The Power Company Climbing Podcast

EXPERT | Taylor Reed on Climbing Research and Evidence-Informed Movement Coaching

Taylor Reed is a climber and coach who has worked with high-level athletes – both competitive and outdoor climbers – for many years. He’s the vice president of the International Rock Climbing Research Association and also runs The Beta Angel Project, which takes climbing-specific research and synthesizes it with ideas and experience in order to find evidence-informed methods that can help us all become better coaches and climbers.
In this episode, we discuss how Taylor assesses movement, how he teaches it, and what role research plays in his overall coaching.
 
Find Taylor online at:
The Beta Angel Project
International Rock Climbing Research Association (IRCRA)
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🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
Research mentioned in the episode:
Austrian Research Paper and Write Up
Co-Contraction Paper and Write Up
Multi-Edge Decision-Making / Behavioral Change Paper
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Why “Technique” May Not Be The Answer to Better Climbing
EXPERT | Rob Gray | The Gap Between Researchers and Coaches (Part 1)
EXPERT | Rob Gray | How We Learn to Move and Skill Acquisition for Climbers (Part 2)
BOARD MEETINGS | The Art of Learning Climbing
BREAKING BETA | Better Call Paul | How Should Climbing Research Be Standardized?
BREAKING BETA | Better Call Paul | IRCRA Test Battery
Taylor Reed and Bella Jariel | The Coach/Climber Dynamic
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🔌SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
_________________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
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📚CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(2:40) How Much Does Research Inform Taylor’s Coaching?
(3:48) ANNOTATION: Evidence-Based vs. Evidence-Informed
(10:15) What Aspects of Research Are Most Applicable?
(12:53) Looking Outside of Climbing Research
(13:50) ANNOTATION: Reinvestment Theory
(15:37) Speed Climbing
(19:53) Information Processing vs. Ecological Dynamics for Climbing
(30:32) Thematic Movement Learning
(47:40) Movement Assessment
(1:02:48) Teaching Movement
(1:05:22) ANNOTATION: Differential Learning
(1:08:19) ANNOTATION: Attractor Valleys
(1:16:03) How Much Does the Athlete Need to Know?
(1:20:58) ANNOTATION: Leading By Example
(1:22:48) Do Comp Style Climbs Translate to Outdoors?
(1:27:38) What Is Still Missing From the Research?
(1:32:55) Wrap Up
(1:35:06) Theme
 

BOARD MEETINGS | How Much Climbing Skill Is Guaranteed With Experience?

A common refrain in climbing is that the more you climb, the better you get. But all of us know some old crusty who has been climbing for 45 years and is stuck at mid 5.10. And they have all of the excuses as to why. But they’re wrong.
In this episode, Kris and Nate explore why we believe we’ll just get better if we keep at it, as well as offer strategies to continue improving no matter how long (or short) you’ve been at it.
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🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Our Movement Practice Resource Page
Board Meetings | The Art of Learning Climbing
Board Meetings | Quality vs. Quantity
Board Meetings | Worst Advice We Got As Beginners
_________________________
🔌 SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Find Nate on Instagram and YouTube.
Find Power Company on Instagram and YouTube.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
_________________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
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📚 CHAPTERS
(0:00) Theme
(0:37) Intro and Topic Description
(3:13) Examples of Experience that Doesn’t Guarantee Skill
(6:53) Why Most of Us Believe Experience Equals Skill
(10:55) What are the Pros Doing?
(16:20) It Isn’t All About Grades
(18:20) Undervaluing Other Styles and Angles
(19:43) We Don’t Want to Spend the Time
(21:20) We Go Into Autopilot
(23:23) How Can We Keep Improving Skills?
(24:17) Search for Novelty or Change Environments
(28:30) Approach Improvement from All Angles
(31:06) Recognize Discomfort and Lean In, Even Off the Wall
(35:08) The Zone (Not Grades) Where We Develop Skills
(37:16) Why We Suggest Drills
(38:15) Autopilot Mistakes
(42:40) How New Skills Open Opportunities on Hard Projects
(44:10) Examples of Pros Spending Time Below Their Limits
(49:20) Why Consistency Is NOT King
(53:28) Bringing Intention to Skill Drills
(55:47) Tried and True or Just Tradition?
(01:01:01) So Is Skill Guaranteed With Experience?
(01:03:45) How to Go Deeper Into Movement

TAPED TIPS | Go Ahead, Grab That Foothold and Be Adaptable

Go ahead, grab that foothold. I mean, it’s only a foothold until someone uses it as a handhold. Then it’s just a hold. So use it.
And if you don’t want to because you’d rather challenge yourself to do it without using that really obvious hold right there, that’s fine, too. There’s no heroism in skipping an obvious hold. There’s no shame in using a hold other people aren’t. What’s possible, though, is that if you always choose one way or the other, then you’ve painted yourself into a corner. A corner that just doesn’t offer as many opportunities to learn.
So there’s a question that both of you should be asking yourselves. And that question is:
Can I do it both ways?Can I become more adaptable?
That’s two questions, but you know what I mean...
 
