🌏 中文版
You've entered your first regional competition. You climb well at the gym, but on comp day you first wait over an hour in a room where you can't see the wall. When you're called out, you get a few minutes to look at the route, then you climb it once in front of a crowd. When you're done, you're done. There's no second go.
This is post 3 of the Climbing Mental Game and Tactics series. Post 2 covered fear of failure and pre-attempt routines; this post takes them into competition. The full rules (formats, disciplines, scoring details, how to enter Taiwanese events) belong to this site's climbing competitions series. This post covers only the rules that matter for mindset and in-the-moment tactics.
The rules here follow the World Climbing (formerly IFSC) Competition Rules, version 3, January 2026 and the Event Regulations. Taiwan's national competitions usually state that they follow IFSC rules. For example, the Chinese Taipei Alpine Association's 2024 national youth bouldering tour regulations (in Mandarin) say they are "based on the 2024 IFSC sport climbing rules". Regional and gym-run comps often simplify things, so read that event's own rules when you enter.
How a comp differs from a gym session
Break a competition down and you get four constraints that normal training doesn't have:
| Constraint | What the international rules say | Psychological effect |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | In onsight rounds, once the warm-up area closes you stay inside until called to observe or climb; in boulder, the call zone is set up so you can't see boulders you haven't tried | Long waits, no idea what the route looks like |
| Limited observation | Lead onsight rounds get 6 minutes of collective observation, plus 40 seconds when you walk out to climb; the boulder final gets 2 minutes of collective observation per boulder | You have to read a whole route very fast |
| Limited time | Lead: one attempt per route. Boulder: as many attempts as fit in the time, 5 minutes per boulder in qualification and semi-final, up to 4 minutes in the final | Lead: you can't learn as you go. Boulder: every fall eats into the clock |
| Audience | Comps are public. When your name is called, you walk from quiet isolation into lights and noise | Being watched, being judged |
The sport-psychology practice Climbing Psychology, in its competition-prep article, describes isolation like this (the routine, imagery and reset advice in this post also comes from that article, and counts as coaching consensus). It looks calm but it's full of tension: someone stretching, someone in headphones, conversations stopping mid-sentence, a setter walking past. When your category is called, the noise of the venue replaces the quiet.
Something you can do tonight: find the rules for the competition you're entering and pull out four things: is there isolation, how long is observation, how much time per boulder or route, and how is it scored. Write them on one sheet of paper.
What competition nerves feel like in the body
Vrdoljak et al. (2024) in Croatia took saliva samples from 12 competitors at a national bouldering competition. Cortisol and α-amylase rose from before to after each round. In this one competition with 12 climbers, cortisol before qualification was higher than before the final, so the first round isn't necessarily less stressful than the final (research, a single small sample).
Taiwanese national-team climber Yao Ting-chen (姚廷蓁), in an OUTSiDERS interview (in Mandarin), recalled her first national youth championship in 2014: "I don't know if it was the cold or my nerves, but my whole body was shaking, my muscles were stiffer, and climbing felt different from usual." She later described how her view of competition pressure changed: "It became something that fired me up and pushed me past my usual level."
One study also points the same way: nerves aren't always bad. Sanchez et al. (2010) had 19 elite male climbers fill in anxiety questionnaires before an international competition. The successful climbers reported more somatic anxiety beforehand, and climbed the hardest section more slowly. Even after accounting for differences in ability, pre-competition psychological state was still linked to success. It's a correlational study, so it can't show the anxiety helped them.
Competition nerves aren't the problem; an uncontained response to them is (coaching consensus). The goal is to build structure around the nerves so they stop taking over your attention and your routine.
Something you can do tonight: think back to your last really nervous climb and write down what your body did: shaking hands, shaking legs, a tight stomach, needing the toilet, shallow breathing. When the same things show up on comp day, you'll know they're normal, not a sign you're off form.
A pre-competition routine: make your decisions early
The plainer the routine, the better. What matters is that you can still do it when you're nervous (coaching consensus):
- A sleep and food plan for the day before and the day itself.
