FUN on the FUNdas

Dynamic stretching using the traverse wall

Understanding balance and the centre of gravity

Exercises

Flags and markers

Practise

Yesterday I was at Transition Extreme in Aberdeen running a FUNdamentals of Climbing workshop for the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.

These workshops look at both what and how to coach young people at the first stage of their long term participant development in climbing. The workshops have been run for staff at EICA before but this was the first one to be run for the general public and was a wee personal milestone for me. I remember the epiphany of going to one of the early FUNdas workshops run by their creator Dave Binney (then coach for the British Climbing team) at Alien Rock and to be running one now shows me how far I have come but also how far coaching in climbing has progressed in recent years.

I was ably assisted by Robbie Phillips and we had parents from the Granite City Rock Stars and staff from TE for the day.

Although a lot has changed since I did the workshop first and some of the knowledge available on the workshop is also learnt on Climbing Wall Award however everyone was picking up new points and sharing their own ideas throughout the day- particularly since the MCofS have decided to include an element of Coaching Processes in the workshop (the 'how' to coach rather than just the 'what').

At the end of the day the GCRS parents invited me to run a warmup session for their group and for pizza after their session (thanks guys).

There are more FUNdas dates on the MCofS website (I'm doing one at Glasgow Climbing Centre on March 3rd) or if you have a large team one can be run specifically for you or your organisation. The workshop is of benefit to anyone who introduces people to climbing (young or older, basic or performance level) as both a refresher and an opportunity to share ideas. It may also be accredited prior learning for those hoping to work towards the new MLT Coaching in Climbing Awards when they arrive.