Developing A Winning Mentality For Competitive Climbing
by Vance Stanfield
Competitive climbing often demands more than raw strength or technical skill, even though that makes up most of it. It requires a mindset honed for success. Unlike recreational climbing or outdoor projecting, where personal progress is the primary focus, competition introduces pressure, external expectations, and the ever-present comparison to other athletes. However, it is essential to note that a winning mentality in climbing isn’t about blind confidence or aggression; it’s about cultivating confidence, adaptability, and an understanding of your capabilities.
Unless you're significantly stronger than the rest of your competition, your mentality towards it sets you apart. The good news is that many practical psychological strategies, such as visualization, goal setting, and mindfulness, can differentiate between stagnation in your competitive career and consistent progress.
Understanding What “Winning” Means to You
What is winning to you, because that’s what matters. You should be doing this for yourself because you enjoy it. If you compete for external validation, I have bad news for you.
To cultivate a strong competitive mindset, you need a definition of winning that extends beyond external validation. Something I’ve been thinking about is viewing winning as being able to perform confidently to the best of my ability, regardless of the circumstances. This shift in perspective prevents external factors, such as route setting, other competitors, or even “bad luck,” from dictating your sense of achievement. Take ownership of your successes and understand their significance to you, as well as your failures, and learn from them. Are you improving how you react to a poor attempt or a mistake? Or a lousy warm-up or pre-comp day diet? Are you improving your visualization and beta-reading under pressure or learning to control your nerves? A climber who narrowly misses finals but performs at their absolute best might be in a better place mentally or even in their career than someone who won but climbed poorly compared to their potential.
Embracing The Unpredictability of Competition
One of the most demanding challenges in climbing competitions is dealing with the unknown. Unlike training or projecting sessions, where you can repeat problems, refine beta, and optimize your approach, competitions throw new, unfamiliar routes or circumstances at you with minimal preparation time. In my opinion, this unpredictability separates good climbers from great ones– less in physical ability, but in mental adaptability.
A climber with a rigid mindset struggles when faced with unexpected difficulties. They might panic if the first boulder problem is more complex than anticipated. If their planned beta doesn’t work, they might hesitate instead of making quick adjustments. The climber who chooses the wrong mindset, thinking that flashing or topping every boulder means success, will get shut down mentally when they leave the first boulder untopped, not realizing that no one else has topped it either.
On the other hand, a climber with a winning mentality embraces uncertainty. They don’t expect things to go perfectly; instead, they trust their ability to adapt quickly. They know they have no physical lack in strength or technique, because that is everything they’ve trained for their whole career. They have confidence in their movement, which helps them climb better, reassuring their confidence and building it stronger.
You can train this adaptability. Put yourself in unpredictable or uncomfortable situations in your training sessions. Restrict yourself to 1-3 attempts on a new comp-style set, and force yourself to climb without prior information. Make it real for you; it's all mental, so it's easy to cheat. You have to be the one holding yourself accountable. Practice climbing problems with a time limit to stimulate the pressure of a competition round. The more you expose yourself to the unknown in training, the more comfortable you’ll be when it happens in a competition setting.
Balancing Confidence With Realistic Self-Assessment
Confidence in competition isn’t about convincing yourself you’ll win– it’s about knowing you’ve prepared to the best of your ability and trusting that process and preparation when it matters. True confidence is built on real experiences, not empty affirmations.
Overconfidence can be as damaging as self-doubt. If you assume you’ll flash every problem, you might rush the process or make poor choices, believing it will work out. In my opinion, the best competitors cultivate what could be called earned confidence. This confidence comes from recognizing your strengths, acknowledging your weaknesses, and working to improve. They approach every climb with an open but determined mindset. To develop this, I’ve found keeping a detailed training log helpful. Keep track of moments when your strengths shone in competition or training, and when your weaknesses were revealed. Are there specific movement types you struggle with? Do you tend to lose focus under pressure? Being honest in these areas can lead to growth, and it doesn’t mean you’re doubting yourself– it means you are actively working to improve, which will build absolute confidence.
My Experience With Competition Mentality
As a climber who recently moved out of the relatively sheltered climbing community in Anchorage, Alaska, I never had extensive experience with competitive climbing. I’ve been climbing for around seven or eight years, and going into my third competition season in the youth and elite circuit at USAC. I have not yet achieved any substantial notable successes, but I can track consistent positive progress in all aspects of my climbing. At the last youth nationals, I advanced into the top three in the nation in the semifinals. It did give me a temporary boost in confidence for my climbing, but that can turn shallow quickly over the long span of an entire year, leading up to the next nationals. I’ve been practicing cultivating a correct mindset for my competitive climbing in every training session to build confidence in myself and my climbing when the moment comes. Let me share with you some of my strategies and how they've helped me in my journey.
Something I’ve noticed repeatedly not working is putting more pressure on yourself, assuming it will make you try harder. “My finals round depends on this climb.” “If I want to qualify for finals, I need to top this climb.” Those thoughts rarely motivate you to try harder – they distract you from the details, and you will be shut down if you fail to meet those expectations. What I’ve found that does work is everything I’ve stated above. You know you put in the work and effort. Regardless of how you did on climb two, you can be sure that other competitors had a similar experience. Set aside the other climbs and focus. Put a smile on, be happy that you’re there. Being frustrated keeps you in the past and prior boulders; moving on will benefit you more in the present. Analyzing those mistakes is for after the competition. I know similar things have been said a hundred times and will be said a hundred more times, but this is how I discovered them and continue to discover them. I believe, without a doubt, that this will make me a better competitor, and I look forward to bringing this mentality into upcoming competitions.