- A warm-up you can follow even when nervous.
- A breathing or grounding exercise.
- One or two cue words or intentions for the day.
- What you'll listen to, eat and drink, decided in advance.
The reasoning: every decision you make in advance is one you don't have to make with adrenaline in your system.
Plan your time in isolation too. If you know roughly where you are in the running order, you can work backwards to when to start warming up, instead of trying to stay "warm" for hours.
Something you can do tonight: write a comp-day schedule: when you get up, what you eat, when you arrive, how long before your turn you start warming up, and which climbs you warm up on. Some time in the next two weeks, follow it exactly on one gym day.
What you can do during observation
The international rules on collective observation are clear:
- In lead you may touch holds you can reach from the ground; in boulder only the start holds.
- Binoculars are allowed, and so are hand-written notes and route sketches.
- No photos, no video.
- You may share what you've seen with other competitors while neither of you has climbed yet, and again once you've both finished.
How to read a route (where to look, how to sequence hands, where to clip) is covered in post 4: onsight and flash and resting, route reading and setting your own problems. What a comp adds is doing it in 6 minutes and remembering it.
Competition imagery fits right after observation (coaching consensus). Visualise at real speed, no fast-forwarding, and include breathing, rhythm and how your body feels. Also rehearse how you'll respond when something goes wrong: missing a hold, getting pumped, unexpected beta, or watching a rival send.
Something you can do tonight: pick a route you haven't climbed at the gym. Set a 6-minute timer, look without touching, and sketch the start, clips, rests and crux in a notebook. When time's up, put the notes away, close your eyes and run it once at real speed, then go climb it.
Boulder comps: when to change strategy
From 2025 the World Cup boulder format switched to points. Per the World Climbing announcement and the 2026 Event Regulations: a top scores 25, a zone 10, each failed attempt costs 0.1, and each boulder counts whichever of the two is higher.
Inside Climbing's analysis spells out the tactical consequences:
- A failed attempt costs only 0.1, wherever you fall, before or after the zone, so flashing matters less.
- Across two boulders, a flash on A plus a zone on the second try on B (25 + 9.9) scores the same as a top on the second try on A plus a flashed zone on B (24.9 + 10).
- The zone is worth 10 to reward consistency across boulders.
Working back from the scoring (inference): secure the zone on every boulder first, then go for the top, and don't hold back on attempts out of fear of the deduction.
So how many attempts? McKellar et al. (2023) in Canada analysed video of 56 boulders from the 2019 World Cup finals (old scoring). Whatever the boulder style, the success rate after the 6th attempt was zero (excluding one outlier).
The authors also state the limits: only finalists were studied; six attempts is an "absolute cut-off" for a top, not a target for every boulder; and if you still don't have the zone by the 6th attempt, more attempts at the zone may be worth it.
Applying this to amateur comps is inference: if you've tried a boulder about five times without topping it and already have the zone, saving your remaining time and energy for the next boulder is usually the better deal. The data come from the old scoring; under the new rules an extra attempt costs only 0.1, so the incentives aren't quite the same. For Taiwanese comps, go by that event's rules.
Something you can do tonight: next time you boulder at the gym, give each problem a 4-minute timer and log every attempt and whether you got the zone. Afterwards, look at which attempt you usually top on, and after which attempt you never succeed.
How to reset between attempts
Boulder comps are rarely decided on the first attempt; what happens between attempts often decides the result. A reset between attempts has three parts (coaching consensus):
- A short physical reset: move lightly, stretch, drink.
- A breath that slows your nervous system down.
- A cue that brings your attention back to this boulder.
For example: three slow exhales, a look at one specific hold, one clear intention said to yourself. Self-talk in comps should be short, specific and kind: say what to do, not what not to do, and point at the process, not the result. "Breathe, trust your feet, commit to the crux" beats "don't blow this".
Something you can do tonight: pick your three-step reset and write it on one line, e.g. "three exhales, look at the start hold, say 'feet first'". This week, do it every time you come off a boulder.
