Rachel Mackay Interview
Age?
'I'm 22 at the moment'
How long have you been climbing for?
'I've been climbing since I was about 8 but I stopped when I was about 14 to 18 (years old). I stopped at 14 as I realised how busy I was and needed to make some cuts. I started up again during first year of university as I didn't really do much and I needed something to do, to be involved in, and I remember how much I liked climbing so picked it up and realised I loved the sport'.
'I never stopped going during those years (14 to 18). I would maybe still go once a month or something like that. When I started up again (18 years), I started going twice a week and it escalated quite quickly'.
Are there different types of climbing that you participate in?
'I really like sport climbing. I've got a lot more into bouldering over the past year. And I have done a little bit of trad climbing.'
Which type do you prefer and why?
'I definitely want to take my sport climbing more seriously and I think I use bouldering as a bit of training for it. But since training more frequently, just bouldering, I realise it is actually kinda fun in itself and I quite like to go on a few boulder trips but I wouldn't necessary focus my training on those boulder trips the same way I do for the sport climbing'
'Bouldering feels like on/off, it's really instant, whereas a sport climb, your mind completely switches off because it's so long that you don't have to be like 'oh, I'm on the ground again'.
'I find it easier to try hard (for sport climbing) because I'm doing it for longer. If there's a crux higher up, I think it is easier to try harder at that crux than I would have if that crux was on a boulder itself because I climbed up to it'
'As routes are longer you're tied into it and it's easier to switch into the zone whereas when I'm bouldering I find it harder to go for things'
What grade are you climbing at?
'For sport climbing, I think maybe around 7c at the moment. I could probably say I could do some 8a's outdoors and I'm hoping it will get dry so I can actually do that. For bouldering, the hardest indoors I've done is a 7b+ but most of the time I'm not climbing at that level boulder wise. To be honest, for bouldering I'm not really sure what I'm climbing. I think it really depends on the boulder. If it's crimpy, I could do a lot harder but if it's not my style then it's a lot of grades below.'
'I'm definitely better at red pointing than onsighting for both sport climbing and bouldering. I think I'm better onsighting boulders than I am at sport climbs. I'm not sure why. I think I'm quite bad at onsighting in general. It's not that I cant route read because I can, I just find it hard to get a feel for the movement. Like I know the movement I want to make but I won't be able to get into it until I've tried it a few times.'
How did you get into climbing?
'My granny and grandpa lived in Edinburgh and, once a week, we would go through. Mum and dad randomly booked a day test out at Ratho and I was brought along. I found it a bit frustrating as I was bad at it but I found it fun and they decided to enrol me into Sunday climbing classes.'
'Even as a small kid, I definitely liked a challenge. I think if I get really frustrated it makes me want to do it even more. I think, sometimes, I can get quite negative of frustration but it's definitely a 'just do it' till it works. Frustration is good if I get a chance to go and try it but it's bad if like, for example, when I got a finger injury in October and if there was a route I wanted to do but I was like 'oh, I don't want to pull on that cos my finger will hurt', then I would have this frustration with wanting to get the goal but not be able to do it. Or if I've got work, I get a bit frustrated because I would want to do training but can't accept challenging training because I've got to go to work.'
'For my injury, I decided that stopping climbing for a while was not really an option and I did a lot of research on it and talked to people who did sport science. They said if you completely stop from an injury, the injury might heal quicker but once you start again, you are far more likely to get injured a second time. So the best thing to do is to alter your training around it. You might have to cut your training down so much that it feels like you're not training so I did that but I also stopped climbing on crimps and worked on slopers and powerful moves which is my weakness anyway. So it was kinda liked I focused on a new challenge that I wouldn't have focused on before as I was just enjoying crimps too much. The injury forced me to get on slopers and now, I like slopey problems.'
Did you participate in any other sports beforehand?
'Horse riding, I also did athletics when I was a kid. And a bit of swimming and ice skating for about a year. I was always wanting to do something.'
Sport Specific
What is it about climbing that you love?
