November 19th, 2025 — Climbing Psychology offers a free online class designed to help parents understand comparison stress and better support their young climbers — a resource youth program managers can share directly with their teams.
Why Mental Performance Isn’t Just About the Athlete
When we talk about mental performance in climbing, the focus almost always lands on the climbers themselves. We talk about their mindset, their ability to handle pressure, and how they can train psychological skills — and rightly so.
But what we often underestimate is how climbers, coaches, program managers, and parents all influence one another. In systemic psychology, we know that a change in one part of a system affects the whole system. Yet in climbing, most of the mental skills work still focuses solely on the athlete.
Coaches and Program Managers: A Crucial Role
Coaches and program managers see their athletes multiple times a week. They have countless opportunities to weave psychological skills into training, helping climbers build focus, confidence, and emotional regulation in a natural way. Not by replacing the role of a psychologist, but by working alongside one.
Climbing Psychology regularly offers educational classes for coaches, program managers, and training staff to deepen their understanding of the psychology of coaching and learn practical ways to integrate that knowledge into everyday training.
Parents Shape the Mindset
Parents influence their children’s beliefs, attitudes, and values long before they step onto the wall. Their support — emotional, psychological, and motivational — matters profoundly. When they stand by their child and support them in their sport, it creates core moments that strengthen their relationship, keep them connected, and genuinely support well-being (Stefansen et al., 2018).
Yet even well-intentioned parents can struggle: wanting to help but not knowing how, or unintentionally projecting their own frustrations onto their child’s climbing experience. While parents may believe they’re being supportive, children may experience the same behaviors as pressure — simply because kids interpret things differently in performance settings (Kanters et al., 2008).
The Paradox: Coaches and Parents
A familiar paradox often appears: coaches feel frustrated with parents who overstep boundaries or don’t fully trust their expertise, and parents feel left out or unsure how to support their children effectively. Both sides share the same goal — helping the climber thrive — but without clear communication, tension can arise.
Social Comparison and Team Dynamics
Children and adolescents naturally compare themselves to teammates. Parents can either amplify or reduce this pressure. Comparison can immediately affect how confident a child feels — it can unsettle them or, with the right support, help them find new energy and direction (Bardel et al., 2010; Diel et al., 2022).
Coaches and program managers who understand these dynamics can help foster a healthier, more supportive environment for everyone involved.
Free Workshop for Climbing Parents
Climbing Psychology is offering a free online class for climbing parents: “Everyone’s Better Than Me”: Helping Kids Through Comparison. The class explores how children process social comparison — a key factor in motivation, confidence, and performance — and provides practical guidance for parents to support their kids in psychologically informed ways.
Coaches and Program Managers: Please consider sharing this class with the parents of your athletes or teams to help build a more connected, supportive environment.
“Everyone’s Better Than Me”: Helping Kids Through Comparison
When: Saturday, December 6th, 1–2pm EST | 11am–12pm MST | 10–11am PST
Where: Zoom
CBJ press releases are written by the sponsor and do not represent the views of the Climbing Business Journal editorial team.
