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

I am not quite finished the book but already it has helped me a ton. A lot of the things seem common sense but having them put in words helped me realize the importance and see what I was doing wrong clearly. The examples are great and its super easy to follow. There are also some more technical aspects that have helped me improve. I wouldn't have known them and now I do. This book is helping me understand some things better and is building up my confidence more. I'm using a lot of the information and seeing improvement. It is gradual and slow as he points out but it is there. Some things are also quickly improving. The way he writes is wonderful. I highly recommend it.

All climbers can relate to feeling like the cartoon on the cover of this book: the frustrated gorilla. We have logged countless pitches on the rock, cranked endless sets of pullups and repeaters on the fingerboard, watched videos and read training manuals until the cows came home. And yet we still failed on our project. Why? 9 out of 10 climbers attempts to answer that very question. This book is written in precisely the opposite manner as other books on the topic of how to improve in climbing. Instead of giving options on how to improve, Dave offers insight into the pitfalls that commonly cause people to plateau in ability, and how to pass these plateaus. For example, a common thought among climbers is that if we were only a bit stronger we could overcome this route or boulder. In reality, flaws in our mindset or technical ability are more likely the cause of failure. Thus, time would be better spent working on these aspects of our climbing then simply cranking out another set of pullups or repeaters on the fingerboard.This is a top notch book written from a refreshing new perspective which will be useful to anyone looking to improve in their rock climbing ability.

I first read “9 out of 10” in 2013 when I’d only been climbing a couple years. In 2013, the book seemed verbose and not too helpful. It just didn’t click then.I just read it again after 5 more years of climbing. In those 5 years, my improvements from “just climbing” plateaued. I’d flirted half-heartedly with the various training programs. In the last year I seriously began to ponder what I wanted my climbing to be, and how I wanted to organize my life for the long run to best incorporate climbing at a high level.On this second reading, nearly every paragraph resonated. The old sleep inducing tome had transformed into a page turner. The insights stuck because, unlike in 2013, I’d now survived some of the battles Dave writes about. More important than just stating training tips, Dave lays out the approaches to a climbing life. And while I’d already pondered many aspects of this life, due to uncertainly and lack of direction, I previously had been afraid to fully embrace the patient, structured life and training philosophy Dave articulates.As for the reviews which complain this book doesn't teach technique like body position, etc., no...this isn't that kind of book. If you have climbed only a year or so, this book might not click for you either. Not yet.Thank you Dave for the great book and, more recently, the great YouTube videos. While I feel like I’d been slowly stumbling vaguely in the right direction, you handed me the detailed map I didn’t fully realize, until now, I needed.

I really enjoyed this book! Read it front to back in two or three sittings, and I will defiantly read sections of it over again multiple times. I didn't think I had a great fear of falling, but after reading this book I realized a lot of what holds me back from harder grades is a fear of falling. I have been taking more lead falls than ever and it is helping more than I imagined. I got my first 5.12 red-point while reading this book and I'am enjoying climbing at my limit so much more because I'm focusing on the climbing instead of the falling. I doubt that fear of falling ever goes away entirely but now I have the mental skills to fight it when it rears it's ugly head. If you struggle to lead bolder, harder, or run out routes buy this book. There are no fancy diagrams or pictures, but the writing gets straight to the point.

A good little read with the emphasis on 'little'. It didn't teach me much that I hadn't already learnt from 'How to climb 5.12', but the emphasis on practising falling was worth the read. Already my family climbing group have all shown improvement by falling better and more often.I agree with the other reviewers that this is very much written in a 'concious streaming' style and more an essay than a book. I also agree that the absence of pictures or glossary of terms is wound wanting. What is a crimp vs. open handed? You shouldn't have to Google terms while reading a book.Summarise the book:Practise falling lots.Don't think you can be a weekend warrior.Let that demotivate you.Get even more upset that your efforts in a climbing gym are a waste of time.Get jealous you don't live next to the crag.Wish you hadn't read the book and move on, or FAIL.

This book is great if you've been climbing for a while and train pretty hard. I've been climbing for about 3 years, climb about 3 days a week (or more if I can) and have climbed V7 outdoors (not to say that I'm awesome, but I'm not a novice). I found this book very helpful, especially in dealing training principles. It looks at overall, big picture methods, which provides a good context for looking at all sorts of other details (not provided in book necessarily).In short, this book does a god job (in my opinion) of looking at the big picture of training for climbing.

Fun book. Well written. Something for new and experienced climbers alike. I’ve been climbing longer than I’d like to admit, and I found things to improve. Sometimes a little introspective nudge is all it takes.

Great for the mental side. A necessary read. Look else where for specific training protocols.

A wise book written by a wise man. It has given me hints on how to approach some problems and I already feel a little bit "smarter" as a climber: sometimes you just need a good advice to start upon a path of good practices.

Although it's not aimed at beginners, I'm one (pretty much) and I found this book very useful. The main target readership is those who've been climbing for a good while, and made early progress but have reached a plateau.It's hard-hitting, no messing around. You feel exactly as if the author were standing there talking to you - in some places, giving you a talking-to. If this sounds hectoring, it's not - it's thought-provoking and encouraging.The essence of the message is to re-think which aspect of climbing you're putting the effort into, since it might not be the most effective for you in terms of improvement, particularly if it's something you've been doing for a while which initially helped a lot but has started to level off. He breaks down all the factors that contribute to improvement and explains how to work on each, eg fear of falling (covered in detail), strength, endurance, weight. The underlying psychology behind things is covered far better than you'd think such a short book could manage.It's opinionated. Eg climbing is always referred to as a very specific thing - movement up rock; not sure that ignoring cardio would be wise given the long walk-in and home that might well be part of trad/winter; but that's fair enough I guess: if that's what you're into, you'll know already you need to include that too. Tiny quibble, great book. I look forward to more and I'm enjoying his blogs.

Dieses Buch hat meine Erwartungen wirklich übertroffen. Ich zähle mich zu den 9 Kletterern, die zum Teil die Fehler machen, die MacLeod in seinen Buch beschreibt.Viele Trainingstipps sind zwar nicht neu - es kommt nicht so sehr auf Kraft an wie auf Technik und wenn man besser Klettern möchte, ist mehr Klettern immer ein besseres Training als mehr Yoga machen, schwerer Gewichte heben oder länger Klimmzüge halten - aber dieses Buch beschäftigt sich auch vor allem mit den Fehlern, die im Kopf entstehen. Aus Gewohnheit, aus Angst oder weil die anderen sie eben auch machen.Das Schöne daran ist: Der gefühlte Erfolg stellt sich quasi sofort ein, wenn man zum Umdenken und zum Umsetzen seiner Ideen bereit ist.Das Buch spricht in erster Linie erfahrene Sportkletterer an. Trad-climbing und Bouldern sind empfohlene Spielarten zur Erweiterung der Fähigkeiten und vor allem des Horizonts.Selbst für Kletteranfänger ist es nicht ungeeignet, weil sich endlich mal jemand anzusprechen traut, dass an Finger- und Campusboards nicht nur Fingerkraft entsteht, sondern vor allem Verletzungen.Ein empfehlenswertes Buch für eigentlich alle, die beim Klettern noch ein bisschen mehr über sich hinauswachsen wollen.

Climbers are inundated with quick tips and granular workouts that promise them success. Dave MacLeod zooms out and looks at the big picture of what really dictates success as a climber. He develops a simple framework for areas of achievement and explains why you probably aren't making progress as quickly as you would like. Essential reading!