Well, this past couple of weeks have been a bit rubbish for me - mostly just over-tired and feeling achy - usual over training/under recovery stuff, I thought. As it turns out though, I've got some nasty virusy thing which has resulted in a middle-ear infection. It's like being on a rollercoaster... all the time . So, seeing as I have none at the moment, I thought I'd say something about balance.

You'll hear people talking about "balancy" climbing. Usually what they mean is some delicate slab with tiny holds where iron-like grip and bulging forearms won't necessarily cut it. You'll be relying on body position and pure friction. But I think all climbing relies ultimately on balance. So what is balance really? When it comes down to it in day-to-day life, it's the ability to stay upright with the minimum of muscular effort (ok, I can't do that one at the moment ). Transfer that to a climb and it becomes the ability to be aware of your centre of gravity and move your body to result in the minimum amount of force possible on all your points of contact. When you're just standing, your points of contact are your feet on the ground. When you're on a climb, your points of contact are whatever hands and feet you have on at the time - and that can change quickly as you move. Whenever you're out of balance, you'll have to compensate with muscle power in order to stay on, so it follows that, if you can keep balanced as much as possible, you'll use less energy. That means better climbing - and not just on slabs!

So, here are some ideas you can try out to help practise becoming aware of your balance. They'll definitely help your climbing....