MASTERCLASS COACHING COURSES FOR CLIMBING INSTRUCTORS at the Westway climbing centre in London
(in association with Climber magazine)
The next coaching course will run from Feb 5th to 8th 2008.
With a growing demand for quality coaching services at climbing walls, it seems that more and more climbing instructors are being asked for training advice by their clients. Neil’s Masterclass coaching course is the only course of it’s kind in the UK which provides climbing instructors with all the practical and theoretical grounding that they need to go out and turn people into better climbers.
What's included
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The Masterclass coaching course is a 4 day residential course and the price (£400 pounds)
includes breakfast, lunch and hotel accommodation. There are 2 non-residential places available on
the course at £275 availalbe on a first come - first served basis.
Please see the FAQ for more details.
Syllabus
The first section of the course examines the role of the coach and helps instructors to make accurate
initial assessments of their clients. It then moves on to look at technique and uses video analysis to
show how advanced climbing movement can be taught using a simple progressive, step-by-step model,
exactly the same way as it’s done in all other sports. The next part of the course is physical training,
which starts with warming up and moves on to look at strength, power and endurance training. Each topic is
introduced in the classroom and detailed supporting theory is provided, including anatomy, biomechanics and
physiology. The climbing wall is then used to show the theory is converted into practical climbing terms.
The final section of the course draws everything together and shows coaches how to set training programs
for their clients using periodisation as a key model. The focus is then turned to mental training,
nutrition and special information for juniors and veteran climbers.
Click here for the full schedule
Who are they aimed at?
Masterclass coaching courses are aimed at climbing instructors who have a high level of enthusiasm
and a reasonably high level of ability. "We don’t want to make these courses too elitist,"
says Neil, "but how are you going to demonstrate perfect steep rock technique to a client if you
can’t climb French 6c with relative ease?"
Assessment and certification.
All those who go through the course are advised to go away and practice their new-found coaching
skills and to keep a coaching log-book for a minimum of six months. They then have the option of returning
for a full assessment that takes place over 2 days. During this they will have to take a written exam as
well as doing practical demonstrations with the use of video analysis. The end result is a
‘Masterclass Coaching Certification’ that will enable climbing instructors to work confidently as
coaches with a high level of capability.
"We want these courses to represent a certain standard of quality coaching and it should be a gold stamp that anyone who has passed the assessment is a good climber and really knows what they’re talking about. Above all else, I think this will be a really good thing for British climbing, So many people aren’t content just to bumble along. The right advice should be on tap for people who have limited time and want to do as well as they can without getting injured."
Course dates