9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes: Navigation Through the Maze of Advice for the Self-coached Climber

by Dave MacLeod

9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Navigation Through the Maze of Advice for the Self-coached Climber

Genres: Climbing, Nonfiction, Sports, Fitness, Self Help, Rock Climbing, Mountaineering

300 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 2009

Reviews

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are no favourable conditions like good sponsorship or talent that are even nearly big enough to replace hard work across years. The famous athletes are there because they said "Another try!" instead of, "Time to go home, I'm tired!" and they did this week in week out for a couple of decades.

I've been climbing for almost a year now, and when I look back on my improvement and growth, one event always sticks out to me. One session, a new instructor put me on a route multiple grades above the ones I had been frequenting and was comfortable on. Throughout the whole session he did this. I felt embarrassed failing in front of everyone else there, but more than that, inadequate for not knowing how to approach the trickier moves. On coming down from only about halfway up one such difficult route, I breathlessly told the instructor I couldn't do that grade, it was too hard. "I know," he smiled calmly back at me. "If I thought you could do it, I wouldn't have put you on it. How are you going to improve if you are only doing routes you can already do?"

For me, this book was basically the embodiment of that instructor.

If I had to sum up the message of 9 Out of 10 Climbers in two words, it would be easy: PUSH YOURSELF. I know, this seems like an obvious thing to advise in any sport, but if you look at any beginner climber, I'm sure they'd be doing what I always used to do - sticking to routes I thought I could do, because I didn't want to look like an idiot asking to be lowered down only halfway up the wall. Because I wanted climbing to get easier as I put more time in, not more challenging. Because I thought I needed to build strength before I'd be ready to attempt those harder routes.

This book attacks all those concerns head-on, and has some really insightful points to make about how we should really be approaching climbing. While the underlying tone is, as I've said, cheering you on to challenge yourself to make improvements, on top of that there are loads of specific and practical tips in here. I loved what the author had to say about how so many of us climb to perform, not improve - especially around other people. His many points about technique, not strength, being the crux of the sport were mind-blowing. The exploration of body type and age advantages were fascinating, the diet stuff seemed well-informed (THANK YOU for seriously talking about amenorrhea), the falling advice made a lot of sense... yup, loads of good knowledge in this book.

Why not a higher rating? Well, the thing that lets this book down big time is the writing. This seems to be every other reader's biggest complaint, so clearly I'm not alone in thinking this was very unfocused, and too conversational. Yes, there are chapters about particular subjects and sub-headings breaking them down, which at face value make the book look organised, but if I had to look back and find a particular part in the book I don't think it would take any small effort. Overall, I would say that this book could have been a lot more concise and honed in on its ideas. At the beginning or end of a section maybe it should have had a summary of the basic facts at hand, or of the overriding points Macleod was trying to make. As it was, it felt like the subject headers were less, "This is the topic I'm outlining and explaining next" and more, "Here's a topic, read me rambling about it."

That's not to say this book is painful to read. Dave MacLeod clearly has a lot of hands-on experience, wide-ranging knowledge and brilliant ideas to bring to the table, which he does in a clear and accountable voice. I just feel that the way everything was presented means that I really should have taken notes if I wanted to get grounded, applicable tips in my head, and not just vague ideas.

On the bright side, I felt that the motivation and enthusiasm for climbing that this book is built on was explicit the whole way through. I'm having trouble remembering specifics now and so have only skated over some of the advice this book has to offer above, but really there is a whole bunch of information and myth-busting in here which I think any climber could benefit from. I've tried to apply the attitude of this book to my own climbing as and since I've read it, and have really seen results. I climb almost exclusively routes above my skill level now (except when warming up or if I'm in pain). Instead of doing familiar routes in front of other climbers so they'll think I'm good, I challenge them to go for hard ones and we all advise each other on how we might complete technical moves. And instead of feeling ashamed when I come down not having completed a route, I feel fulfilled that I'm pushing myself to get better.

[Деян Милчев · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made the goal to re-read every 6 months. My 4th time now. It's amazing how improving as a climber makes you appreciate different parts of the book. Seeing the biggest takeaways in your climbing and working on them, first starts with recognition and changing of your philosophy of climbing and this book is great to provoke the necessary thoughts for this to happen.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan.

