Got lead certified recently, but I pretty much drop a grade when climbing lead - I’m not as confident and I overgrip.

I’ve done lead falls, I know how to do 'em well, and yet… as someone who’s done top rope for many years, it’s scary not feeling the tension (however small) of a rope pulling your harness up.

  • z3bra@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    It’s totally normal to be afraid to fall, especially if you just recently got certified. The best way to overcome that, is get used to that feeling by practicing.

    When I started climbing again a few years ago, I made the same conclusion as you: there was a full grade between my top rope and lead climbings. At this point I decided to simply stop doing top rope entirely, to get used to lead. It took months, but it worked great ! I took many falls of course, and sometimes forced myself into trying moves even though I knew I would fall (rather than asking my partner to catch me).

    This is the best advice I could give you: only do lead climbing for a few months, until it becomes natural to you, and take a moment after each fall to appreciate how smooth it was :)

    And just so you don’t feel too bad about it: you will always be scared to fall, it’s natural, especially when you’re above the clip, and not sure about your move. But at some point, you will simply be confident enough to go over it, and trust your fingers and foot more than your brain!

  • scutiger@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Exposure therapy. The more falls you take, the less anxiety you’ll feel when facing the next fall.

    Unfortunately, the fear comes back over time if you don’t take falls, so you need to keep doing it. As they say, if you’re not falling, you’re not trying hard enough.

    • gravitational_anomaly@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The more falls you take, the less anxiety you’ll feel when facing the next fall.

      I have experienced the opposite. The longer I’ve been leading, the more afraid of falling I become.