The Power Company Climbing Podcast
Sports:Wilderness
Udo Neumann is a climber, performance coach, and motor-learning explorer. He’s the author of several books, including the cult classic Performance Rock Climbing. He was the German National Team coach from 2009 to 2017, working with several European and World Champion athletes during that time, including Jan Hojer and Jule Wurm. Today he advises federations and works with athletes and coaches all over the world.
In this episode, we discuss his ideas around motor learning and coaching movement, whether a coach needs to be as good as the athlete, how he assesses climbers, what makes Janja Garnbret and Tomoa Narasaki special, and what makes the Japanese team so good.
Find Udo online at udini.com and on YouTube.
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🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Performance Rock Climbing by Udo Neumann and Dale Goddard
Episode 482: The Coaching Eye - How Reliably Can Expert Coaches Observe Movement? | The Perception & Action Podcast
Cognitive Bias Codex Infographic from Visual Capitalist
Coaching for Mastery Course
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The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
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📚 CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro and Guest Introduction
(3:09) Have We Overemphasized the Physical?
(7:26) Udo’s Transition to the Ecological Approach to Coaching
(8:42) ANNOTATION: Bernstein, Degrees of Freedom, Repetition Without Repetition
(14:54) Deliberate Play
(29:32) The Athlete Doesn’t Need All of the Information
(32:33) Does a Coach Need to Be Better Than the Climber?
(34:57) Technique vs. Skill
(40:02) Open and Closed Skills
(40:52) ANNOTATION: Open and Closed Skill Continuums
(45:51) Adaptability and Biases in Climbing
(51:07) ANNOTATION: Marshmallow Test and Delayed Gratification
(56:40) What Makes Janja Garnbret So Good?
(59:20) Rhythm and Patience
(1:02:01) How Does Udo Assess Movement Skills?
(1:09:09) How Often Should We Give Explicit Instruction?
(1:16:29) Using Video in Coaching
(1:28:34) Are Comp Boulders Useful for Outdoor Climbers?
(1:32:40) What’s the Secret of the Japanese Team and Tomoa Narasaki?
(1:42:07) Wrap Up
REWIND | Can We Accurately Measure the Movement Skills of Sport Climbers?
EVERY BODY CLIMBS | Ben Mayforth on Discipline, Paraclimbing World Championships, and Letting Go
Nate Drolet | A Consultation with The Struggle Climbing Show
TAPED TIPS | The Setup Mistake Climbers Make on Hard Moves
(BONUS) EXPERT | Will Anglin on Climbing All The Things, the Intersection of Strength and Movement, and the Ultimate Tool
BUILDER | Lauren Abernathy is Building Better Climbing Movement Skills with In-Person Sessions
TAPED TIPS | The Secret to Hard Moves that Most Climbers are Missing
EXPERT | Taylor Reed on Climbing Research and Evidence-Informed Movement Coaching
BOARD MEETINGS | How Much Climbing Skill Is Guaranteed With Experience?
TAPED TIPS | Go Ahead, Grab That Foothold and Be Adaptable
REWIND | BOARD MEETINGS | The Art of Learning Climbing
EXPERT | Rob Gray on How We Learn to Move and the Skill Acquisition for Climbers (Part 2)
EXPERT | Rob Gray on The Gap Between Sports Science Researchers and Coaches (Part 1)
FOCUS | Movement Skills for Climbers
BOARD MEETINGS | Indoor Climbing Lessons You Should Take Outdoors (Bonus Episode)
BOARD MEETINGS | Outdoor Climbing Lessons You Should Take Indoors
BOARD MEETINGS | Improved Learning from Podcasts, Books, and Videos
Hubble vs. Action Directe | The World’s First 14d (9a), Featuring Alex Megos and Buster Martin
REWIND | Hazel Findlay on Flow, Attention, and Letting the Body Climb
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