How to Overcome the Fear of Falling ft Hazel Findlay

Hazel Findlay walks us through common mistakes that climbers make when falling, including ways to train yourself to become a more confident taking falls, and push yourself further on the climbing wall.

00:00 Introduction to Hazel Findlay, Climbing Coach
00:45 Why You Might Be Falling WRONG
08:25 Fall Practice and Method
11:45 Brilliant Partnership
12:55 Where to Find Hazel Findlay Courses

Hannah Morris and Hazel Findlay look at misconceptions around falling, and tips to improve your bouldering falls, such as taking fall practice, building up slowly, and finding the right balance between pushing yourself, and scaring yourself.

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Hazel Findlay is a world-renowned professional climber. She is known for her bold ascents, and was the first woman to climb a British trad route at E9, sport climb 8c and free El Capitan in Yosemite. She coaches on mindset, resilience, and fear in climbing.

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[shin]

This is so important not only for new climbers, but for those who are primarily rope climbers that are transitioning to bouldering. Many of my friends who've been rope climbers for years are too scared to finish v4 because they're so worried about falling the whole time. I'll have to have them watch this video!

[olafolken]

6B boulderer here, about two years in (and started late in life at 40 years old). Yours is the best bouldering channel on YT, hands down. I learn so much more than anywhere else. Thank you!

[llllong]

I'm a general manager at a bouldergym and each year we have a how to Fall week. Everyone, especially experienced climbers have to do a mini (refresh) workshop about falling. And every clinic we do, we incorporate."falling" from the start.

[AllegraClimbingPsychologist]

Actually rolling while falling (falling like a teddy bear) decreases the force of impact on the knees of one half!
Definitely #10 "be kind" is my favorite ❤
Also, in bouldering there are certain moves in which it is important that we try to minimize uncontrolled falling. For example when you have sideways dynos or big moves. You want to control the momentum by the level of engagement of your shoulder/arm. A streight elbow when reaching the hold is the easiest path to a bad fall! Risk management is part of fear of falling training, too 🙌
Another good tip for slab is that you really learn to push away with the hands from the wall. To the point of making it automatic. This is great when mixed with the exercise of rotating the heel of the foot until it pops. This simulats a footslip, which is what most people are afraid of when on slabs and allows them to get more control and minimaze cheesegrating 🧀

[watchthisheadspace]

Very new climber here. The best way i've found to get over my fear so far is to tell myself i just have to do one more move. I take out even thinking about finishing the whole climb when i syart getting scared of a fall or the moves coming up. I just try and do one new move each time i try the route and then i am confident in the moves below and 'know' i can tap out without 'failing' after one extra move and thats a win not a fail. It really helps

[deslomator]

[old man yells at highball] if your aim is to keep climbing into old age, downclimb when possible. Don:t fall for survivor bias, people who get badly injured sometimes have to leave the scene and their experiences are lost.

[slimaque]

The worst falls are from foot slips on slab. Especially when there are some big holds just underneath you. I bruised and cut my lip a few times this way. But I still love slabs, despite the sketchy falls

[EllaClarke-htvb]

I definitely have the fear of falling in bouldering . The fear of being that high up with no harness on and the danger of falling of really puts me off and I struggle with making any progress in bouldering because of that. This video was very useful, thank you Hannah and Hazel - hopefully this will help me! 😊

[danrspen]

Great video. I'm still getting my head straight on falls after snapping my shin in half at a bouldering wall a few years ago. I'm always on the lookout for tips on building confidence and falling safely!

[wildflowerblvd]

I’m a really new climber (V2ish), with a height phobia. I just recently started having sessions with falling practice in there- this video was so well timed!

[CP-vnmm]

Spot on. I've only realised recently that fear of landing badly and injuring myself is holding me back so much.

[yercules]

This is part of my warmup before bouldering: Warmup the ankles and practice squatting, whilst warming up on the wall downclimb first but jump down from a bit higher each time. After a couple boulders I"m warmed up enough to fall down and land on my feet from 4.5m without any problem. If you don't have the best squat mobility, do the ''teddy bear'' back roll instead. Until you've increased your mobility sufficiently to land on your feet that is.

[chrisembry]

Terrific tips. Thanks for the relevant content. Reminds me of Emil's recent video as well. "If you aren't falling, you aren't climbing at your limit." Learn to fall safely, and climbing hard is so much easier because it becomes muscle and body memory rather than a reaction, so practice jumping and falling. Also one tip, if needed, push off the wall to avoid large holds/volumes too. And as Louis says, it's more about knowing what to do with fear, practicing even though you are scared, but managing that level of being afraid until it becomes controllable, expected and then "normal" to work with and through.

[charlottebowers]

I just started climbing a month ago and on my 4th session took a fall from the top, didn't land correctly and sprained my ankle (gutted because it was my best climb so far). Two weeks in and I'm still healing, I already can't wait to get back climbing but it's created a whole new world of fear for me which, in this current moment, I'm not sure how I'm going to get over. Thank you both for this video, it's a brilliant first step to my rehabilitation - wish me luck!

[nataliearlt]

This was such a well-timed video! I had an accident not long ago and it has made me really really scared. But this definitely helps!

It would also be nice to see maybe someone who’s afraid of falling trying falls or that you try falls on slab or other walls where you may be scared. It would just be nice to like see the falls.

Thank you so much for a great vid!

[simonrobbins]

Great video, love Hazel's advice ❤ I would add that you don't always need to be pushing yourself, it's ok to back-off and/or down-climb. Unexpected falls when project bouldering are unavoidable and objectively risky, so judiciously choosing when to go for it and when to leave a bit in the tank reduces risk of injury and mitigates repeated joint stress from falling.

[Climbingdude]

This is a great video. I’m getting better at falling when bouldering. Falling is a real fear of me. I’ve hit the deck twice both my belayers had poor technique.

[buggld]

Haven't watched just yet, but this is a great video to see in my feed. I've been recovering from surgery after a bad bouldering fall, and I could point out my mistakes from a thousand miles away in hindsight! I've found that I'm truly terrible at gauging how far I am from the ground while falling and need to practice this way more.

[MLWAM]

Yuuup, I felt that at 11:30 my dude, done exactly that a dosen of times!... ouch. Great video as always and thanks for pushing the climbing community forward :)

[AB-fhzh]

The incremental approach to sketchy foorholds is definitely something I will start using, thanks!