Ask The Coach #5: Mental Training

So while I was in Kalymnos running our climbing camps I had ample opportunity to do weakness assessments on a stack of climbers (self included). I kept seeing the same weaknesses popping up again and again, and most of them had nothing to do with our physical selves.

I always say it. Climbing = 80% mental.

So, I thought it was high time to address some mental training. It's an area I'm very interested in, and I reckon all climbers can make good gains simply by paying attention to what's going on upstairs.

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The importance of remembering sequences in climbing

On our coaching camps we talk a lot about visualisation, the importance of remembering sequences and what should be running going through your mind as you climb your route (your internal dialogue). If you are one of those climbers who only climbs intuitively "I'll just figure it out as I go along" you are sabotaging your true potential. Seriously!

This video of our man Joey Kinder is a great insight into the level of detail required when you are memorising your sequences.

Here are some visualisation and memorisation tips:

1. Sit at the bottom of the route, close your eyes and climb the route in your mind. If you get to a bit you can't remember, open your eyes, look up, get it sorted and start over.
2. If it helps you, give specific holds names i.e. "the brick" or "the contact lens".
3. Imagine vividly how each hold will feel on your skin.
4. Like Joe, visualise how each finger will sit on each hold, particularly if it's a subtle or tricky grip.
5. Don't just concentrate on hand sequences. On difficult routes you must also know 100% what you are doing with your feet and what your body positions are. This represents heaps of data and might be very hard to memorise, but you simply have to do it. Start with the hands, but begin to expand your mental program to foot movements and body positions to make the sequence more and more detailed and realistic.
6. Get your climbing partner to quiz you. Mime to them the entire sequence, talking it through as you go. Moving your arms and feet is very helpful.
7. Sometimes there will be a section, or a subtlety you will continue to forget on route. Come up with a trigger phrase like "Stand tall" or "Pull in right hand" or simply (as is often the case) "Breathe!" and have your belayer yell this at you at the appropriate time. When you are running through the route in your mind, think about that section, and say the trigger phrase to yourself. Do that multiple times. Really embed it deeply. You'll find you'll begin to remember the section very well.
8. If you are a visual person, compile a route map. This is a sheet of paper where you draw the route, the holds, mark L hand and R hand, draw little arrows, mark clipping holds etc. If you can do this accurately for the entire route, you are well on your way to having a good sequence locked in your memory. Now let's hope your sequence is the most efficient one :)

My climbing partners and I have previously noted that on our hardest sends we have to be like a climbing robot. The program is set and it is all a matter of executing perfectly. There should be no decisions made on route - none! The program is written. Simply execute.

Happy projecting!

Joey getting his bling on at the annual Rifle clean-up. © L Cujes 2010

Video: The Apprentice

Our latest film sees young Queensland climber Matt Schimke well outside his comfort zone on the power endurance testpiece Beautiful Thing (28/7c+) at The Pulpit. Matt has only been climbing since 2008 but rapidly progressed through the grades culminating in his 2010 ascent of Evil Wears No Pants (30/8a+) at Mount Coolum. Still in school, with a mad obsession for climbing and no car has seen Matt's efforts concentrated at Mt Coolum, his local crag. The local style is super steep and chock full of kneebars and other tricks. All his hardest sends have been at Mt Coolum. This has been the first time he's ventured onto a hard project a long way from the comfort of his 'local'. The angle is new, the style is new. Grades don't matter now. It's just you against your weaknesses. And the fiercest battleground is in the mind. Enjoy. 

Kalymnos 2010 - Trip Report 12 (Ghost Kitchen)

Group discussion this morning was on the mental game. What are those self limiting beliefs that are floating around in your noggin which are stopping you progressing your climbing? How might they be  serving you? How can you change them? Fear of falling may be in there, but often it's only a part. What about expectations? What about worrying what others think? So we discussed the importance of training mental toughness, why falls are a non-avoidable ingredient in climbing progression and some strategies we can use to reduce anxiety and truly enjoy the act of climbing on lead. This is the good stuff! Love it. [If this is stuff you're interested in, there's a couple of good books (like this and this) or you could join us sometime and get hands on.]

So, after me scrounging builders rubbish to build a bosun's chair (pic of field testing below), we jumped in the car and blitzed to Ghost Kitchen. GK offers some quality vert walls, gently overhung tufa madness, and the best warm down slabs on the island.

This would also be the crag we would test out our new CU belay glasses. Guaranteed to make you look like a Professor of Belaying (PBe) and a complete dork, these unusual prism-based glasses allow you to see directly upwards without tilting your head. This allows you to watch your climber while maintaining a relaxed stance. It's a tradeoff of fashion sense versus neck pain. Verdict: crystal clear and pretty awesome. 2011 edit: Upskill Climbing is now the official distributor in Australia! Buy here!

