and and management and admin

    00:55:40.329 --> 00:55:43.730

    I can do all the admin stuff which some other

    00:55:43.730 --> 00:55:45.449

    people don't want to do they just want to do

    00:55:45.449 --> 00:55:47.469

    the hands -on coaching stuff so like maybe it'd

    00:55:47.469 --> 00:55:50.070

    be better if I moved into to that sort of things

    00:55:50.070 --> 00:55:51.730

    to let the people that really want to do the

    00:55:51.730 --> 00:55:53.550

    hands -on coaching and nothing else just do that

    00:55:53.550 --> 00:55:55.650

    and I can go and do the other bits because I

    00:55:55.650 --> 00:55:58.869

    find that like equally rewarding um but I just

    00:55:58.869 --> 00:56:02.260

    want to coach for a good amount of time and like

    00:56:02.260 --> 00:56:04.980

    be happy with how I've coached as well there's

    00:56:04.980 --> 00:56:06.940

    definitely been bits which I could have done

    00:56:06.940 --> 00:56:08.739

    better over the last few years so I'd like to

    00:56:08.739 --> 00:56:11.340

    get to the point where there's less things I

    00:56:11.340 --> 00:56:12.739

    could have done better there's always gonna be

    00:56:12.739 --> 00:56:15.159

    something but trying to do it as well as possible

    00:56:15.159 --> 00:56:18.119

    yeah does GB have like a head coach right now

    00:56:18.119 --> 00:56:22.199

    or because yeah like after Tom left yeah so he

    00:56:22.199 --> 00:56:24.400

    we basically had all the financial struggles

    00:56:24.400 --> 00:56:27.320

    um oh so we have a head of performance right

    00:56:27.320 --> 00:56:30.880

    now um And then we have myself and Liam that

    00:56:30.880 --> 00:56:34.039

    are the podium coaches. And we don't have enough

    00:56:34.039 --> 00:56:36.119

    money to have a head coach. That kind of moves

    00:56:36.119 --> 00:56:38.159

    into one of the audience questions, which I guess

    00:56:38.159 --> 00:56:40.519

    I can... I guess I'll just ask that one now.

    00:56:41.260 --> 00:56:44.480

    So one of the audience questions was, why is

    00:56:44.480 --> 00:56:47.579

    GB climbing funding so bad? Is it getting any

    00:56:47.579 --> 00:56:50.619

    better? I believe at some point the coaches had

    00:56:50.619 --> 00:56:53.139

    to either self -fund or be funded by athletes

    00:56:53.139 --> 00:56:55.840

    or couldn't go to comps. So how was your experience

    00:56:55.840 --> 00:56:57.760

    with that? I think it was a bit of an accidental

    00:56:57.760 --> 00:57:01.699

    deficit in the last cycle. There was basically

    00:57:01.699 --> 00:57:06.579

    just an overspend. there were some messes made

    00:57:06.579 --> 00:57:08.820

    in the budget that meant that we spent more money

    00:57:08.820 --> 00:57:11.500

    than we had which is why at the end of the Olympic

    00:57:11.500 --> 00:57:14.659

    year the coaches had to be paid for by the athletes

    00:57:14.659 --> 00:57:16.039

    because we didn't have any money to send them

    00:57:16.039 --> 00:57:17.679

    to the competitions but we still very much wanted

    00:57:17.679 --> 00:57:19.880

    to support the athletes so it was offered to

    00:57:19.880 --> 00:57:22.420

    them if you want GB coaches to go we have the

    00:57:22.420 --> 00:57:24.619

    time we'll go could you just contribute to it

    00:57:24.619 --> 00:57:28.460

    and we did some crowdfunding but we didn't like

    00:57:28.460 --> 00:57:30.139

    say that they had to pay for us to go like if

    00:57:30.139 --> 00:57:31.519

    they couldn't afford it that was obviously fine.

    00:57:32.110 --> 00:57:35.250

    um but it was just like a mistake basically we

    00:57:35.250 --> 00:57:38.210

    don't know exactly what happened i'm sure some

    00:57:38.210 --> 00:57:39.750

    people do know what happened but we don't know

    00:57:39.750 --> 00:57:43.349

    what happened um and it was just like misbudgeted

    00:57:43.349 --> 00:57:47.550

    whereas now we like at the start of this cycle

    00:57:47.550 --> 00:57:51.110

    technically had less than the cycle before um

    00:57:51.110 --> 00:57:53.530

    or at least it seemed that way because we'd spent

    00:57:53.530 --> 00:57:56.980

    more money than we had um but now The athletes

    00:57:56.980 --> 00:57:58.739

    basically are to thank for this. They've done

    00:57:58.739 --> 00:58:02.219

    really, really well. And now UK Sport have recognised

    00:58:02.219 --> 00:58:04.719

    that we're actually quite a good sport. We've

    00:58:04.719 --> 00:58:06.980

    done a fairly good job to support athletes into

    00:58:06.980 --> 00:58:09.860

    medal winning performances, into transition to

    00:58:09.860 --> 00:58:14.659

    senior. They basically are looking at a team

    00:58:14.659 --> 00:58:16.800

    of successful athletes rather than one or two.