'I like feeling really strong and I like the challenge of climbing. I like being good at things and I'm quite good at climbing, so I quite like the positive feedback I get from it. I just love that feeling of trying really hard, pulling through it and afterwards thinking 'ooo, that was really cool!'. Climbing is a really interesting sport. You still get all the sporty feelings of strength and power but it's also got a huge amount of technique. In my opinion, climbing is separated from any other type of sport. It's just you and I think that's another thing I like about it. I find it therapeutic at times.'
'I think getting good at climbing is definitely another thing that drives me. It would feel like a waste if I didn't continue to try and see how far I could go. But then I think other things spur me on like how much I personally enjoy climbing.'
Do you think you're a good climber?
'I think I'm better than average but I think I could be a lot better than I am.'
Who do you aspire to in climbing?
'Paige Claassen who is an American sport climber. The routes she does are routes I find look really cool and they are the sort of routes I can see myself do if I could climb that grade.
'Just people that really try hard and make gains'
What makes this person good at what they do?
'Paige has impeccable technique. She tries things repeatedly until it gets done. She gets to travel the world and climb, she has the life I want.'
What makes you a good climber?
'I think I'm very good at crimps, I can hold onto nearly nothing when it comes down to crimps. I think I've got quite good technique but I don't think I have the best power. I try things repeatedly especially when I'm by myself and there's not much going on around me. This is especially when it comes down to bouldering. In bouldering sessions if I'm here in the morning on a Tuesday and there's nobody here apart from me and the staff, I'll do something until it goes.'
Barrier(s) Specific
What issues/barriers do you think you have in your sport?
(Main barrier) 'If my feet aren't on, I find it so hard to do any move even ladders and I think that translates into my climbing. For example, when my feet cut loose or if there is a really powerful move, you can't really use your feet for it and I find that really tricky. I think I'm very much focused on my feet when it comes to my climbing. My upper body strength, it's obviously there, but it's not engaged in the same way. Like I think most people who climb the grade I climb, are much stronger than I am. That's the main issue.'
'Other issues are not getting outside enough. Half of it is down to the weather, the other half I think I'm not persistent enough with trying to get outside. If I ask a few people and they're all a bit busy I won't then ask people who I kind of know but kind of don't know, and I think I need to start doing that rather than sticking to people I know very well to have trips with.'
'I should start doing lead comps. My hesitation to do them is probably a barrier. I've been saying I should do them for three years and I've not really done anything about it. I think I'm scared of being shit.'
(Main barrier) 'Overhangs.'
'A little bit of slopers but I've got a lot better at them recently so not so much.'
'Maybe confidence'.
How have you dealt with your main barriers so far? (Current coping strategies)
'I've maybe got on a lot more overhanging routes. I've been trying to do that but not necessarily decided to start targeting it more specifically. I think that's something I need to do but it's the same thing as like if I wanted to do campus boarding without my feet on, I have to do it at a climbing centre and then I don't want to look like one of those people that goes over and grabs onto the campus board and everyone looks at them thinking 'is their finger going to snap, they've not done that before'.
Psychology Specific
What do you think sport psychology is?
'It's a tool that athletes use to get better at their sport. I don't really understand the techniques behind it but I know it's used for that but not necessarily how helpful it would be'.
Have you participated in any sport psychology before?
'No'
'I know about visualisation but I don't think I do use visualisation properly. I do visualisation if I'm like travelling or listening to music, and I'll be like 'oh, I want to climb this climb' and I will fantasise about climbing it rather than actually doing it in a productive sense'.
'If I see others doing a route, it's a lot easier. I don't necessary go out my way to do that though. Sometimes, I quite like finding it out for myself but I quite like trying it different ways and trying out other people's beta and seeing what other people do with it. I think I get more opportunities to do that in bouldering than sport climbing'.
How important do you think sport psychology is?
'I think it hard to think about how important it will be for my climbing but I assume it must be important when you think about other professional climbers that use it or in other sports like athletics, tennis, football. If it wasn't that important then it wouldn't be that widespread and used'.
Name three psychological skills you believe you are good at?
'Persistence, obsession (but not sure if that's a skill) and self belief (knowing that I can get there. Knowing that eventually that if I do put the effort in then my goals will happen)'.