Dave and Ruth reaquainted themselves with Joy In The Garden 6a after Andy's onsight while Lena and Ronsley did Achilles 5c+. Warm ups over, I belted up the main wall and commenced hanging from my fencepost with the camera. Andy was up on the sweet Remember Wadi Rum 6c which just has the most crazy tufas and blobs.

It was a valiant onsight attempt, foiled with a slip of the foot on the finale, resulting on Andy wizzing down the tufa curtain. Second shot there were no such mistakes. Tick tick for Andy "I'm a delicate flower" Lightfoot! Dave got inspired by that effort, and girding himself in his Upskill kneepads, he proceeded to knee his way up the route. It was rediculous the amount of solid kneebars he found! He was however overcome by the unusual outtro sequence and took flight. By this time the sun was on the wall and a second try was off the cards.

Dave, Ruth and Lena enjoyed the nearby Delta 6a+, and my vantage point out in space on my fencepost afforded me some unexpectedly good angles and I snapped some great shots like this one of Lena. Perhaps my fave shot of this trip so far?

We then headed down to the "skateboard slab" which hosts some great very slabby, smooth and pocketed slabs. One day I'll bring a skateboard and see if it's possible to drop in and ride it out on abseil. I slammed the draws up on Persephone 6b in my sneakers (my new hobby; 7a is my best so far), and nearly everyone climbed it clean I think. Lena absolutely killed it on the slabs, with first try clean topropes of Parasitos 6a+ and Zyklop 6a+. Sam flashed Zyklop which was notable for it's un-Kalymnian-runout-ness.

And then came Serena. "6b? I'm calling bullshit on that!" Dave had been spat off the top section of this awkward number on the last camp. Rematch time. Using good tactics ("Nah mate, I won't ruin your onsight!"), he sent Andy up to put the draws on. With his reach like a sick dog, Andy grunted his way through the overhang and with difficulty, got himself into a position to clip the anchor. Draw on. Pull rope. Go for clip. Fumble. Draw swinging. Try again. Fumble. Swear. Draw swinging in a mocking, "you can't catch me" manner. More swearing. Final scathing stare at the anchor. Fall. Noooooooooo! It was in the bag!

Suitably padded up, Dave jumped on, cruised the slab and engaged the steepness, finding some no-hander kneebars. Up in the business, Andy passed on the crucial beta "Stick your arm up there like you're helping a cow give birth!" Dave had clipped the final bolt then started to gibber. ("I only had about five seconds left!"). He then somehow wrangled double kneebars which gave him enough juice to clip the tricksy anchor. Yeah boy! What will you be doing at 60? :)

Today's fun fact:

To the belayer of a top-roping climber, a red upturned helmet on the ground broadcasts thusly: Dave has initiated a game of pebble basketball. Would you like to play? You have selected...yes.

Kalymnos 2010 - Trip Report 8 (Arhi, Summertime, Sybelgades)

You thought the trip reports were over? Nah, couple more weeks yet! Please explain? So our first climbing camp finished up a few days ago, and with one day of rest (aka madly editing video until the wee hours -- coming soon), our second group flew in bright eyed and ready to hit the rock.

But first, some introductions. We have Ronsley and Lena, both fairly new to the climbing game, and on the other end of the spectrum is Dave Reeve, who at 60 was climbing well before I was born. Dave's recently ticked his hardest route ever (7b/25) and he and his wife Ruth are both Upskill Kalymnos alumni having joined us on our 2008 trip. Andy is our fifth member and has been climbing 10 years or more. So - quite the mixed bag!

Flying in early gave us time to settle in, and perfect weather lent itself to a swim. A nice way to start the holiday.

Andy, Lena, Ronsley and Dave on day 1

Ruth on the sharp end at Arhi on day 1

After a good night's sleep the crew awakened to another crystal clear day. The discussion topic over breakfast was goal setting for the trip and the difference between process and outcome focus in climbing. We then jumped in the car (and two on a scooter) and headed to the left slabs of Arhi.

There we got stuck into a few of the typical grey slabs to get used to proper footwork and to blow out the cobwebs and have a gradual warmup. Centauro 5c, Ercole 5c and Pares 6a were the routes of choice. The sun then pounced like a street cat avoiding a Fiat Panda, so we bailed to Summertime to beat the heat.

Lena tripled her lifetime lead tally (of 1) with leads of Dorian and July. Dave didn't remember the sequence on the tough Macabi 6b+, but had no problems with it at all (stronger this time from all the core work at Coolum!). Ronsley's effort went into a clean TR of the classic bucket route Ammochohostos Vaselivousa 6a. A top first day.