    00:58:16.960 --> 00:58:19.480

    And thankfully, all of our guys have done really,

    00:58:19.559 --> 00:58:20.980

    really well. They've pulled out some amazing

    00:58:20.980 --> 00:58:23.869

    performances in the last couple of years. like

    00:58:23.869 --> 00:58:25.610

    it's i think it is getting better i think we

    00:58:25.610 --> 00:58:30.590

    are getting a bit more like structured in it

    00:58:30.590 --> 00:58:33.610

    i guess or like stable in the financial side

    00:58:33.610 --> 00:58:36.289

    of things because we should be able to equally

    00:58:36.289 --> 00:58:38.449

    support all the competitions um and send coaches

    00:58:38.449 --> 00:58:41.090

    to it and not make the same mistakes again hopefully

    00:58:41.090 --> 00:58:43.690

    but it was basically yeah it was just a it was

    00:58:43.690 --> 00:58:46.010

    a mistake and we are not making it again at all

    00:58:46.360 --> 00:58:48.519

    Okay. Yeah, let's do another audience question.

    00:58:48.699 --> 00:58:51.960

    So Team GB is super strong at the moment. How

    00:58:51.960 --> 00:58:54.739

    has that impacted competitiveness and camaraderie

    00:58:54.739 --> 00:58:57.340

    amongst the athletes? I think our team's actually,

    00:58:57.480 --> 00:59:00.619

    like, they're pretty good. They all get on for

    00:59:00.619 --> 00:59:02.480

    the most part. There's always going to be, like,

    00:59:02.480 --> 00:59:04.039

    personal relationships. People are going to get

    00:59:04.039 --> 00:59:05.679

    on better with other people. But actually, like,

    00:59:05.760 --> 00:59:09.039

    I think all of our guys are super supportive.

    00:59:10.119 --> 00:59:15.070

    I think there's... like a lot of people pushing

    00:59:15.070 --> 00:59:17.210

    on each other like a lot of our guys especially

    00:59:17.210 --> 00:59:20.449

    are training together a lot of the time and like

    00:59:20.449 --> 00:59:22.110

    learning from each other pushing each other training

    00:59:22.110 --> 00:59:24.610

    together and it's pretty consistent like it's

    00:59:24.610 --> 00:59:27.070

    a little bit different for some others because

    00:59:27.070 --> 00:59:29.469

    they live in different places or especially like

    00:59:29.469 --> 00:59:31.469

    for Erin for example she's doing boulder and

    00:59:31.469 --> 00:59:34.170

    lead there's very few athletes that are actually

    00:59:34.170 --> 00:59:37.989

    training leads at the like world cup level in

    00:59:37.989 --> 00:59:40.650

    the UK and training boulder so it's hard to align

    00:59:40.650 --> 00:59:43.829

    the schedules and like where they go and train

    00:59:43.829 --> 00:59:45.369

    their leader, where they don't on certain days.

