Whether you've never had a coaching session before or you're just curious about how I work, this post explains exactly what happens in my coaching sessions. Hopefully it demonstrates a clear picture of the process from start to finish.

Before the session

A little preparation goes a long way. Once you've booked a session, I'll send you a short questionnaire to fill in ahead of time. It covers things like your climbing background, the grades you're currently working at, what you feel is holding you back, and what is realistic in terms of what you can commit to your climbing.

This isn't homework for the sake of it — it means we hit the ground running rather than spending the first chunk of our time together figuring out the basics. The more honest you are in your answers, the more useful our time together will be. Sometimes it is worth asking friends or climbing partners for their observations before completing this.

The Initial Conversation

We'll always start with a chat. I want to understand where you're at right now — what's feeling good, what's frustrating you, and what progress (if any) you feel like you've been making.

This is also where we talk about your goals. Not just the vague "I want to climb harder" kind, but the real stuff: what grades are you chasing, do you have any dream routes?, what movement problems keep coming up, what does success actually look like for you? If you haven't thought much about goals before, that's completely fine — part of what I do is help you understand what you actually want and what's realistic to work towards.

By the end of this conversation, we'll have a shared understanding of where you want to go and where we are starting from.

Watching You Climb

I'll ask you to climb across a range of wall angles and styles — slabs, vertical walls, steeper terrain, and anything in between. I'm not looking for you to perform your best or try to impress anyone. I want to see how you actually climb: your default movement patterns, how you read routes, how you use your feet, what habits you have, how you respond when things get hard.

Different angles and styles reveal different things. You might be at home on a vertical wall but fall apart on an overhang, or you might have great power but struggle with the patience and precision that slab demands. Seeing you across a variety of terrain gives me a good picture of your climbing.

Physical Testing and Benchmarking (If Relevant)

Depending on your goals and what comes up during the session, I may suggest some physical testing — things like finger strength, pulling strength, or a simple fitness benchmark. This isn't something I push on everyone; it depends on whether it's actually going to be useful for you.

If we do go down this route, it's not about judging where you are — it's about having a starting point we can measure against later. Progress is a lot easier to see (and a lot more motivating) when you have actual numbers to compare.

Feedback and Next Steps

Once we've had a good look at your climbing and discussed what we've seen, I'll share my observations with you. What's working well, what's getting in your way, and — most importantly — what I think will make the biggest difference if you focus on it.

We'll then put together some clear next steps. This might be specific drills, movement exercises, training suggestions, or simply a few things to think about and experiment with next time you're at the wall. The goal is that you leave with something concrete and actionable, not a vague list of things to "work on".

If it feels like a longer-term coaching relationship would be useful, we can talk about what that looks like. But there's no pressure — a single session is designed to be genuinely useful on its own. Further sessions might include specific coaching or a 12 week training plan or an outdoor coaching session.

Ready to Book?

If any of this sounds like what you've been looking for, I'd love to work with you. Feel free to get in touch with any questions, or just go ahead and book a session — the questionnaire will land in your inbox and we can take it from there.

I currently coach across the Midlands area and have a good working relationship with many walls from Worcester in the West all the way across to Nottingham. If your further away we can discuss how we can make that work.