Read the rest at the blog!
_________________________
🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Our Movement Practice Resource Page
_________________________
🔌 SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Find Power Company on Instagram and YouTube.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
_________________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

REWIND | BOARD MEETINGS | The Art of Learning Climbing

Today we REWIND back to one of our favorite Board Meetings of all time. We chose this episode because we are spending the next couple months digging deep into movement and learning, and exploring if there might be a better way to consider movement than the technique-based way we’ve always done it.  In this episode, Kris and Nate discuss ideas presented by author Josh Waitzkin about our mental models for learning, specifically after hearing him as a guest on Tim Ferriss's podcast, and how we might apply these ideas to climbing.
This episode originally aired on April 5, 2020.
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🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
THE CURRENT | Rethinking Climbing Technique and Movement Skills
TAPED TIPS | Difficulties Should Be Desirable
TAPED TIPS | When Beta Isn’t Better
BOARD MEETINGS | Common Sense vs. Common Practice
Josh Waitzkin on Beginner’s Mind, Self-Actualization, and Advice from Your Future Self | The Tim Ferriss Show
The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin
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🔌 SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
____________________
📚CHAPTERS
(0:00) Theme
(0:37) Intro
(2:29) Topic Description
(4:09) New Feedback Paradigms and Opportunities
(8:28) More Feedback isn’t Always Better
(12:00) Observation and Building Awareness
(17:07) How Routesetting Helps Understand Movement
(19:26) When the Poetic Perfection Has Been Marred
(24:03) Unexpected Learning From What You Deem Not Useful
(32:15) The Thematic Elements of Climbing Movement
(39:58) Self Expression via Movement
(43:29) Reps Hidden in Plain Sight
(51:22) The Ultimate Way to Get in High Quality Reps
(55:24) Hidden Reps We Often Miss
(01:02:14) The Gap in Our Confidence
(01:05:35) Comp Boulders and Discomfort
(01:08:10) How the Best Climbers React to Discomfort
(01:10:35) Setting Hard Things for Yourself
(01:22:41) Put the Wrench Away
(01:13:54) Outro

EXPERT | Rob Gray on How We Learn to Move and the Skill Acquisition for Climbers (Part 2)

Rob Gray is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University, host of The Perception & Action Podcast, and a Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox. He’s also the author of two great books, How We Learn to Move and Learning to Optimize Movement. In this Part 2 of 2, Kris and Rob discuss the differences between the two predominant theories of skill acquisition and adaptability – Information Processing and Ecological Dynamics – and how climbing coaches can use the Ecological framework and the Constraints-Led Approach to help climbers better learn to move.
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EXPLORE FURTHER
Our entire movement skills resource library
Coaching for Mastery course mentioned in the episode
Follow Rob on Instagram
Check out The Perception & Action Podcast
Check out Rob's books:
How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach & Practice Sports Skills
Learning to Optimize Movement: Harnessing the Power of the Athlete-Environment Relationship
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SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
____________________
CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(2:00) Guest Introduction
(2:52) Topic Description and Movement Theories
(7:25) Why Rob Switched Sides
(9:44) Key Differences in Coaching Methods
(11:38) ANNOTATION: Poking Holes in Information Processing
(18:38) ANNOTATION: Dribbling Around Cones, System Boards
(20:38) The Constraints-Led Approach
(23:18) T.W.I.T. Coaching
(25:55) ANNOTATION: Kids Climbing Things Example
(28:50) ANNOTATION: Constraints Example in Climbing
(30:23) Perception and Action Coupling
(33:02) ANNOTATION: Systems Boards are Poor Skill Builders
(35:03) How Does Previewing Beta Fit?
(37:25) ANNOTATION: Technique vs. Adaptable Skill
(40:45) Wrap Up
 

EXPERT | Rob Gray on The Gap Between Sports Science Researchers and Coaches (Part 1)

Rob Gray is an associate Professor at Arizona State University, host of The Perception & Action Podcast, and a Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox. He’s been studying movement and publishing research on it for 25 years. In this Part 1 of 2, Kris and Rob discuss the limitations and challenges of using sports science research for coaches and practitioners, as well as some ways both coaches and researchers could do it better.
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EXPLORE FURTHER
Our entire movement skills resource library
Coaching for Mastery course mentioned in the episode
Follow Rob on Instagram
Check out The Perception & Action Podcast
Check out Rob's books:
How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach & Practice Sports Skills
Learning to Optimize Movement: Harnessing the Power of the Athlete-Environment Relationship
____________________
SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
____________________
CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(1:31) Guest Introduction
(3:20) Topic Explanation
(5:18) Accessibility
(6:13) Impenetrability
(7:33) Generalizability
(8:43) ANNOTATION: Don’t Discount Small Studies
(10:49) Researchers Asking the Wrong Questions
(11:49) How to Make it User Friendly
(19:34) The Value of Case Studies
(22:19) Studies Lack Real World Variables
(24:23) ANNOTATION: Functional Movement Variability
(26:44) What is it We Should be Looking For in Studies?
(30:49) Coaches and Researchers Meeting in the Middle
(33:48) Limitations of Using Studies From Other Sports
(37:24) ANNOTATION: Constraints and Self Organization
(40:54) ”Evidence-Based” Elitism
(43:27) Wrap Up