    00:59:45.449 --> 00:59:49.070

    So there's challenges in that sense of they might

    00:59:49.070 --> 00:59:51.289

    not interact that much in the offseason, but

    00:59:51.289 --> 00:59:53.090

    generally when they come together, there's a

    00:59:53.090 --> 00:59:56.429

    pretty good team environment on the whole. But

    00:59:56.429 --> 00:59:58.670

    like I said, there's always going to be some

    00:59:58.670 --> 01:00:00.969

    people that don't get on. I mean, is there any

    01:00:00.969 --> 01:00:03.630

    more stress dealing with maybe getting spots

    01:00:03.630 --> 01:00:07.690

    for World Cups? I guess like even thinking ahead

    01:00:07.690 --> 01:00:11.750

    to future olympic spots yeah I mean it was definitely

    01:00:11.750 --> 01:00:14.630

    I think quite stressful for a lot of them but

    01:00:14.630 --> 01:00:17.170

    we we have like a pre -selection system which

    01:00:17.170 --> 01:00:19.969

    for all of our guys that are like on program

    01:00:19.969 --> 01:00:22.429

    if they achieved certain results last year they

    01:00:22.429 --> 01:00:23.949

    basically get pre -selected for world cup this

    01:00:23.949 --> 01:00:27.369

    year so for those guys they're kind of safe they

    01:00:27.369 --> 01:00:29.369

    don't have to worry about it because we wanted

    01:00:29.369 --> 01:00:31.010

    them to be able to like train as hard as possible

    01:00:31.010 --> 01:00:32.670

    and not have to worry about it peaking because

    01:00:32.670 --> 01:00:34.769

    our comps like now but the first world cups in

    01:00:34.769 --> 01:00:37.300

    may or june like it just makes it a little bit

    01:00:37.300 --> 01:00:38.699

    easier because we're kind of stoppers when we

    01:00:38.699 --> 01:00:42.519

    can do those things but that does leave I think

    01:00:42.519 --> 01:00:48.159

    it's one older World Cup space in the men's I

    01:00:48.159 --> 01:00:49.960

    think it's really not that much and then it's

    01:00:49.960 --> 01:00:52.219

    not not a huge amount in the women's when it

    01:00:52.219 --> 01:00:54.179

    comes into World Cups because there's a lot of

    01:00:54.179 --> 01:00:56.960

    our guys like fighting for those spaces and especially

    01:00:56.960 --> 01:00:58.820

    for lead I think there's only like three or four

    01:00:58.820 --> 01:01:04.280

    that are like spaces for men and women I can't

    01:01:04.280 --> 01:01:05.820

    remember off the top of my head but those are

    01:01:06.320 --> 01:01:09.639

    a lot more competitive and it's always tough

    01:01:09.639 --> 01:01:11.780

    for us we've always had like a fairly competitive

    01:01:11.780 --> 01:01:14.039

    nation but it's definitely got a lot more tense

    01:01:14.039 --> 01:01:16.679

    at british champs and stuff which is why we've

    01:01:16.679 --> 01:01:18.400

    like moved towards a different like selection

    01:01:18.400 --> 01:01:20.840

    thing so it's just nice and easy you leave the

    01:01:20.840 --> 01:01:22.219

    competition you know that you're selected or

    01:01:22.219 --> 01:01:23.840

    you're not but you have to be in i think like

    01:01:23.840 --> 01:01:26.139

    top five or top three a lot of the time so it's

    01:01:26.139 --> 01:01:29.119

    quite tough okay so i guess at least for the

    01:01:29.119 --> 01:01:31.000

    people who are already in the world cup circuit

    01:01:31.000 --> 01:01:33.579

    they don't have to think about competing against

    01:01:33.579 --> 01:01:37.420

    each other in terms of like team GB it's more

    01:01:37.420 --> 01:01:40.000

    just like this is your overall performance that

    01:01:40.000 --> 01:01:42.119

    helps them get selected yeah and I think that

    01:01:42.119 --> 01:01:44.559

    helps as well with like the environment of the

    01:01:44.559 --> 01:01:47.440

    competitions um because previously it was like

    01:01:47.440 --> 01:01:49.579

    if you weren't pre -selected you had to show

    01:01:49.579 --> 01:01:51.739

    up at this competition where everybody's watching

    01:01:51.739 --> 01:01:53.139

    you like you're the one to beat makes it really

    01:01:53.139 --> 01:01:56.699

    hard um whereas now it's like okay well they're

    01:01:56.699 --> 01:01:58.699

    not they're literally not your competition they

    01:01:58.699 --> 01:02:00.739

    are just there to they still have to compete

    01:02:00.739 --> 01:02:05.239

    um but it's sort of like I can't remember why

    01:02:05.239 --> 01:02:07.039

