Projecting 5.13: Advanced Mental Strategies for Sending Your Hardest Routes

Projecting 5.13s is no easy feat. To reach this point in your climbing career, you've put in countless hours on the wall, honed your technique, amassed impressive levels of finger and full-body strength, and are ready to tackle your most challenging route yet: 5.13. Physically, you know what to do. You are aware of your weaknesses and know which workouts you need to focus on to address them. The physical part is easy. 

The hard part is ensuring you feel prepared to handle the psychological demands of sending 5.13. When projecting at your limit, you will find yourself physically and mentally tested. It will be hard. You will doubt your own capability. You may be scared. In all of these scenarios, you have to learn to remain calm and confident to have the best chance of sending the route. In pursuit of sending a 5.13, it's worth investing time in mental training and preparation. 

Before You Tie In: Pre-Send Preparations

 Visualize the Climb and Rehearse Your Beta

Before you chalk up and tie in, visualize yourself sending the climb. Go through all the moves (hands and feet) and picture yourself sticking each one. Be as detailed as you can when you visualize the climb. Spend as much time as is necessary visualizing yourself on the climb until it feels easy to envision the send and the journey up the wall. 

Chunk the Climb: Isolate the Hard Moves

Before your attempt, spend multiple sessions isolating the most challenging moves on the climb. Climb or jug up to the sections troubling you the most, and repeat the sequences of moves until you can stick them every time. When you find beta that works, commit the moves and the feeling to memory to recall during your visualization sessions. 

Brainstorm Ways to Be More Energy Efficient

During projecting sessions, take time to determine if your current beta is the most energy-efficient. The climb will feel easiest when you can conserve the most energy. Play around with different betas to see if there's an easier way to link moves together. Can you recruit your leg muscles more to give your upper body some relief? Can you relax your grip on any holds?

Plan Mental “Chalk Ups”

As you piece together sections of the climb, take time to plan out where you'll rest. There are two types of rest to consider: physical and mental. Physical rests are what most people think of: good holds that let you relax your grip, chalk up, and de-pump. Mental rests, or mental "chalk-ups," are a time to reset your nervous system. Use chalking up as a cue to rest, but focus on taking a deep breath, calming your mind, and relaxing your grip. It's easy to get excited as you get closer to the top of the climb, adrenaline rushing. Without meaning to, you can overgrip or lose focus on the moves in front of you, prematurely ending your attempt. 

Dial in Your Inner Dialogue 

Your inner dialogue is powerful; let it work for you, not against you. 

Before you begin, encourage yourself by recalling the hard work you've put in to reach this point. Remember all the climbs you have sent before this one and all that you have proven you are capable of achieving. Most importantly, smile. Find joy and remember why you love the sport. 

On the Wall: The Send Mindset

Focus on One Move at a Time

When you're ready to begin your send attempt, focus on one move at a time. You've rehearsed the climb in your head multiple times at this point, so you know what to do. But thinking about all the moves ahead can distract you from the move you are currently on, potentially causing you to grab holds out of sequence or not put in the effort needed to stick the moves you're immediately facing. 

Remember to Breathe

Your breath is the easiest way to regulate your nervous system and center yourself. Forget to breathe, and you risk pumping out quickly, expending unnecessary energy, and losing the calm, cool confidence you worked hard to find. 

Accept it Will Be Hard.

You're projecting and trying to send 5.13s, which means it will be physically and mentally challenging. You have to accept that; otherwise, you risk panicking on the wall when it gets difficult. Any moment you let panic creep in is an opportunity to get flash-pumped, lose your focus, or make a simple mistake. 

Repeat Helpful Mantras

During your training block leading up to the send attempt, find mantras that resonate with you. Repeat these to yourself when it starts to feel hard, and you sense doubt creeping into your mind. Here are some simple, yet effective mantras that may resonate with you:

• "I am in control."

• "Breathe. I'm okay."

• "I am calm, cool, and collected."

• "I am strong. I am capable."

Post-Attempt (Send or Not)

Whether you send your 5.13 project or not, your inner dialogue when you walk away from the wall will influence your future attempts on 5.13s. 

Count Lessons, Not Mistakes

No matter the outcome, you can always learn from an experience. Humans are eager to point out the negatives and perseverate on the mistakes. Reframe your mindset to see mistakes as lessons. A lesson can give you valuable information to make you a better climber. A lesson is neither good nor bad. It just is. 

Celebrate Your Effort

Be proud of yourself. You chose to challenge yourself, to push your limits. Everything may click and you accomplish your goals, or you may have to try again. Either way, you were courageous, and you'll walk away with valuable information to help fuel your return. 

Remember that you are someone who climbs, you are not a climber.

When you've dedicated so much time to one project, it can become difficult to separate yourself from the climb. You may start tying your identity to the grade, the route, or, more generally, to climbing. Remember that you are someone who climbs, you are not a rock climber. The distinction is subtle, but reminding yourself of this will help you keep your sense of identity distinct from your success (or failure) on the wall. 

Your mind is a powerful tool that can work for you or against you. When facing down your most challenging route yet, you'll want your mental state as honed as your physical. Start implementing mental strategies in the days, weeks, and months leading up to your send attempt. During your attempt, recall helpful mantras, stay in the moment, and focus on your breath. You've prepared as well as you could; you've got this. After your attempt, celebrate your efforts, no matter the outcome. You are an incredible climber, but you're also a human with great qualities off the wall. Cheers to pushing your limits and chasing that 13!