FOCUS | Movement Skills for Climbers

Introducing: Something new. Something different. Something FOCUSED.
Rather than doing what most podcasts do and jumping from subject to subject with each new episode, we’re going to be spending the next couple of months focused on discussing one topic. Through Board Meetings, Expert episodes, Taped Tips, and our new Builder series that you’ll hear more about later, as well as on Youtube, Instagram, the blog, and the newsletter, for the next 10 or so episodes we’re going to be digging deep into movement and skill acquisition: the research, the theories, anecdotes and experiences, and of course, practical application. And Patrons will be getting bonus episodes on the same topic. At the end of the two or so months, we’ll wrap it all up with a podcast episode and a newsletter.
We’re aiming for 3 or 4 of these FOCUS periods this year; we hope you’ll tune in to see how it goes.
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EXPLORE FURTHER
Mentioned in this episode:
Board Meetings | Improved Learning from Podcasts, Books, and Videos
Taped Tips | Connect the Dots
Written In Stone
Movement Practice Resources
The Current
 
You might also enjoy these related episodes:
Board Meetings | The Art of Learning Climbing
P.O.E. with Will Anglin & Rowland Chen
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SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

BOARD MEETINGS | Indoor Climbing Lessons You Should Take Outdoors (Bonus Episode)

Indoor and outdoor climbing have different constraints, and as such, lead you into different solutions for how to interact with that environment. But there are lessons from the climbing gyms that should absolutely be applied to outdoors in order to get the most out of it and become a better climber faster. 
In this bonus episode from our Patron feed, Kris and Nate discuss 3 of their Top 6 Indoor Lessons. To hear their 3 favorites as well, you can get those bonus episodes on Patreon or in your Apple Podcast Feed or on Spotify by subscribing to the We Scream Like Eagles Podcast.
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EXPLORE FURTHER
You might also enjoy this related episode:
BOARD MEETINGS | Top 4 Ways to Transition to Outdoor Climbing
____________________
SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
____________________
CHAPTERS
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:01:24) Topic Explanation
(00:07:13) Be Picky About Projects
(00:15:11) Below Project Level, Climb Everything
(00:27:51) Climbing With and Around Crowds
(00:35:30) Become a Patron to Get the Top 3. Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.

BOARD MEETINGS | Outdoor Climbing Lessons You Should Take Indoors

Many people view indoor climbing as less serious than climbing outside, but if we're looking to improve, that may be a mistake. There are aspects of climbing outside that lead us into learning specific things that we don't necessarily find as easily indoors. 
In this episode, Kris and Nate discuss their top 5 lessons from climbing outside that, when taken indoors, can help us become better climbers faster.
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EXPLORE FURTHER
Check out our Proven Plans to jumpstart your intention indoors.
Check out the Comment Card blog post mentioned in this episode.
You might also enjoy these related episodes: 
BOARD MEETINGS: Top 4 Ways to Transition to Outdoor Climbing with Taylor Fragomeni
BOARD MEETINGS: How to Make the Most of a Board Session
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SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it. 
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
____________________
CHAPTERS
(00:00:00) Introduction and Topic Explanation
(00:05:55) Using and Practicing Better Tactics
(00:14:32) Bring Mid-Session Snacks or Food
(00:25:44) Go In With a Plan
(00:28:38) Power Company Proven Plans
(00:29:18) Set Goals
(00:35:47) Not Complaining About the Setting
(00:48:57) Outro

BOARD MEETINGS | Improved Learning from Podcasts, Books, and Videos

With more and more information out there, it would seem that we can learn faster and better. But that isn't always the case.
In this episode, Kris and Nate discuss why learning is more challenging in our current environment, ways we can better structure our time, tools we can use for learning, and the changes we are making to this podcast and our website in order to make them more valuable learning tools.
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EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related episodes:
BOARD MEETINGS | The Art of Learning Climbing
Trevor Ragan | Fixed vs. Growth Mindset
____________________
SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
____________________
CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(2:22) Topic Explanation
(4:27) MicroLearning
(5:39) More Content Isn't Better
(9:30) Actively Participating
(14:32) The Problem with Social Media Discourse
(18:54) What to Prioritize
(23:18) Entertainment vs. Education
(25:21) Find the Voices that Resonate
(32:43) Recognize the Biases
(39:56) Follow the Topic
(43:25) Just in Case vs. Just in Time
(50:03) Learning from Video
(58:23) Shape the Algorithm
(1:04:04) Create Playlists and Saved Folders
(1:06:01) Taking Notes and Making it Stick
(1:10:00) Don't Forget the Past Information
(1:12:00) Writing About What You've Learned
(1:17:35) The Things We Are Changing
(1:35:38) Outro