Jan 2016
Age?
'I'm 22 at the moment'
How long have you been climbing for?
'I've been climbing since I was about 8 but I stopped when I was about 14 to 18 (years old). I stopped at 14 as I realised how busy I was and needed to make some cuts. I started up again during first year of university as I didn't really do much and I needed something to do, to be involved in, and I remember how much I liked climbing so picked it up and realised I loved the sport'.
'I never stopped going during those years (14 to 18). I would maybe still go once a month or something like that. When I started up again (18 years), I started going twice a week and it escalated quite quickly'.
Are there different types of climbing that you participate in?
'I really like sport climbing. I've got a lot more into bouldering over the past year. And I have done a little bit of trad climbing.'
Which type do you prefer and why?
'I definitely want to take my sport climbing more seriously and I think I use bouldering as a bit of training for it. But since training more frequently, just bouldering, I realise it is actually kinda fun in itself and I quite like to go on a few boulder trips but I wouldn't necessary focus my training on those boulder trips the same way I do for the sport climbing'
'Bouldering feels like on/off, it's really instant, whereas a sport climb, your mind completely switches off because it's so long that you don't have to be like 'oh, I'm on the ground again'.
'I find it easier to try hard (for sport climbing) because I'm doing it for longer. If there's a crux higher up, I think it is easier to try harder at that crux than I would have if that crux was on a boulder itself because I climbed up to it'
'As routes are longer you're tied into it and it's easier to switch into the zone whereas when I'm bouldering I find it harder to go for things'
What grade are you climbing at?
'For sport climbing, I think maybe around 7c at the moment. I could probably say I could do some 8a's outdoors and I'm hoping it will get dry so I can actually do that. For bouldering, the hardest indoors I've done is a 7b+ but most of the time I'm not climbing at that level boulder wise. To be honest, for bouldering I'm not really sure what I'm climbing. I think it really depends on the boulder. If it's crimpy, I could do a lot harder but if it's not my style then it's a lot of grades below.'
'I'm definitely better at red pointing than onsighting for both sport climbing and bouldering. I think I'm better onsighting boulders than I am at sport climbs. I'm not sure why. I think I'm quite bad at onsighting in general. It's not that I cant route read because I can, I just find it hard to get a feel for the movement. Like I know the movement I want to make but I won't be able to get into it until I've tried it a few times.'
How did you get into climbing?
'My granny and grandpa lived in Edinburgh and, once a week, we would go through. Mum and dad randomly booked a day test out at Ratho and I was brought along. I found it a bit frustrating as I was bad at it but I found it fun and they decided to enrol me into Sunday climbing classes.'
'Even as a small kid, I definitely liked a challenge. I think if I get really frustrated it makes me want to do it even more. I think, sometimes, I can get quite negative of frustration but it's definitely a 'just do it' till it works. Frustration is good if I get a chance to go and try it but it's bad if like, for example, when I got a finger injury in October and if there was a route I wanted to do but I was like 'oh, I don't want to pull on that cos my finger will hurt', then I would have this frustration with wanting to get the goal but not be able to do it. Or if I've got work, I get a bit frustrated because I would want to do training but can't accept challenging training because I've got to go to work.'
'For my injury, I decided that stopping climbing for a while was not really an option and I did a lot of research on it and talked to people who did sport science. They said if you completely stop from an injury, the injury might heal quicker but once you start again, you are far more likely to get injured a second time. So the best thing to do is to alter your training around it. You might have to cut your training down so much that it feels like you're not training so I did that but I also stopped climbing on crimps and worked on slopers and powerful moves which is my weakness anyway. So it was kinda liked I focused on a new challenge that I wouldn't have focused on before as I was just enjoying crimps too much. The injury forced me to get on slopers and now, I like slopey problems.'
Did you participate in any other sports beforehand?
'Horse riding, I also did athletics when I was a kid. And a bit of swimming and ice skating for about a year. I was always wanting to do something.'
Sport Specific
What is it about climbing that you love?
