Taylor Reed is a climber and coach who has worked with high-level athletes – both competitive and outdoor climbers – for many years. He’s the vice president of the International Rock Climbing Research Association and also runs The Beta Angel Project, which takes climbing-specific research and synthesizes it with ideas and experience in order to find evidence-informed methods that can help us all become better coaches and climbers.
In this episode, we discuss how Taylor assesses movement, how he teaches it, and what role research plays in his overall coaching.
Find Taylor online at:
The Beta Angel Project
International Rock Climbing Research Association (IRCRA)
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🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
Research mentioned in the episode:
Austrian Research Paper and Write Up
Co-Contraction Paper and Write Up
Multi-Edge Decision-Making / Behavioral Change Paper
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Why “Technique” May Not Be The Answer to Better Climbing
EXPERT | Rob Gray | The Gap Between Researchers and Coaches (Part 1)
EXPERT | Rob Gray | How We Learn to Move and Skill Acquisition for Climbers (Part 2)
BOARD MEETINGS | The Art of Learning Climbing
BREAKING BETA | Better Call Paul | How Should Climbing Research Be Standardized?
BREAKING BETA | Better Call Paul | IRCRA Test Battery
Taylor Reed and Bella Jariel | The Coach/Climber Dynamic
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Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
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📚CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(2:40) How Much Does Research Inform Taylor’s Coaching?
(3:48) ANNOTATION: Evidence-Based vs. Evidence-Informed
(10:15) What Aspects of Research Are Most Applicable?
(12:53) Looking Outside of Climbing Research
(13:50) ANNOTATION: Reinvestment Theory
(15:37) Speed Climbing
(19:53) Information Processing vs. Ecological Dynamics for Climbing
(30:32) Thematic Movement Learning
(47:40) Movement Assessment
(1:02:48) Teaching Movement
(1:05:22) ANNOTATION: Differential Learning
(1:08:19) ANNOTATION: Attractor Valleys
(1:16:03) How Much Does the Athlete Need to Know?
(1:20:58) ANNOTATION: Leading By Example
(1:22:48) Do Comp Style Climbs Translate to Outdoors?
(1:27:38) What Is Still Missing From the Research?
(1:32:55) Wrap Up
(1:35:06) Theme