    exactly is we have to compete I think it's basically

    01:02:07.039 --> 01:02:09.679

    to demonstrate the standard and like if like

    01:02:09.679 --> 01:02:13.679

    stuff people say like aim for because I guess

    01:02:13.679 --> 01:02:16.019

    if it was like none of them competed the numbers

    01:02:16.019 --> 01:02:18.179

    would be a lot smaller it'd be a lot harder to

    01:02:18.179 --> 01:02:21.780

    to know the performance gap I guess between the

    01:02:21.780 --> 01:02:24.599

    guys that are just qualifying on their own and

    01:02:24.599 --> 01:02:26.639

    the ones that have already pre -qualified so

    01:02:26.639 --> 01:02:29.780

    it's a good like training tool I guess but it

    01:02:29.780 --> 01:02:31.840

    also just like completely removes it and it means

    01:02:31.840 --> 01:02:34.159

    that like people like Toby and Aaron and Emma

    01:02:34.159 --> 01:02:36.480

    and Diane like they're going and they're competing

    01:02:36.480 --> 01:02:38.440

    alongside people that probably idolize them quite

    01:02:38.440 --> 01:02:40.519

    a lot and that's quite cool in itself as well

    01:02:40.519 --> 01:02:44.420

    yeah um like Max Milne always going and trying

    01:02:44.420 --> 01:02:46.980

    to win British Boulder Champs is so so cool every

    01:02:46.980 --> 01:02:49.159

    year and like I think that he would choose to

    01:02:49.159 --> 01:02:51.019

    compete anyway but it's great to have that sort

    01:02:51.019 --> 01:02:53.900

    of like national fight as well like they're the

    01:02:53.900 --> 01:02:55.980

    title is equally as important to them as like

    01:02:55.980 --> 01:02:57.659

    a world cup title maybe not equally but like

    01:02:57.659 --> 01:03:00.599

    it's an important title to them um yeah So that's

    01:03:00.599 --> 01:03:02.300

    cool too, but it does obviously remove the stress

    01:03:02.300 --> 01:03:04.960

    of everybody else doesn't have to see them as

    01:03:04.960 --> 01:03:07.460

    competition in the sense of selection. It's just

    01:03:07.460 --> 01:03:10.599

    really actual competition. Okay. What are some

    01:03:10.599 --> 01:03:12.800

    of the ways you've coached the GB athletes on

    01:03:12.800 --> 01:03:15.519

    the mental side of competition? Yeah, so I guess

    01:03:15.519 --> 01:03:19.519

    like on the whole as a team, we try to make sure

    01:03:19.519 --> 01:03:22.440

    that we set harder than the World Cups in the

    01:03:22.440 --> 01:03:24.400

    UK as much as possible, which is challenging

    01:03:24.400 --> 01:03:27.210

    because we don't get stuff set that hard. um

    01:03:27.210 --> 01:03:29.289

    but when we're trying to do trainings and stuff

    01:03:29.289 --> 01:03:30.690

    we'll always make sure that there's at least

    01:03:30.690 --> 01:03:32.409

    one day of a training where it's just brutal

    01:03:32.409 --> 01:03:35.190

    and people get shut down kind of as a psychological

    01:03:35.190 --> 01:03:38.250

    thing to if they can do it there then when they

    01:03:38.250 --> 01:03:40.369

    go to the world cups it's easy um interesting

    01:03:40.369 --> 01:03:43.929

    but also like removing the simulation aspects

    01:03:43.929 --> 01:03:46.190

    because for some of them they they hate the simulation

    01:03:46.190 --> 01:03:48.030

    like it's they can't get in the right mindset

    01:03:48.030 --> 01:03:49.610

    for it so it's just stressful it's not helpful

    01:03:49.610 --> 01:03:53.530

    um so we're quite flexible with that and that's

    01:03:53.530 --> 01:03:55.940

    mainly to athlete requests but it's again they're

    01:03:55.940 --> 01:03:58.360

    still going and trying hard boulders and doing

    01:03:58.360 --> 01:04:00.260

    harder moves and even if they can't do them they're

    01:04:00.260 --> 01:04:01.860

    learning a lot from that so then when they go

    01:04:01.860 --> 01:04:03.659

    to a world cup boulder and it's like hopefully

    01:04:03.659 --> 01:04:06.619

    an easier version of that move they just get

    01:04:06.619 --> 01:04:08.900

    it straight away. Yeah I haven't thought of that

    01:04:08.900 --> 01:04:13.920

    as like a mental training trick I guess. Do you

    01:04:13.920 --> 01:04:17.360

    feel like you provide a lot of I guess like psychological

    01:04:17.360 --> 01:04:20.500

    coaching as well or is it more just like these

    01:04:20.500 --> 01:04:22.920

    little tricks that help them feel less stressed

    01:04:22.920 --> 01:04:29.000

    during comps? people like Erin I would say all

