Identification of Parameters That Predict Sport Climbing Performance

Abstract

In recent years, extreme sport-related pursuits including climbing have emerged not only as recreational activities but as competitive sports. Today, sport climbing is a rapidly developing, competitive sport included in the 2020 Olympic Games official program. Given recent developments, the understanding of which factors may influence actual climbing performance becomes critical. The present study aimed at identifying key performance parameters as perceived by experts in predicting actual lead sport climbing performance. Ten male ( M age = 28, SD = 6.6 years) expert climbers (7a+ to 8b on-sight French Rating Scale of Difficulty), who were also registered as climbing coaches, participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants’ responses were subjected to inductive-deductive content analysis. Several performance parameters were identified: passing cruxes, strength and conditioning aspects, interaction with the environment, possessing a good climbing movement repertoire, risk management, route management, mental balance, peer communication, and route preview. Route previewing emerged as critical when it comes to preparing and planning ascents, both cognitively and physically. That is, when optimizing decision making in relation to progressing on the route (ascent strategy forecasting) and when enhancing strategic management in relation to the effort exerted on the route (ascent effort forecasting). Participants described how such planning for the ascent allows them to: select an accurate and comprehensive movement repertoire relative to the specific demands of the route and reject ineffective movements; optimize effective movements; and link different movements upward. As the sport of climbing continues to develop, our findings provide a basis for further research that shall examine further how, each of these performance parameters identified, can most effectively be enhanced and optimized to influence performance positively. In addition, the present study provides a comprehensive view of parameters to consider when planning, designing and delivering holistic and coherent training programs aimed at enhancing climbing performance.

Effects of decision-making on indoor bouldering performances: A multi-experimental study approach

“…The model of cognitive decision-making in indoor bouldering (Fig 1) emphasizes, in agreement with Sanchez, Torregrossa, Woodman, Jones, and Llewellyn [16], that generating suitable problem-solving tactics in indoor bouldering is related to the athlete's movement repertoire (i.e., movement knowledge based on previous experiences and deliberate practice) and bouldering preview skills. In fact, athletes must integrate their movement repertoire into the environmental information previously acquired through the bouldering preview, in order to accurately interpret the movement demands and to facilitate the selection of suitable responses to the task [11,16]. More precisely, a bouldering preview consists of the pre-ascent visual inspection of the bouldering task, which is commonly applied by athletes to pick up visual cues of the task and perceive potential affordances.…”

“…Bouldering competitors are generally ranked by their bouldering scores, which consist of both the total number of completed tasks (i.e., number of tops) and the number of attempts they require to complete each task [15]. To achieve high bouldering scores, competitors must, therefore, strive to promptly identify suitable ascent-tactics and make appropriate decisions to complete each task in as few attempts as possible and to circumvent expendable movement mistakes (i.e., inappropriate or erroneous movements relative to the movement demands) that may result in the failure to complete a task [4,16].…”

“…Medernach, Kleinöder, and Lötzerich [4] observed that boulder world cup competitors perform, in general, multiple attempts to complete a task (i.e., on average 4-5 attempts) with relatively long bouldering times (i.e., on average 30-40 s), relatively short rest times between the attempts (i.e., approximately 30 s), and limited recovery times between two consecutive tasks (i.e., five minutes in the qualification and semi-final rounds). Furthermore, bouldering athletes must, despite standardized framework conditions (e.g., no direct opponents, weather conditions) and a limited number of fundamental movement patterns (e.g., back step), constantly adapt their problem-solving tactics to the specific movement demands of the bouldering tasks [16,17]. In the open-closed continuum for motor skills originally presented by Poulton (1957), indoor bouldering can, therefore, be understood as a relatively open-skill activity.…”

“…In the last cognitive subprocesses, athletes generate potential problem-solving tactics and choose the most appropriate and thus the best solution from the previously generated problem-solving options. The best solution is understood as the most straightforward option to climb a task [16,18] and consists of the ascent-tactic that 'best fits' the task, relative to the athletes' physical constraints and motor action capabilities [17]. Consequently, the best solution can vary on personal characteristics (e.g., body height) and individual motor skills (e.g., finger strength), which athletes must integrate into the cognitive decision-making processes to generate efficient motor sequence plans [16,17].…”

Improving on Half-Lightweight Male Judokas' High Performance by the Application of the Analytic Network Process

“…Identifying the importance of particular KPIs might assist in the achievement of high-level strategic objectives. Experts' criteria have been used as a tool for detecting key performance indicators in sport (Sanchez et al, 2019 ). However, it has to be borne in mind that this technique involves a certain degree of subjectivity, so it is necessary to apply methods that manage this, for example multi-criteria decision aid (MCDA) techniques.…”