Our second day dawned a hot one too with bugger all on the Beaufort (translation: no wind), so we made what ended up being a great call and headed to Sybelgades Rocks. And it does! A compact gully with limestone that looks like...well...I'll show you:

Yes, like that. Cool huh? Ghoulish. So, the classic easy(ish) route to do here is Phineus 5c, which is just the most featured and yet least sharp rock you could wish to imagine. Features, all covered in features, with these covered in micro-pockets. Holds galore. Andy onsighted, Lena toproped, Ronsley did both, Ruth flashed it, it was all happening. Dave blitzed up the long and ongoing Climber's Nest 6a with it's cool top overhang, what's more so did Ruth (on lead no less) after an early struggle on toprope.

Andy fell off the final moves of the roof and tech arete Homo Sapiens 6c, but fired it second go after ticking a few hidden holds. Dave got inspired and cruised to two thirds height before taking quite a big, off-balance fall due to a sudden onset of pump and subsequent loss of tension through to the feet in a sketchy section. I gave him a nice soft catch and he's a-ok.

Andy on Homo Sapiens 6c

Andy sunk his teeth into the crag testpiece Ermix, a tough 7a. This route is great, because it has only one shake out point, then it's game on for about 4-5 bolts to the anchors. True test of power endurance. Also ideal for working on our redpointing tactics (ticking holds, re-working sequences, sequence memory, body positions and maximum efficiency movement). No tick, but big learning, which is what this whole thing is about.

Effort of the day though has to go to Ronsley. The route was Carlo Juliani 6a, a near vertical wall route. He was about halfway up when the pump set in. You could see the mental battle that was going on. He called for a take, but the belayer (I forget who that was) refused and everyone yelled encouragement. He pushed through, got the next good hold and was able to clip the next bolt, made it a handful more moves before throwing, not latching the hold, and taking the whip. He came off trying. Nice soft catch. Big thumbs up. [He blogged about the experience] When everything in your head is screaming at you to take the soft option and have a sit, or grab the draw - NOT doing that, and actually giving it 100% and battling on - that is climbing. That is mental toughness. This is what we need to train. And you train it by doing it. As much as you can. I felt a lot of pride today.

Andy onsighting Phineus 5c

Interview with Rodney Polkinghorne

Rodney Polkinghorne is a SEQ based climber who has over the last year or so done what many climbers find impossible to do: bust through the plateau and take his climbing to the next level. How you ask? Well, that's what we're going to find out.

Rodney on Screaming Insanity (26), Mt Coolum, Queensland, Australia. © E Laliberte 2009

Lee: "So Rod, congrats on a great season. Tell us what kind of climbing you were doing a year or two ago, and what you've been doing this season."

"Thanks Lee. I was stuck at grade 21 from 2002 until 2006, but since then I've progressed faster each year. At the end of 2007 I sent Brisbane Bitter, Blackheathen and Jacqueline Hyde, all 24, and Hung Like a Fruit Bat, which is a straightforward 25. The only tick that stands out from 2008 is Child in Time, the classic 22 at Frog, which was a messy send after many attempts. This year, I climbed Worrying Heights (24) at Frog, and I passed the entrance exam for Mt Coolum, Screaming Insanity (26)."

Lee: "Can you put your finger on what it was that was holding you back? Was it mental or physical?"

"My limits were mental. I was always a hesitant climber - I'd do a move, and stop to psyche myself up. Then a bunch of my friends got hurt. By early 2008, five had been seriously injured while climbing, and two had died in other outdoor pursuits. I stopped trusting myself, because I'd trusted some of those people completely. I placed quickdraws then climbed down and jumped off, because I expected to slip while clipping them. I spent minutes worrying about each piece of protection. When I couldn't see anything wrong, I expected something weird to happen. I couldn't let go of the consequences and focus on climbing, which you must do to push your limit on lead."

Lee: "The more I coach the more I see headspace and mental limitations being the primary thing holding climbers back. So were you consciously aware of this as a limiting factor at the time? What allowed you move beyond this? Was it a breakthrough moment like turning on a light switch, or a long incremental grind?"

"I was a bold and committed leader when I started, in 2001 and 2002. I climbed grade 21 at Frog and Moonarie when I'd been climbing for a year and a half. So I knew how I wanted to climb, and how far I was from it.

"One thing that turned me around was Arno Ilgner's book (The Rock Warrior’s Way). His message is that being afraid and wimping out are just habits, and so are commitment and focus, so you can train to be bold and determined. Ilgner gives some exercises for that, which are the best part of the book.

"The UQ climbing club helped a great deal, too. They kept telling me that I could climb much harder if I pushed myself, and eventually I believed it.

"I've had both long grinds and moments of enlightenment. To stop being distracted by thoughts of falling, I had to climb above gear and let go of dozens of times. My progress wasn't so much incremental as stationary - each time, I just didn't want to do it. Then one day I started up my warm-up route, didn't think about falling at all, and it stopped being a problem. The breakthroughs come in their own time, but they only came after a lot of frustrating practice."