    01:04:29.000 --> 01:04:32.159

    of the stuff that I do has like a psychological

    01:04:32.159 --> 01:04:35.579

    aspect to it I'm not doing like therapy sessions

    01:04:35.579 --> 01:04:39.739

    with her but there's some like cognitive behavioral

    01:04:39.739 --> 01:04:42.440

    therapy techniques that I'll use to kind of help

    01:04:42.440 --> 01:04:46.659

    her process when stuff is challenging and just

    01:04:46.659 --> 01:04:49.619

    the like changing perspectives on how they look

    01:04:49.619 --> 01:04:51.940

    at things and trying to again like provide that

    01:04:51.940 --> 01:04:55.199

    balanced perspective so if they think that they've

    01:04:55.199 --> 01:04:57.079

    had a terrible performance trying to provide

    01:04:57.079 --> 01:04:59.699

    a positive aspect to it so that they can see

    01:04:59.699 --> 01:05:01.840

    in a balanced sense and then equally when they've

    01:05:01.840 --> 01:05:04.000

    had a really good performance letting them lean

    01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:06.519

    into that but then coming back in to say like

    01:05:06.519 --> 01:05:08.800

    cool what can we continue to do to build on that

    01:05:08.800 --> 01:05:11.079

    anyway like it's always going to be some sort

    01:05:11.079 --> 01:05:14.380

    of balance in that sense um but it's always about

    01:05:14.380 --> 01:05:17.909

    how they're viewing it because more often than

    01:05:17.909 --> 01:05:19.750

    not they are just like fully negative on it they're

    01:05:19.750 --> 01:05:21.110

    like oh i could have done that better even when

    01:05:21.110 --> 01:05:22.269

    they've done really well i could have done that

    01:05:22.269 --> 01:05:23.630

    better i could have done that that was rubbish

    01:05:23.630 --> 01:05:25.789

    that wasn't good beating themselves up a lot

    01:05:25.789 --> 01:05:28.989

    so it's trying to like almost triage it in that

    01:05:28.989 --> 01:05:31.429

    sense of what do we need to focus on right now

    01:05:31.429 --> 01:05:34.070

    how can we control this thing let's go and focus

    01:05:34.070 --> 01:05:36.250

    on those things that we can control change them

    01:05:36.250 --> 01:05:38.469

    and anything else we're going to have to accept

    01:05:38.469 --> 01:05:41.869

    it and put it to the side for now and try and

    01:05:41.869 --> 01:05:44.469

    approach it that way what about more specifically

    01:05:44.469 --> 01:05:48.730

    when it's like the expectations of being one

    01:05:48.730 --> 01:05:50.550

    of the higher performers and like maybe having

    01:05:50.550 --> 01:05:53.469

    to defend your title or like being the one that

    01:05:53.469 --> 01:05:56.289

    everyone else is trying to be yeah I guess in

    01:05:56.289 --> 01:05:58.849

    in those instances I'm actually trying to help

    01:05:58.849 --> 01:06:00.750

    them see it from other people's perspective so

    01:06:00.750 --> 01:06:04.329

    you are you kind of are the one to be you are

    01:06:04.329 --> 01:06:07.250

    the one to watch people are waiting for you to

    01:06:07.250 --> 01:06:09.750

    fail because then it's their chance to step up

    01:06:09.750 --> 01:06:12.369

    but you can view that in a way that's really

    01:06:12.369 --> 01:06:15.039

    negative and like people are out to get you but

    01:06:15.039 --> 01:06:17.360

    realistically like most people are thinking that

    01:06:17.360 --> 01:06:19.239

    way in some sense it's not necessarily a malicious

    01:06:19.239 --> 01:06:22.519

    way it's not like oh I hope they fall off it's

    01:06:22.519 --> 01:06:24.539

    just oh maybe I have a chance to like step up

    01:06:24.539 --> 01:06:27.460

    and it's trying to help them see it from like

    01:06:27.460 --> 01:06:29.340

    the empathetic side of view of how do you think

    01:06:29.340 --> 01:06:30.840

    that person is feeling if they're thinking that

    01:06:30.840 --> 01:06:32.699

    way and if they're acting that way and talking

    01:06:32.699 --> 01:06:34.659

    that way do you think that's coming from a place

    01:06:34.659 --> 01:06:36.579

    of like confidence or do you think that they're

    01:06:36.579 --> 01:06:38.659

    actually experiencing some insecurities as well

    01:06:38.659 --> 01:06:40.699

    they're worried about how they're performing

    01:06:41.469 --> 01:06:43.369

    they think the only way that they can perform

    01:06:43.369 --> 01:06:46.449

    and can win is if you mess up isn't that like