The crowd: some love it, some dread it
In Climbing magazine's article on verbal encouragement, senior editor and former champion competition climber Delaney Miller says listening to the crowd was one of her favourite parts of competing. Others in the same article find lots of noise from onlookers distracting. In the magazine's Instagram Stories poll (about 3,500 responses per question), "Do you like onlookers to encourage you?" split 51 to 49.
You don't have to like crowds; you just need to know in advance which kind of climber you are. If noise bothers you, practise your reset until you don't need quiet to do it. If you like being watched, be careful not to let the buzz carry you past your plan.
Something you can do tonight: go to the gym at its busiest time and deliberately run your pre-attempt routine and your reset on the wall where everyone can see you.
After the competition
In the interview, Yao says she films her training and reviews it, and that she tries to "face the anxiety and find where it comes from". She found she sometimes fixated on finishing a route and missed what that session was really for. Once she focused on the content of each session, she felt she'd met her goal even without sending, and she was less anxious.
She also describes a time when a travel delay made her miss check-in for a World Cup in Japan and lose her place. Afterwards she slumped so badly she couldn't make finals even at domestic events, and she eventually saw a counsellor, which helped her see how hard that blow had hit. When results keep sliding and climbing stops being fun, getting professional help is a practical choice.
Something you can do tonight: on the day you get back from a comp, write three lines: one thing that went to plan, one thing to change next time, and one thing you enjoyed that has nothing to do with the result.
Practice: four scenarios
1. You stay "warm" in isolation by climbing on the warm-up wall from the moment you arrive, and by your turn you're already a bit tired.
Answer
If you know roughly where you are in the running order, you can work back to when to warm up. Make decisions like warm-up and food in advance, and rehearse the same schedule once at the gym before the comp.
2. During the 6-minute observation for the lead final, you want to photograph the route so you can study it back in isolation.
Answer
The international rules ban photos and video, but binoculars, hand-written notes and route sketches are allowed. Practise sketching the start, clips, rests and crux within 6 minutes in normal sessions.
3. In a boulder comp you already have the zone on one problem. You've had 6 attempts, all falling at the last move, with 1 minute left and the next boulder still untried.
Answer
In McKellar 2023's data from the 2019 World Cup finals, almost nobody topped after the 6th attempt. The zone is banked, so using the remaining time to rest and prepare for the next boulder is usually the better deal. This is inference: the data come from top climbers under the old scoring, an extra attempt now costs only 0.1, and in the end it depends on your energy and the event's rules.
4. You're very nervous before the comp, your hands are shaking, and you're sure you'll climb badly.
Answer
Sanchez 2010 found the successful elite climbers reported more somatic anxiety before competing, and Yao describes competition pressure as something that fires her up. Nerves are a normal response. Follow your routine and bring your attention back to your breathing and the first move.
Next
Most lead routes in comps are onsight, and so is your first go on a route at the crag. Post 4: onsight and flash covers how long to look, what to look for and when to commit on your first try.
References
- World Climbing Competition Rules, Version 3 (January 2026)
- World Climbing Event Regulations, Version 3 (January 2026)
- New rule changes take effect for IFSC World Cup Series 2025 (World Climbing)
- A Deep Dive in to the 2025 IFSC Boulder Format (Inside Climbing, 2025)
- Chinese Taipei Alpine Association: 2024 national youth bouldering tour regulations (in Mandarin)
- How to Mentally Prepare for a Climbing Competition (Climbing Psychology)
- Vrdoljak D, et al. Hormonal response during official bouldering competition (J Sports Med Phys Fitness, 2024)
- Sanchez X, Boschker MSJ, Llewellyn DJ. Pre-performance psychological states and performance in an elite climbing competition (Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2010)
- McKellar BJ, et al. Time Management Strategies of Rock Climbers in World Cup Bouldering Finals (J Hum Kinet, 2023)
- Interview: Yao Ting-chen, a rising star of Taiwanese women's climbing (OUTSiDERS) (in Mandarin)
- Matt Samet: Do Climbers Actually Like Being Cheered On? (Climbing, 2023)
- Fear of failure: series post 2
- Resting, route reading and setting your own problems