Role of strategic planning in climbing performance: The case of olympic bouldering

Bouldering is an Olympic discipline that encompasses a series of short climbing sequences on low-height structures called boulders. Strategic planning is paramount in competitive bouldering to both identify suitable climbing strategies before climbing and adapt climbing strategies after failed attempts. The ability to identify suitable climbing strategies depends upon an extensive climbing movement repertoire, conceptualized as high-level knowledge structures stored in long-term memory. This study aimed at examining strategic planning in the context of a bouldering competition to gain further insight into mechanisms underlying strategy proficiency in Olympic bouldering. Thirty male competitors in the semifinals at a national bouldering championship voluntarily participated in the study. A series of climbing-related performance and strategic planning parameters were examined, including suitability of competitors’ climbing strategies, adjustments they made to their initial strategies, and their climbing movement repertoire. Linear regressions revealed significant relations between climbers’ bouldering performance (number of completed boulders and failed climbing attempts) and their climbing strategy suitability, their strategy adjustments following their first attempts at the boulders, and their climbing movement repertoire. Findings underpin previous research revealing that mastering competitive bouldering is associated with climbers’ ability to develop appropriate climbing strategies relative to the climbing movements of boulders. Findings furthermore reinforce the movement repertoire paradigm, as climbers who exhibited better bouldering performances were characterized by a superior climbing movement repertoire, enabling them to quickly interpret visual sensory input and identify meaningful climbing movement patterns during boulder previewing.