    01:06:46.449 --> 01:06:49.510

    a shame that that's how they think like wouldn't

    01:06:49.510 --> 01:06:51.429

    it be nicer if they could just go like okay i'm

    01:06:51.429 --> 01:06:52.889

    going to perform my best and get the results

    01:06:52.889 --> 01:06:56.449

    i want but like it's hard isn't it so it's trying

    01:06:56.449 --> 01:07:01.429

    to like help them see from other sides so it's

    01:07:01.429 --> 01:07:05.130

    not just this negative thing um because it is

    01:07:05.130 --> 01:07:07.309

    quite vulnerable quite isolating when you are

    01:07:07.309 --> 01:07:10.130

    on your own like i've seen it quite a lot where

    01:07:11.420 --> 01:07:14.719

    people if like if Erin doesn't do something somebody

    01:07:14.719 --> 01:07:16.599

    has to be like oh my god Erin didn't do that

    01:07:16.599 --> 01:07:19.739

    move and I did and that can be really negative

    01:07:19.739 --> 01:07:22.400

    of like oh my god she's rubbish but actually

    01:07:22.400 --> 01:07:24.579

    I use an example of like me and her both tried

    01:07:24.579 --> 01:07:26.400

    the same route in Innsbruck and I do not route

    01:07:26.400 --> 01:07:28.940

    climb but it made me feel really good when she

    01:07:28.940 --> 01:07:32.300

    struggled on a move that I'd struggled on not

    01:07:32.300 --> 01:07:34.500

    because I was like ha she's failed but because

    01:07:34.500 --> 01:07:37.139

    it meant that I wasn't as rubbish as I thought

    01:07:37.139 --> 01:07:38.659

    I was because when I'd done that move I was like

    01:07:38.659 --> 01:07:41.469

    oh my god this is so hard I suck so much actually

    01:07:41.469 --> 01:07:42.670

    seeing her struggle I was like oh it's a hard

    01:07:42.670 --> 01:07:46.309

    move great like I just was trying hard so that's

    01:07:46.309 --> 01:07:48.969

    fine yeah it's really easy to just see it as

    01:07:48.969 --> 01:07:51.250

    like oh good she fails and actually like there's

    01:07:51.250 --> 01:07:53.130

    this whole other process is going on internally

    01:07:53.130 --> 01:07:55.869

    that we don't vocalize or hear from anybody else

    01:07:55.869 --> 01:07:58.409

    okay yeah that's a good way to put it how do

    01:07:58.409 --> 01:08:01.349

    you think new comps like PCL will impact the

    01:08:01.349 --> 01:08:04.789

    scene for both athletes and coaches I mean it's

    01:08:04.789 --> 01:08:07.650

    exciting it's new ways to get out there I think

    01:08:08.670 --> 01:08:10.929

    There's still a huge gap between the prize money

    01:08:10.929 --> 01:08:13.130

    that you get at a World Cup, the publicity that

    01:08:13.130 --> 01:08:15.289

    you get at a World Cup, all that stuff, and then

    01:08:15.289 --> 01:08:17.850

    the break in the off -season of what have you

    01:08:17.850 --> 01:08:19.729

    got to go for. Especially in the UK, we have

    01:08:19.729 --> 01:08:22.350

    a few small competitions with small prize monies,

    01:08:22.350 --> 01:08:25.250

    which I guess seem big in terms of the FSC prize

    01:08:25.250 --> 01:08:29.449

    money, actually. But yeah, it's hard to make

    01:08:29.449 --> 01:08:32.450

    money as an athlete unless you are... winning

    01:08:32.450 --> 01:08:34.869

    in the top eight consistently at a world cup

    01:08:34.869 --> 01:08:37.109

    and very few people are consistently in the top

    01:08:37.109 --> 01:08:38.890

    eight so it's a good way for other people to

    01:08:38.890 --> 01:08:41.210

    make a career out of this to put themselves out

    01:08:41.210 --> 01:08:44.090

    there and like get some more practice in the

    01:08:44.090 --> 01:08:47.289

    meantime and it seems like a cool different format

    01:08:47.289 --> 01:08:50.250

    i don't actually know that much about it um but

    01:08:50.250 --> 01:08:52.750

    it's it seems like a step towards like your formula

    01:08:52.750 --> 01:08:55.329

    one in that sense of making it a big show and

    01:08:55.329 --> 01:08:57.170

    it's traveling and more people are invested in

    01:08:57.170 --> 01:08:58.470

    it so it's always going to be better for the

    01:08:58.470 --> 01:09:00.649

    athletes to get out there with i guess other

    01:09:01.039 --> 01:09:03.760

    brands as well do you think the i guess like

    01:09:03.760 --> 01:09:06.039

    the timing of the comps will make a big difference

    01:09:06.039 --> 01:09:08.260

    with in terms of their training i mean that's

    01:09:08.260 --> 01:09:10.500

