tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845824.post3651715560696783090..comments2024-03-18T11:58:24.478+00:00Comments on Online Climbing Coach: What school can’t teach you about climbing hardDave MacLeodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02442169589581067050noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845824.post-79214771204222354522010-06-22T16:31:48.126+01:002010-06-22T16:31:48.126+01:00Dave: great post! About this school thing: two exa...Dave: great post! About this school thing: two examples. My daughter made a mistake on a test because she didn't recognise the on/off symbol as used on a computer. You can't imagine how amazingly STUPID I find this sort of 'tests'. Of course: she has no problem using a computer (or a dvd, cd player, etc) and perfectly knows how to turn it on and off. I don't know anyone who started out on a computer by learning what the symbol for 'on/off' is! It's something you KNOW by doing, you don't have to learn it by heart from a textbook.<br />Another example, much more positive this time. My son (three years old) learned about 'babies' in kindergarten. During the class a mother and her baby came over and the baby was given a bath and all kids could help out (holding the shampoo, keeping the towel ready, etc). Wow! I found it really amazing that the school would go to so much effort (instead of just flipping through a book with some pictures of babies) to give these kids a really meaningful experience!<br /><br />Just wanted to share this to give an idea of what a difference a good approach can make to education/learning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845824.post-91431671530798061962010-04-28T08:37:20.596+01:002010-04-28T08:37:20.596+01:00Dave, I reckon you've hit on something pretty ...Dave, I reckon you've hit on something pretty fundamental here. If you look at the most successful leaders, entrepreneurs, sportspeople, scientists or whatever, no one got there by following others. It's hard to be brave enough to break out from the way others have done things! I think we're always looking for a 'formula' solution to success but that is a model that worked to a certain point and for someone else, not for us.. Anyway enough of my musing, thanks for a truly thought provoking post. MikeMinimikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845824.post-71805485507179721482010-04-28T00:06:05.090+01:002010-04-28T00:06:05.090+01:00This is interesting cling2 - My take is that a lar...This is interesting cling2 - My take is that a large proportion of folk at least start out with horizons, goals and dreams quite high. But these gradually get reeled in lower and lower as time goes on, due to them seeming less and less realistic. <br /><br />One of the points in the post is that by taking the long way round to the goals - by doing the minimum, copying, but never thinking independently of peers or the accepted standard or method - it becomes a tiresome drag and seems no longer worth it or even achievable at all. The shortcut presents itself as as the hard way, but it's not.<br /><br />In the post I was referring to a whole career worth of development in sport. But the principle holds for a two hour assignment just the same.Dave MacLeodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442169589581067050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845824.post-23436573831056959582010-04-27T23:31:25.014+01:002010-04-27T23:31:25.014+01:00Just a humble non-climber thought. By saying '...Just a humble non-climber thought. By saying 'short cut' you are perhaps implying you had an ambition that is above the norm, i.e. you wanted to get somewhere. Wouldn't/couldn't begin to suggest what the normal level of ambition is for a climber, but watching you do what you do it seems maybe your drive takes you to such amazing places. By the way, thanks, quite - very impressed and inspired by you and your peers.cling2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845824.post-37560303447924991012010-04-27T23:03:58.697+01:002010-04-27T23:03:58.697+01:00just blogged an answer to your comment Peter- tha...just blogged an answer to your comment Peter- thanks for the comment!Dave MacLeodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442169589581067050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845824.post-18298151453890056302010-04-27T22:32:20.608+01:002010-04-27T22:32:20.608+01:00What about the fact that some (many? most?) climbe...What about the fact that some (many? most?) climbers are in this game for the sheer fun of it?<br /><br />It seems to me (from my bumbly-level vantage point) that chasing numbers is 99% drudgery, so many climbers naturally plateau at the point of maximum fun for least effort (however you define those two dimensions).<br /><br />Tangentially, a few climbers I've known who've played the numbers game inevitably reach a performance plateau no matter how hard they work, and in a couple of cases that's been sufficiently demoralising that they've given the game away entirely.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07535265163463074043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845824.post-52933792098731612742010-04-27T20:01:52.363+01:002010-04-27T20:01:52.363+01:00It was the shortcut because otherwise I wouldn'...It was the shortcut because otherwise I wouldn't have got there at all. I'm certain. I would have got stuck on trying to get strong, then getting injured cycle that caused me a 5 year plateau at 8b before I realised (from my study) how much I was overrating certain components of performance and how copying my climbing influences was getting me injured so much. Those mistaken ideas were so fixed, that only thorough understanding from study was enough to break it.Dave MacLeodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442169589581067050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845824.post-61210402368944563712010-04-27T16:37:52.867+01:002010-04-27T16:37:52.867+01:00Hey Dave, love your work. That post went awry for ...Hey Dave, love your work. That post went awry for me at the end. While I'm sure 6 years of sports science was fantastic, I'm surprised you call this your 'shortcut'. Strip away the degree and you'd still be climbing 8c+ today, don't say you wouldn't. Your passion, drive, and motivation (aka stubbornness and bloody-single-mindedness!) coupled with your naturally analytical mind surely are the "secret".Lee Cujeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02299605594628708238noreply@blogger.com