People often assume that training and competition primarily consume physical energy, and that with good athletic ability and technical skills, ideal results can be achieved in competitions. However, scientific evidence now shows that both physical and psychological energy are expended during training and competition. Without proper psychological training, even excellent physical and technical preparation can hardly lead to outstanding performance in competitions.
American scholar Rainer Martens pointed out: “For beginner and intermediate athletes, 80% of performance depends on biomechanical factors, while 20% on psychological factors. For advanced athletes, the ratio is reversed—80% psychological and 20% biomechanical.” Therefore, psychological training should become an essential component of a rock climber’s training regimen.
Psychological training involves consciously influencing the athlete’s mental processes (including cognitive, emotional, and volitional processes) and individual psychological traits. It aims to develop various necessary positive mental qualities and equip athletes with methods to regulate their own psychological states, thereby preparing them mentally to better engage in training and complete complex competitive tasks. The essence of psychological phenomena is essentially conditioned reflexes.
Rock climbing competitions take place without guidance, requiring athletes to act independently. Different routes cannot rely solely on pre-competition plans but must be adjusted based on factors such as holds, route lines, angle difficulty, personal stamina, and more. During this time, maintaining stable emotions is key to achieving the best psychological state. Stable emotions enable athletes to stay calm, focused, and courageous, filling them with confidence in victory, boosting their energy and fighting spirit, increasing muscle strength, and enhancing adaptability—ultimately reaching or even surpassing expected performance levels. Conversely, anxiety can lead to restlessness, tension, and indecision, reducing athletic capability and competition results.
Emotion is a manifestation of psychology, and stabilizing emotions requires an appropriate psychological readiness, which includes clear motivation for competing, strong awareness of training and participation, as well as the athlete's perceptual abilities, attention span, memory, imagination, thinking, etc. During training, the second signal system—including the use of correct imagery and silent self-talk, self-suggestion techniques, as well as the coach’s accurate cues and proper movement analysis—must be utilized. This helps establish conditioned reflex connections between the second signal system (language, consciousness) and the first signal system (muscles, sensations). Through repeated reinforcement, an athlete’s entire technical movement transitions from the "conscious" stage to the "automatic" stage. In other words, the athlete becomes less blindly conscious during movement, the perceptual level of actions improves, and the influence of emotion on movement is reduced.
During competitions, factors such as environment, perception, atmosphere, and opponents’ performances can directly affect an athlete’s emotions. To counter negative impacts, aside from focusing on one’s own movements, information avoidance strategies can also be used. For instance, during a climb, silently repeating phrases like “up, up, up” or counting “one, two, three, four…” can redirect thoughts inward—to bodily sensations, focused mind, steady and powerful heartbeat—bringing the mood to a calmer state. When reaching a certain height, athletes experience high physical exertion and intense emotional fluctuations. Should they push upward or give up? Positive signals from the brain, such as reflections of past successes, can boost confidence and fighting spirit, motivating them to keep going. But if these signals are echoes of past failures, reactivating those negative images, anxiety and impatience will quickly arise. In such cases, athletes must establish correct thought patterns and maintain a positive internal visualization to prevent adverse cognitive effects. Additionally, using positive self-affirmations like “stay calm, relax,” “everything is normal,” “I feel great,” or “I will succeed” can serve as self-encouragement and emotional regulation. Of course, positive emotional fluctuations—such as moderate tension—can also trigger beneficial stress responses, which is exactly what we aim to achieve.
In short, psychological training is a vital training method and an indispensable task for improving athletic performance. Its primary impact is not on the body, but on the nervous system. As such, it needs to be conducted regularly, planned, and sustained over the long term to yield significant results.