    where we struggle as well like nationally with

    01:09:10.500 --> 01:09:12.800

    our championships so like our selections like

    01:09:12.800 --> 01:09:16.100

    i was saying before if you want to make it onto

    01:09:16.100 --> 01:09:18.539

    the first boulder wall competition season you

    01:09:18.539 --> 01:09:21.939

    have to compete in january to make it there and

    01:09:21.939 --> 01:09:24.140

    that's just because as we get closer to like

    01:09:24.140 --> 01:09:25.760

    march and april there's too many other competitions

    01:09:25.760 --> 01:09:27.119

    that classroom there's too many of the weekends

    01:09:27.119 --> 01:09:29.500

    that are taken up So this is the only weekend

    01:09:29.500 --> 01:09:32.220

    that we have available to do that, which means

    01:09:32.220 --> 01:09:34.859

    that if you have to do this competition to qualify,

    01:09:35.140 --> 01:09:36.939

    your first competition of the year is in January

    01:09:36.939 --> 01:09:38.800

    and your last competition of the year now is

    01:09:38.800 --> 01:09:43.039

    in October. So it's a huge, huge season. There's

    01:09:43.039 --> 01:09:45.180

    like a bit of a training break in between, but

    01:09:45.180 --> 01:09:47.039

    you don't really have a break in that time because

    01:09:47.039 --> 01:09:49.279

    you don't want to lose too much. So you might

    01:09:49.279 --> 01:09:50.479

    have like a little bit of a break to recover,

    01:09:50.600 --> 01:09:52.319

    but then you have to train for another few weeks

    01:09:52.319 --> 01:09:56.039

    in between. And then maybe you get... a week

    01:09:56.039 --> 01:09:58.140

    or two weeks or three weeks off at the end of

    01:09:58.140 --> 01:09:59.880

    the year but if you didn't perform well enough

    01:09:59.880 --> 01:10:01.520

    to be pre -selected then you have to peak again

    01:10:01.520 --> 01:10:04.640

    in January so it's always really challenging

    01:10:04.640 --> 01:10:06.520

    the way that the year is structured yeah that

    01:10:06.520 --> 01:10:08.859

    sounds like a nightmare actually for the athletes

    01:10:08.859 --> 01:10:13.760

    okay last one from the audience we'll do tips

    01:10:13.760 --> 01:10:16.199

    for improvement as a coach specifically as a

    01:10:16.199 --> 01:10:18.479

    competition coach from someone who is new to

    01:10:18.479 --> 01:10:22.039

    coaching go to competitions like sounds really

    01:10:22.039 --> 01:10:27.060

    straightforward but I think I did a lot of volunteering

    01:10:27.060 --> 01:10:31.420

    time. I did a lot of time judging, being a runner

    01:10:31.420 --> 01:10:33.420

    at a competition, also being a coach at a competition,

    01:10:33.579 --> 01:10:36.739

    just going with the athletes. And the more understanding

    01:10:36.739 --> 01:10:38.819

    that you can get of the tactics of the competition,

    01:10:38.960 --> 01:10:41.300

    how it works, what things might come up, the

    01:10:41.300 --> 01:10:44.420

    better you can prepare your athletes. So if you're

    01:10:44.420 --> 01:10:45.939

    just preparing your athletes for the best situations,

    01:10:46.220 --> 01:10:47.939

    they're never going to do that well. So having

    01:10:47.939 --> 01:10:49.979

    the experience of this could go wrong in a competition,

    01:10:50.260 --> 01:10:52.819

    the judges could do this. this could happen and

    01:10:52.819 --> 01:10:54.539

    you prepare your athletes for those scenarios

    01:10:54.539 --> 01:10:57.420

    you use them to like make training harder to

    01:10:57.420 --> 01:10:59.340

    develop your skills anyway but then actually

    01:10:59.340 --> 01:11:00.760

    they get there and they're prepared for that

    01:11:00.760 --> 01:11:02.779

    then that's only going to be better and you can

    01:11:02.779 --> 01:11:04.819

    only learn that by going to the comps yourself

    01:11:04.819 --> 01:11:08.279

    like you can speak to other people and other

    01:11:08.279 --> 01:11:11.020

    people can tell you but i don't think that it

    01:11:11.020 --> 01:11:14.619

    is the same as having to like fight that fire

    01:11:14.619 --> 01:11:17.859

    firsthand um so try and yeah just go to them

    01:11:17.859 --> 01:11:21.210

    locally like nationally internationally if you

    01:11:21.210 --> 01:11:23.529

    can but you can the more that you build up the

    01:11:23.529 --> 01:11:25.109

    more like you are to move up through it anyway

    01:11:25.109 --> 01:11:27.489

