John Chivall, Outdoor Instructor

Yesterday's MCofS FUNdamentals coaching course was well attended by EICA:Ratho staff and a couple of British competition team members. Neil McGeachy's enthusiasm and passion for coaching young people carried us through the day, which started in the lecture theatre but soon moved into the climbing arena. Apologies for the lack of photos: Kev Howett from MCofS got a lot though, which may well make it into the next issue of Scottish Mountaineer!

The FUNdamentals coaching course was developed by the BMC as part of a long-term development strategy for competition climbing, but focuses on fundamental movement skills which are necessary for every climber to develop. The idea is that young people starting off in the sport are helped from the very beginning to develop efficent movement based on the 'ABC' of Agility, Balance and Coordination.

By concentrating on good movement, young climbers can improve the grade at which they climb without resorting to intensive training. With well-planned coaching and by climbing lots of routes, movement skills can be refined, and new techniques learned. With this foundation of efficient climbing technique, young climbers will be ready to progress to more serious physiological training once their bodies are mature enough.

Injury prevention was a topic that was highlighted. A good warm-up (consisting of aerobic activity followed by joint mobility and balance/proprioception exercises before easy climbing activity) needs to be done every single time - ideally led by the young students so that they see it as a natural and necessary part of a climbing session. The other part of injury prevention is avoiding inappropriate training and climbing techniques such as poorly controlled dynamic movements on fingery holds, dynos, or campus boarding, as these can lead to stress injuries to growing fingers and even permanent bone damage if done to excess at too young an age.

The  main part of the day was practical sessions: one on warm-up games and techniques, and one on coaching specific movement skills. These were a lot of fun, with much banter from the participants, and a lot of sharing of knowledge. Everyone came away with something new, even if it was just the fastest way to cross the floor without using your feet or knees!

Thanks to Neil for leading this course and EICA:Ratho for putting it on. It was a worthwhile day, covering something which is of fundamental importance to everyone working with people in the early stages of their climbing careers.

The MCofS and BMC are planning to develop the FUNdamentals course  and possibly incorporate some of it into a potential new coaching framework in the UKCC structure. This is an interesting development in a sport where the qualifications ladder has traditionally emphasised technical skills. With the introduction a few years ago of the Climbing Wall Award this is now changing, and it may not be too long before we see two parallel award systems, one recognising technical competence and risk management, the other focussing on developing coaching ability. With both mountaineering councils now backing the inclusion of competition climbing as an Olympic sport, this is an area which will attract a lot of attention in the years to come.