Cognitive Factors that Influence the Relationship between Sports Experience and Climbing Performance in Youth Romanian Climbers View PDF

^*Vasile Antonia Ioana
Medicine, National University Of Physical Education And Sports, Bucharest, Romania

^*Corresponding Author:

Vasile Antonia Ioana
Medicine, National University Of Physical Education And Sports, Bucharest, Romania
Email:antoniaioana97.vasile@gmail.com

Published on: 2022-10-05

Abstract

Objective: Climbing performance can be divided into two types: on-sight climbing and red point climbing. There is a difference between motor climbing performance as a personal best route climbed by an athlete and competitive performance being a social comparison regime between athletes. The objective of the present study was to determine if and how some cognitive factors (spatial orientation and reaction time) can influence the predictive relationship between sports experience and sports performance at youth elite climbers.

Methods: The study was conducted on 17 youth climbers. The inclusion criteria were age, a minimum of three trainings per week, the minimum climbing grade 7a and active participation in internal and/or external competitions. We used the Cognitrom battery to apply the tests of measuring spatial skills and speed in reactions.

Results: As the sport experience and competitive experience increase, the spatial skills decrease. As climber’s competitive performance increases, so do their spatial skills and ability to generate mental images. Reaction time in elections moderates the relationship between sports experience and on-sight climbing performance.

Conclusions: There are significant correlations between certain cognitive factors and experience, but also climbing performance. Cognitive variables differently influence the relationship between experience and on-sight performance versus red point performance.

Keywords

Sports Climbing, Elite Climbers, Cognition, Reaction Time, Spatial Orientation

Introduction

Climbing combines multiple forms of training, being a complex task for the motor system developing coordination, balance, body stabilization because it needs the simultaneous coordination of all four limbs. Every new route request different and new combinations of visual, spatial, kinaestetic and motor processing, being a completely acyclic physical activity [1]. The exact planning of moving sequences is crucial for a successful climb.

Sport climbing has three branches of climbing, depending on the style of ascent [2]: lead climbing, bouldering and speed climbing. The style of ascent depends on the safety protocol in case of a fall. In a bouldering setting a route is short enough in a matter of height so that the climber is protected by crash mats [3]. Longer routes which are classified for lead climbing need a rope and secure bolts, so that in the event of a fall the climber will be arrested by the trailing rope [4].

Giles D, et al. (2014) [5], highlight the importance of the prior knowledge of a route as being an important factor which impacts how the ascent is completed. Thus, climbing performance can be measured in three ways: on-sight, flash and red point climbing [6]. On sight means without any prior knowledge of the route and how to climb it. Flash means completing a route in the first try with some knowledge about how to climb it, but never actually tried it before the ascent. Red point performance means completing the route after repeated tries. The on-sight performance is considered the purest form of ascent, but it is also speculated that red point climbing will conclude a climber’s absolute maximum climbing grade [5,7].

The performance in climbing is measured by the grade of the route climbed by the athlete. The climbs’ difficulty is dictated by the size of the holds, the quality of the holds, by how many footholds are available, the spacing between holds, the length and the angle of the route. There is a standardized measure for route grades, using the UIAA scale, where routes are graded from 4a to 9c [8], but the climbers who can achieve the 7a grade of a route are considered elite climbers [9]. Studies have shown that on sight climbing is linked to more stress and anxiety in comparison to red point climb of the same route, indicated by greater climbing time, greater cognitive and somatic anxiety [10].

There is a difference between climbing performance (as a personal best route climbed by an athlete) and competitive performance (being a social comparison between climbers in the competition format). Also, studies have already shown that successful climbers are significantly more experienced in terms of years of participating in the sport and years of participating in lead climbing [8].