I was recommended this book to help me work through some of my anxiety and fear when climbing. I found the chapter on that topic to be completely useless. His advice is incredibly generic, mostly focused on his own personal experience, and really seems to only apply to a specific type of climber. I couldn't really relate to any of the things he was saying about "most" climbers. I guess I'm the 1 out of 10 climbers who doesn't apply to this book.

In terms of writing... ug. His writing style is simplistic, clunky, overly verbose, and painful to read. He could give all of the advice in this book in an article a tenth of the length if he just did some editing. He basically just repeats the same things over and over again with different examples.

I know a lot of people have found this book helpful, so perhaps I'm just not a normal climber or something, but I really didn't see anything in it that I felt could help me at all. Ultimately, I couldn't even really get myself to read most of it carefully and ended up just skimming in the hopes that I'd find something useful. I didn't.

[Wade Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

me reading that maybe my climbing isn't limited by the fact that I can't do a weighted one arm pull up on the 20mm:

*surprised pikachu face*

A good book worth re-reading for anybody interested in training their climbing, with a wide variety of physical/mental notes. I find it weird that the only image in the book is a weird graph that is much more easily explained in words than the dynamic movements.

[Eryk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The advice from this book comes to mind every time I climb. It’s certainly helpful in identifying what’s really holding you back from progressing, though at times it felt repetitive and covered too many scenarios, which made me want to skip some parts. Still, I’d recommend it to every beginner climber, as it’s hard to find knowledge of this quality just by watching youtube videos.

[Sho · Rating 5 out of 5]

100% recommend.

[Bastiaan Terhorst · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the prose may leave something to be desired -- as other reviewers have pointed out -- the advice in this book is solid. And frankly, I feel that for a sport that offers little in the way of cristallized and proven training methods, any effort in that direction should be welcomed. Personally, I skipped some sections where I felt the author was repeating himself a tad too often, and skimmed sections where he strayed off-topic, but I also thoroughly enjoyed the sections that offered creative, refreshing and easy to implement advice on how to advance one's training. For intermediate to advanced climbers who have hit a plateau or are looking for ways to train more effectively, this is a great book for inspiration.

[Christopher Kane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, informative, and motivating read. Will be keeping this book on hand with many annotations for some years of training to come. Only thing against the book is that there were a few times where I couldn’t tell if the writing was incoherent or if it was just Macleod being Scottish. The book could also have benefitted from a bit more organization, but I think the spread of information within each section works for what it is. I look forward to continuing to keep up with the rest of his work.

[Io Nuca · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really puts things into perspective.

[Dwight · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. You are afraid of falling, practice it more.
2. You are sticking to what you know too often.
3. You are still afraid of falling.
4. Really, you are afraid of falling.

[David Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Jaws, even though I’ve never seen (or would want to see) a shark up close. The reason, you see, is because Jaws isn’t actually about a shark.
This is why I, as somebody who’s probably spent a total of eight hours climbing, and none of that within the last 25 years, could become so enthusiastic about this book:
It isn’t actually about climbing.
Well, okay - it is. There’s plenty in here about finger boards, crimping and red pointing. Perhaps it might help to know your E6’s from your HVS’s, but honestly, I approached the coaching in this book as new ways to look at my own chosen goals - endurance cycling, painting and German language learning.
Struggling to draw faces? Look at the section that tells you about practicing your weakest skills.
Worried about speaking German to a native speaker? Look at the section about the fear of falling.
Trying to balance muscle mass against body weight on the bike? See page 71.
Just about every chapter has something of value for my experience and frustrations. From tips on how and why to get out of your comfort zone, to getting back into something after a long gap has put you back at square one. It’s all in here.
I noticed a YouTube channel that touted this title as one of the best learning books ever, and I’d be inclined to agree. It’s logical and practical mindset coaching that just happens to use climbing as its framework.
I’ve read a quite a few books on learning and development; still more on performance and mastery, but there aren’t many that have actually challenged the way I think.
This book, however, is one of them. I’m going to need a bigger boat.

[Clàudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers valuable advice for climbers of all levels, though it's particularly helpful for those with some prior experience. Absolute beginners might find it a bit challenging to fully apply the advice without a solid foundation. Since the book was written over a decade ago, I do wonder if some of the information might be outdated, especially given the rapid advancements in climbing techniques and training methods. It would be fantastic if the author could release an updated version or share any new insights related to recent developments in climbing science. That said, the book excels in helping climbers break through plateaus and offers thoughtful analysis of potential issues in training. The advice is clear, actionable, and grounded in practical experience, making it a solid resource for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of the sport.

[Zachary Zatyko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a must read for climbers who seek the truth. This book does not go into great detail on how to get better at climbing. Wtf then why read it?! The answer is because it gives you perspective and the hard truth that climbing is a skill based sport that requires years if not decades of CONSISTENT hard work in order to make gains. This book helps you to think critically about yourself. It gives you a master’s perspective. It provides answers on how to optimize your training but you need to be the one to make the hard choice of discipline. People seeking the shortcut to improvement will hate this book. If you can swallow your pride and truly listen, this book will reinvigorate your motivation to get better at climbing and to be more in-tune with your mind, body, and spirit.

[Robert Stutchbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast-and-hard climbers manual that focuses on highlighting and correcting the weaknesses of anyone. While few pictures and small font makes this a daunting training manual, it is well worth the effort and far and away worth the ink.

[Mees Nielandt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Droge kost joeeeeeng

[Charlie Grimshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

[N · Rating 2 out of 5]

Exactly 2 passages on technique.

Notes from the 2 passages
Focus on generating momentum: leg thrust, hand, discus, flick/roll, hip swing, hip thrust.

Pull with legs as important as push - curl toes like fingers around holds instead of placing, then can generate outward-pull-force without coming off the wall.

At moment of grabbing, hand has to find precise placement and then apply force immediately after, so motor control fades from rest of body in that split second: hips will follow momentum towards hands, and legs if not braced/pulling, will be follow hips off the wall.

Blame strength last: precision of foot-hold first (spoiled by indoor climbing blobs)

Complex-features of outdoor rock - bad habit of seeking the reward of a slightly better hold, a) waste time b) rewards natural hesitation of moving up and through c) stops rhythm: place where you need aggression and pace.

Psychological arousal or climbing psyche is 3 things - generating, timing and directing psyche. Generating: U-shape of anxiety, moderate is good, too much is bad. Timing - maximal muscular force at the crux and lower it immediately for balance-shift or subtle foot-placement: adaptive timing through breathing modulation.

Cool rock more friction. Moisture on fingers more wear and tear. Cow-udder cream promotes finger skin growth.

Passive flexibility: range of motion while using external force to limb (toe-touch for hamstring stretch). Active flexibility: unassisted range of motion - needs strength at extreme joint angles.

[Tomek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cannot fathom why this book is cited as being so important. Although many good points are brought up, I feel that MacLeod simply spouts platitudes. I find Self-Coached Climber and Training for Climbing to accomplish the same thing MacLeod set out to do, but in a more focused manner. At any rate, I don't see it being worth the 20 dollar price tag...

[Sean Goh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to parse due to little meaningful organisation. Contains thought-provoking content like suck it up and work on your weaknesses, and be kind to yourself. Climb smart, keep at it, short term pain for long-term gains.
The rest is details.

___
It's crucial to think through how others see your climbing, and the effect of your expectations of yourself. Climbers often have unrealistic expectations of themselves, for example to be able to
reproduce previous highpoints of performance after a layoff. The first step is to really honest with yourself about the true level of your climbing, and how restricted it is to certain strengths you have. Then understand how little your performance ultimately matters to others. See yourself as the underdog.

Spending time working in the comfort of your strengths or relying on them borrows strength from your best assets of talents. But borrowing strength builds weakness.

Technique training - replaying movements of recent climbs and analysing peculiarities and subtleties. Both actual climbing and reflection are important components of the learning process.

Break habits of climbing passively without thinking too much.

Strength is only useful when it can be applied fully. Momentum use gives your strength a huge amount of leverage.

Look for the board/angle/move type you are weakest on, and spend two to three sessions on that per one session on in your comfort zone type of climbing.