'I like feeling really strong and I like the challenge of climbing. I like being good at things and I'm quite good at climbing, so I quite like the positive feedback I get from it. I just love that feeling of trying really hard, pulling through it and afterwards thinking 'ooo, that was really cool!'. Climbing is a really interesting sport. You still get all the sporty feelings of strength and power but it's also got a huge amount of technique. In my opinion, climbing is separated from any other type of sport. It's just you and I think that's another thing I like about it. I find it therapeutic at times.'
'I think getting good at climbing is definitely another thing that drives me. It would feel like a waste if I didn't continue to try and see how far I could go. But then I think other things spur me on like how much I personally enjoy climbing.'
Do you think you're a good climber?
'I think I'm better than average but I think I could be a lot better than I am.'
Who do you aspire to in climbing?
'Paige Claassen who is an American sport climber. The routes she does are routes I find look really cool and they are the sort of routes I can see myself do if I could climb that grade.
'Just people that really try hard and make gains'
What makes this person good at what they do?
'Paige has impeccable technique. She tries things repeatedly until it gets done. She gets to travel the world and climb, she has the life I want.'
What makes you a good climber?
'I think I'm very good at crimps, I can hold onto nearly nothing when it comes down to crimps. I think I've got quite good technique but I don't think I have the best power. I try things repeatedly especially when I'm by myself and there's not much going on around me. This is especially when it comes down to bouldering. In bouldering sessions if I'm here in the morning on a Tuesday and there's nobody here apart from me and the staff, I'll do something until it goes.'
Barrier(s) Specific
What issues/barriers do you think you have in your sport?
(Main barrier) 'If my feet aren't on, I find it so hard to do any move even ladders and I think that translates into my climbing. For example, when my feet cut loose or if there is a really powerful move, you can't really use your feet for it and I find that really tricky. I think I'm very much focused on my feet when it comes to my climbing. My upper body strength, it's obviously there, but it's not engaged in the same way. Like I think most people who climb the grade I climb, are much stronger than I am. That's the main issue.'
'Other issues are not getting outside enough. Half of it is down to the weather, the other half I think I'm not persistent enough with trying to get outside. If I ask a few people and they're all a bit busy I won't then ask people who I kind of know but kind of don't know, and I think I need to start doing that rather than sticking to people I know very well to have trips with.'
'I should start doing lead comps. My hesitation to do them is probably a barrier. I've been saying I should do them for three years and I've not really done anything about it. I think I'm scared of being shit.'
(Main barrier) 'Overhangs.'
'A little bit of slopers but I've got a lot better at them recently so not so much.'
'Maybe confidence'.
How have you dealt with your main barriers so far? (Current coping strategies)
'I've maybe got on a lot more overhanging routes. I've been trying to do that but not necessarily decided to start targeting it more specifically. I think that's something I need to do but it's the same thing as like if I wanted to do campus boarding without my feet on, I have to do it at a climbing centre and then I don't want to look like one of those people that goes over and grabs onto the campus board and everyone looks at them thinking 'is their finger going to snap, they've not done that before'.
Psychology Specific
What do you think sport psychology is?
'It's a tool that athletes use to get better at their sport. I don't really understand the techniques behind it but I know it's used for that but not necessarily how helpful it would be'.
Have you participated in any sport psychology before?
'No'
'I know about visualisation but I don't think I do use visualisation properly. I do visualisation if I'm like travelling or listening to music, and I'll be like 'oh, I want to climb this climb' and I will fantasise about climbing it rather than actually doing it in a productive sense'.
'If I see others doing a route, it's a lot easier. I don't necessary go out my way to do that though. Sometimes, I quite like finding it out for myself but I quite like trying it different ways and trying out other people's beta and seeing what other people do with it. I think I get more opportunities to do that in bouldering than sport climbing'.
How important do you think sport psychology is?
'I think it hard to think about how important it will be for my climbing but I assume it must be important when you think about other professional climbers that use it or in other sports like athletics, tennis, football. If it wasn't that important then it wouldn't be that widespread and used'.
Name three psychological skills you believe you are good at?
'Persistence, obsession (but not sure if that's a skill) and self belief (knowing that I can get there. Knowing that eventually that if I do put the effort in then my goals will happen)'.
Jan 2016