Rock Climbing Technique: The Practical Guide to Movement Mastery

This book really works!! Both me and my husband are climbing 1-2 grades higher after starting the drills in the book.At the time I bought the book my climbing had been plateaued at 5.10b routes at our gym for at least a year (the long blocks of covid lockdowns during which I'd lose conditioning didn't help). Around the time I bought this book in March, I was climbing mostly 5.10a and 5.10bs while doing a few 5.10c routes with difficulty. I am now regularly climbing 5.10c's and 10d's, and tonight I just climbed my first TWO 5.11a routes! Not only that but I did them cleanly, without stopping or having too much trouble. One of them was at the end of my 2 hour climbing session when normally my arms would be too exhausted for a challenge.I'm thrilled at my progress, and I feel like this book played a huge part in that. The book is slim, but its drills really give you a lot of bang for your buck, breaking your body's muscle memory out of bad habits while training your instincts into much more efficient ways of movement. I'm climbing harder things with less effort than when I used to climb easier things, and engaging my entire body in a more coordinated and cohesive way. I really feel like I've leveled up in a huge way.

I cannot tell you how much I love this book! I know a lot of the reviews are from very experienced climbers saying how helpful the book is. I am a novice climber looking to improve my technique. I’ve plateaued at being able to do 5.9 routes comfortably but not being able to get over the hump on 5.10s. I have some injury limitations that play into this, too. I feel like I have already improved my skills with just working on the footwork drills one day so far. I can’t wait to progress through the drills and refine my technique! I think this book is well suited to take any climber to whatever next level they are striving for. The writing is clear and accessible, and the videos are helpful.

At first glance, the title may lead you to believe this is a book for beginners.However, the book is for those who have climbed perhaps many years, and have stagnated despite various attempts to get stronger or "better."The graphics are clear and the linked videos help immensely. I will be adding these exercises into my climbing training routine.It would be awesome if there was an accompanying 2'x3' poster I could put on the wall as a mental refresher, kind of like those TRX exercise posters.

I'm still at the beginning of the book, doing the 8th exercise, but already have found useful routines and techniques to improve my climbing. I've been climbing for 5 years almost, always slowly progressing (now at the 5.11 sport realm), but since I bought this book (less than 2 months), I've experienced some solid improvements. And there are lots of pages and routines to go. If you want to climb harder, with less effort, this is a must-read.

The book is broken into chapters focused on specific techniques and each chapter has several drills to improve that technique.I’ve been working the drills for the last couple of weeks and can already see the benefits. The footwork chapter quickly made me aware that I’m over-flagging. I used what I learned to adjust my beta on a challenging overhung route and was surprised by the dramatic improvement.The book is well written; the sketches make the techniques easier to visualize and the videos really drive them home. Looking forward to continuing to apply the techniques and drills.

The material here is good, but it's pretty short. I don't think I'd buy it again. I purchase "The Self Coached Climber" for about the same amount and it has probably 5x more content.

Great useful book with links to online videos if you buy the kindle version (highly recommended). You can add the Kindle app to any smartphone-- very helpful when training in the gym. I can already see an improvement in my technique after just a few weeks and can climb a higher grade without getting pumped--it works.

Very basic and straightforward book to develop climbing techniqueDominated by exercises, including descriptions and picturesThere are a glut of books on training for strength, but very few that focus on movement and drills like this

Virtually all climbers get injured at some point, regardless of whether they climb outdoors or indoors, and many climb with chronic injuries.It's unlikely that technique could prevent a freak accident but it can definitely reduce risks that are within one's control and enable one to climb smarter and safer.This book provides a rather useful summary of basic but important climbing techniques, and emphasises the importance of good technique. It would have been improved with more (and relevant) climbing graphics/photographs, since sports/movement are tangible concepts represented more clearly by visuals. It also gives a good sense of the author's solid competence as a sensible coach and is a helpful reminder for injured climbers to climb smarter and safer."Skill development is a great way to maintain motivation and keep improving, while paving the way for excellent performance when you return to form." - John Kettle

There are a now a dozen or so very good books on mainly physical training for climbing, a few on psychology, (or chapters within broader books), and a very few on technique. This book is easily the best so far on technique and combines a sound, attractive philosophy with excellent practical exercises including free online demos. Great effort and thanks to the author for whom it seems much more gift to the climbing community than a money making exercise.

I’m still working my way through this book, putting each technique into practice. The method of breaking down climbing into individual techniques certainly works well for me, and gives me more weapons in my arsenal to send problems, and I’ve improved my climbing grade since applying the techniques learnt in this book.My climbing companions have also commented on how much better I’m climbing, and how effortless (it isn’t!) I make my climbing seem.

Most training books will mention the importance of technique and even explain a few basics before swiftly moving on to the main business of how many pull up variations there are, how to hangboard, campus etc. And that's great but if you ever wanted something more detailed this is the book. An in depth look at movement, with well thought out exercises, written by someone who is clearly passionate and interested in this element of climbing. Depending on your experience not everything here is going to be new to you but I'd think everyone would get something out of it. Buy it.

Before getting this book my climbing ability had plateaued for a while but with this my technique improved massively with just the first few exercises its had me doing. I not get annoyed watching people climb with bad technique and know full well that my technique wasn't any better before I got this.