The nature of static contractions of the forearm muscle when we grip holds also limits aerobic metabolism by squeezing muscle blood vesel shut under pressure, interrupting the supply of oxygen.

Complete exhaustion of muscle glycogen stores happens after many hours straight climbing, or too many consecutive days training for the body to recover from. This significantly extends recovery time. This feeling is one of rapid and complete loss of strength, where even massive holds are a struggle to hold on to.

Fear of falling, if left unchecked, changes your movement technique in a subtle way, making it more inefficient and affecting you on every climb you try. Over control attempts, like overgripping and climbing statically, emerge.

Age isn't a barrier to getting good at climbing. Usually the barriers are mental.

A common error in choosing the climbs to do to get better at climbing is to climb only routes at your current level. This is not the way training works. Climbing above your level will cause falls, struggles and pain. And eventually you'll improve.

The only inertia working in opposition to this desire for breakthrough is fear. Fear of loss, fear of effort and fear of failure. Getting past these isn't easy. The desire simply has to outweigh the short term pain. Know that pain wil be short term really helps. Once that happens, the real improvement can start.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beim Klettern spielen Kopf und Körper zusammen. Den Körper kann man trainieren. Dazu gibt es unzählige Ratgeber, mit denen man weiterkommen kann. Trotzdem geht es vielen Kletterern ähnlich: irgendwann kommen sie an einen Punkt an dem sie nicht mehr weiterkommen. Dave MacLeod setzt mit seinem Buch setzt an diesem Punkt an und erklärt, warum es möglicherweise nicht vorwärts geht.

Zitat"Der wichtigste Muskel beim Klettern ist das Gehirn."

Das hat Wolfgang Güllich schon in den frühen 90er Jahren erkannt. Deshalb beschäftigt sich Dave MacLeod zuerst mit dem Kopf und erklärt, dass die Angst vor einem Sturz viele Kletterer ausbremst. Damit hat er direkt mein Problem erkannt, wobei seine Tipps für Kletterer mich beim Bouldern (Klettern bis zur Absprunghöhe ohne Sicherung) nicht immer weiterbringen. Aber das sagt er auch, dass sein Buch kein Allheilmittel ist, sondern die Summe seiner Erfahrungen. Wenn Leser sich darin wiedererkennen und er ihnen helfen kann, umso besser.

Auch wenn das Wort Klettern im Titel vorkommt, geht es nicht nur darum. Wie schon in seinem Blog beshäftigt sich MacLeod ausführlich mit dem Thema Ernährung, Gewicht und auch Stoffwechsel auseinander. Das sind die Themen, die ihn auch interessieren und bei denen er sich auskennt. Wie auch im Blog kann er alle seine Aussagen belegen. Das macht den Inhalt manchmal sehr technisch, aber auch wertvoll. Eine Sache konnte ich direkt umsetzen, wenn auch nicht beim Klettern. Deshalb ist die Zielgruppe natürlich die, die gerne die Wände hochgeht, aber eben nicht nur.

[Pingolin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.
Seemed to me like a climber, in the brain of MacLeod, is a man.
Examples?
80% of this very repetitive book is "you're strong enough, work on technique". That may be useful advice for some, but certainly not for 9/10 women. Also not 8/10. A lot of women cannot do a pullup without specifically training it. A lot of women also feel like they shouldn't be training strength because it is not what girls do. This can forces them to develop very good technique for their grade, but does become a limit at some point.
Same with the musings about height. MacLeod says, "being very tall or very short is probably not ideal, there is much discussion, maybe a bit below average is helpful". For a european man, yes. Below average for a woman? Or for a country where the average man is 1,65m, and not 1,80? Probably puts you on the very short end in most climbing gyms.
Sure, you can add all these little " ifs" in your head and think about what does and does not apply to you. But 240 pages of "climbers are a group that does not include you" just annoys me.
Also, 10 pages would have been enough for the content of this book, the rest is padding.

[Kushagra Sinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit sceptical about this book because of the clickbaity title. It turned out to be a good book though. It delivers exactly what it promises - the most common training mistakes made by climbers.

