Author(s): DEBEVEC, T., LESKOŠEK, B., OKRŠLAR, L., VRECEK, L., BLAGUS, R., Institution: JOZEF STEFAN INSTITUTE, Country: SLOVENIA, Abstract-ID: 819

INTRODUCTION:
Sport climbing is becoming increasingly popular around the world, and this is reflected in its inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics program and further approval for the 2024 Paris and 2028 Los Angeles Olympic games. It is a complex sport that, besides physical underpinnings, also requires appropriate techniques to master and optimise movements. However, training methodologies aimed to facilitate climbing technique acquisition are still in their infancy. Given the previously suggested potential of expert modeling and video analysis to facilitate climbing technique learning we aimed to investigate their utility for the development and acquisition of three climbing-specific techniques (drop knee, heel hook, and high step).
METHODS:
Thirty novice climbers completed two testing sessions before and after a climbing intervention consisting of three supervised training sessions. During the training sessions, participants climbed symmetrical boulder problems designed to target the three techniques. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group, who received verbal feedback, or an experimental group that additionally received expert modeling and video feedback via the Dartfish tablet application. Expert video model was recorded using the same female expert climber (bouldering world cup finalist) executing each move of the problem with 100% accuracy and fluency. Video recordings of all participants’’ movement executions were subsequently evaluated by two climbing experts on a 7-point scale.
RESULTS:
There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of age, gender, body mass, height, ape index, and past climbing experience. Also, the expert scores did not differ significantly between the control and experimental group during pre-testing for all techniques. The intervention increased the expert scores significantly in both groups (p<0.001), but more so in the experimental than in the control group for the high step (p=0.017). Improvements for the drop knee (p=0.52) and heel hook (p=0.75) were similar in both groups.
CONCLUSION:
These data suggest that a coached climbing session(s), that is performed correctly and under the supervision of an experienced climbing coach, can quickly lead to substantial technical improvements in novice climbers. When compared to coached session solely, the use of video analysis and expert video modeling has the potential to additionally enhance the acquisition of certain climbing skills, particularly those related to movement efficiency/technique.