    interesting did you do like that volunteering

    01:11:27.489 --> 01:11:30.609

    of like doing running and judging and stuff while

    01:11:30.609 --> 01:11:32.689

    you were a coach or was that before you became

    01:11:32.689 --> 01:11:37.890

    a coach I think I did both like I think um obviously

    01:11:37.890 --> 01:11:40.489

    when I was younger I remember there was a world

    01:11:40.489 --> 01:11:43.449

    cup or European champs or something that was

    01:11:43.449 --> 01:11:45.670

    happening at which was my local wall when I was

    01:11:45.670 --> 01:11:48.890

    a kid um and I volunteered as a runner then when

    01:11:48.890 --> 01:11:54.000

    I was like 15 um but then as I was older like

    01:11:54.000 --> 01:11:56.539

    my parents were really good at giving back to

    01:11:56.539 --> 01:12:00.439

    like the community that my mum ran um how her

    01:12:00.439 --> 01:12:02.880

    role was in Scottish climbing but she was in

    01:12:02.880 --> 01:12:04.220

    terms of something in Scottish climbing like

    01:12:04.220 --> 01:12:05.899

    she was judging at every competition and still

    01:12:05.899 --> 01:12:08.579

    goes and judges at some competitions now my dad

    01:12:08.579 --> 01:12:10.479

    was like the photographer and he did some judging

    01:12:10.479 --> 01:12:14.239

    as well so I was kind of brought up to give back

    01:12:14.239 --> 01:12:17.039

    in that sense so I just automatically went and

    01:12:17.039 --> 01:12:18.699

    volunteered when there's opportunities i volunteered

    01:12:18.699 --> 01:12:22.939

    to judge at like ycs's um which is local youth

    01:12:22.939 --> 01:12:24.840

    competitions that happened like across the whole

    01:12:24.840 --> 01:12:26.939

    uk but there is like regional rounds i would

    01:12:26.939 --> 01:12:30.880

    volunteer at and then if the finals was close

    01:12:30.880 --> 01:12:33.899

    enough to me i would like volunteer that as well

    01:12:33.899 --> 01:12:36.060

    so i've always and i was coaching then for sure

    01:12:36.060 --> 01:12:37.579

    because i remember being old enough that i had

    01:12:37.579 --> 01:12:40.079

    athletes competing and i had to say oh i can't

    01:12:40.079 --> 01:12:42.100

    judge their category it's not fair give me a

    01:12:42.100 --> 01:12:46.880

    different category um so yeah whole mixture cool

    01:12:46.880 --> 01:12:49.420

    okay well i think that wraps up the questions

    01:12:49.420 --> 01:12:52.300

    i have for today then thank you for joining um

    01:12:52.300 --> 01:12:55.720

    is there anything like any other words of wisdom

    01:12:55.720 --> 01:12:58.720

    that you want to get out there um don't get a

    01:12:58.720 --> 01:13:00.939

    sausage dog because they're like barky and need

    01:13:00.939 --> 01:13:04.619

    to be in your lap a little bit yeah no i can't

    01:13:04.619 --> 01:13:06.100

    think of anything else um do you want to let

    01:13:06.100 --> 01:13:08.340

    people know where they can find you uh yeah you

    01:13:08.340 --> 01:13:11.020

    can get me on instagram rachel karma with a k

    01:13:11.020 --> 01:13:14.720

    um and then i don't really well i have a youtube

    01:13:14.720 --> 01:13:17.979

    but that's for climbing boulders and I can't

    01:13:17.979 --> 01:13:19.319

    remember what that is but if you search ritual

    01:13:19.319 --> 01:13:22.819

    car climbing I think I come up and I post a bunch

    01:13:22.819 --> 01:13:25.020

    of different boulders in font the UK anywhere

    01:13:25.020 --> 01:13:28.300

    else I go climbing just for female beta shorter

    01:13:28.300 --> 01:13:31.229

    beta Oh, that'll be good to see. All right. Awesome.

    01:13:31.289 --> 01:13:32.729

    Well, thank you again. And it was amazing to

    01:13:32.729 --> 01:13:35.489

    chat. No problem. Thank you so much for making

    01:13:35.489 --> 01:13:37.829

    it to the end of the podcast. Don't forget to

    01:13:37.829 --> 01:13:40.010

    like and subscribe if you enjoyed. Otherwise,

    01:13:40.130 --> 01:13:43.470

    you are a super fake climber. If you're listening

    01:13:43.470 --> 01:13:46.029

    on a podcasting platform, I'd appreciate if you

    01:13:46.029 --> 01:13:48.989

    rate it five stars and you can continue the discussion

    01:13:48.989 --> 01:13:52.149

    on the free competition climbing discord linked

    01:13:52.149 --> 01:13:54.590

    in the description. Thanks again for listening.

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53: Emma Edwards, Team GB One-to-Watch