Climbing, as a sport, is at a stage where the audiences and money have only recently started to pour in. Compared to Big Money sports like basketball for example, very little is known about the optimal biomechanics and training protocols for climbing. Consequently, there's a bunch of bad advice on climbing - usually from folks trying to sell a training protocol or equipment.
This book cuts through a lot of that and explains the core principles of evidence based climbing training. The author - in addition to being an accomplished professional climber - has also received formal training as a scientist, and it shows.

4/5. Would have been 5 stars if it contained proper citations / bibliography.

[Geoffroy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not finished this book yet, but I am not sure I will as I think it is not targeted towards me.

I think this book is intended to young (in age and experience) climbers who decide that climbing will be their life or a big part of it and make some results in competitions. I think that for this purpose, this is a very good book that will help them make some progress and get the right mindset. If you want to be the best at climbing, so push yourself.

For the average climber, who likes to have fun with its friends and sometimes push beyond its own limit, I do not think this book is very interesting. Personally, I fall more into this category. I like to push hard when I am climbing, but after a long day at work where I pushed hard, I just want to have some fun and while doing sport. My mind simply has a limited supply of motivation and my body of energy for each day.

[Ray Lo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's start of by saying that I read a lot of books on climbing. Many of these are actually good and worth reading. So I picked up Dave MacLeod's 9 out 10 climbers, not really expecting to read something new. Well, I proved myself wrong. Al tough I personally don't really like his youtube vids I find the content in his book actually really to the point. Nothing too complex or far-fetched, but the essentials only. The book is suitable for experienced climbers in the 6b and beyond grade. At least for those with some mileage on their record. The thing I found most appealing in his writing is the way he condenses years of experience in words. I once heard a manager at work say: "Experience is the results of lots of mistakes, and I have made many." This is what MacLeod exactly does.

[Eddie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think the book told me anything I didn't already know- like wanna get better at climbing? Climb. Wanna get good at challenging yourself? Challenge yourself frequently. I mean, that's the theme of Dave MacLeod's channel as well, and it's a comforting, meditative read, while getting to think about doing the thing that I like doing.

That said, I wouldn't take much of the book too seriously, unless I want to become a world class athlete like Dave himself, which I don't. There were certainly enlightening and motivating aspects of the book though! Well recommend still. First time reading a entirely climbing-centric book. It doesn't get more stars because of my preference for narrative more than anything else.

[Ed Oakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply put; this book made me climb harder. I was a solid member of the 9/10'ths and now, although I mostly still live there, I occasionally implement a good habit into training which allows me to dip into the 1/10 for enough time to see improvement.

This book should be read as slowly as possible. Chapter 1 >>> Digest >>> Apply >>> Re-read >>> Solidify new habit >>> Chapter 2 >>> etc.

Let the book work its magic. If somethings hard to accept its probably because that thing is what will improve you the most. For me strength training as not the be all and end all of climbing hard.

[Yapee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book provides more questions than answers, but I don't think it's a bad thing. I would say it's more of an overview of various aspects of training for climbing and more broadly thinking about climbing that one might want to investigate. Furthermore, it presents the author's rather interesting approach to handling all of that. Perhaps one criticism I would leverage is that a little too much of the discussion on outlook and technique is replicated in Make or Break, so if you only want to read one of them, I'd recommend that one.

[Pablo Murcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave is not a professional writer, yet having watched a fair bit of his YT content and gaining an understanding of his tone saved this. Absolutely invaluable advice, given head on and unapologetically. As promised in the first pages, he takes a step back and looks at training for climbing through a broad, holistic lens.

To sum it up:
The famous athletes are there because they said "Another try" instead of, "Time to go home, I'm tired" and they did this week in and week out for a couple of decades

[Ben Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book, focusing more on the bigger picture and mental side of climbing than specific training elements.

Lots of great tips for a relatively new climber like me. I really wish I had read it six months earlier. It is also a very easy book to read. And I thought the writing style was excellent, making for a book that is hard to put down.

Every climber should read this book, sooner rather than later.

[umut · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main lesson I got out of it is. "Don't just train things you enjoy the most and best at. Think critically about your climbing and try to do things differently if you want to expect any improvement."

The explanations on topics are very brief, so there is not much time to get into a reading flow. I guess it is a good book to pick up every once in a while and remind yourself of the mindset it promotes.