Lee: "So if you had to give some advice to climber who was in the same position as you (held back by their fear on the sharp end), what would you say?"

"Go out with bolder climbers. The more you see people fall without hurting themselves, or pull through easy but run out climbing, the less you believe those things are impossibly dangerous. You start wondering how you can do them, not whether you can do them.

"Keep reminding yourself why you want to climb well. Often, you know that you could go for it and fall off safely, but you don't want to. It helps to remind yourself that one day you're going to pull the lip of Kachoong, you want to be relaxed enough to enjoy it, and pushing yourself now will contribute to that - or something along those lines. Once you start to push yourself, your lead head will improve."

Lee: What does the future hold for Rodney's climbing?

"Right now, I'm ready to go long and wild in Girraween and the Warrumbungles. Changes of focus keep me keen. I still have dreams of climbing real mountains, but I'm having too much fun rockclimbing to pursue them. There are so many classics to do at grades 25 and 26!"

Below The Belt

I posted a couple of months back about a new endurance project I was working on.

"The project in question was originally proposed by Mr Campbell in 2008, and set up by Mr Steel. It links the 15m Beastly Behaviour 8a/29 into the top 20m of One Hit To The Body 8a+/30, via a 13 move traverse to create a left tending line of epic proportions."

I'd done both routes individually a couple of years ago, but linking them together without a decent rest seemed insane. Beastly is one of the more bouldery and strength-intensive routes on the cliff, and One Hit is a cumulative fatigue route with a dynamic hit-or-miss crux up high.

I almost did it cleanly five sessions prior, falling three moves from the top. Since then, I never managed to get that high again. I was starting to dispair and really doubt myself and my approach. It also didn't help that the hot weather was moving in with a vengeance (32°C days). I'd planned to head to the Grampians in one week, therefore Sunday was my final chance to try the route before I left and it would be too hot once I returned, hence the final chance for the year.

Pressure on.

But no. The thing that had hurt me previously was my expectations around when I was going to do it. I knew if I was going to have any chance to do it, I would have to let all of that go, forget the outcome and just climb. And I did. After nearly three months of working the project and with no expectations, I clipped the anchors yesterday.

Below The Belt 30m 31/8b

• 29 attempts (+6 on Beastly in 2007, +10 on One Hit in 2007)
• 21 clean ascents of Beastly in the quest for the link
• Crap conditions: 29°C and minimal breeze
• 12 days of work over the ~3 months

The thing I'm learning is that I enjoy the struggle. The harder I have to work, the more it smacks me down and the longer it takes, the sweeter the reward.

One happy camper. Love this stuff. © S Cujes 2009

The four things you need to train and aren't

After running a number of Weakness Assessments and Improvement Packs with different people, I find it fascinating to help people dissect their climbing and discover what they should be working on.

Here's four areas I bet need some of your attention:

1. Head games
   How often do you fall off? I believe three out of four climbers are not where they want to be with their 'leading head'. Symptoms are excessive nervousness before climbing, constant shying away from goal routes, uncontrollable shaking while climbing, excessive sweating, holding breath etc. No-one is perfect in this area, it's a sliding scale. The first thing to do is simply acknowledge the issue! Recognise that this is something that is limiting your potential, and commit to working on it. How to do this? Well, discuss it with your climbing partner. Make the decision to attack this together. Read my fear of falling article and put its suggestions into practice. Falling is crucial to improving as a climber.
2. Core strength
   It doesn't matter how strong you are (or think you are!) in the core, you can always be stronger. Watch some circus videos on youtube and realise how weak we 'strong climbers' actually are and how far climbing has to go in this area. I train people every week who are now incredibly strong in the core, and yet when we push their climbing to the limit, it's very noticeable that the area that often gives out first is actually the core and not the fingers or forearms. Being incredibly strong in the midsection will allow you to unleash your power, and will allow you to endure for longer. Decide to do some core training every week.
3. The opposite of what you train
   Most people train the same way repetitively.
   "A night in the gym doing laps and then a day at the crag where we do five or so routes."
   "And how long have you been doing this?"
   "Years I guess!"
   Well snap out of it! It's time to train differently for a while and shock your body with some different training stimulus. If you do the above, it's time for some bouldering sessions at the gym. If you climb trad, go and do some sport climbing. If you've been redpointing/projecting non stop, it's time for some hard bouldering as mid-week training and onsighting lower grades on the weekend. The key is to mix it up. Try two months of this and two months of that. You'll improve in the long term as a result.
4. Self-limiting beliefs
   Recounting a recent conversation with a training client...
   "So what do you think your weaknesses are?"
   "Bad finger strength, I can do every other 22 around, but I can't do ZYX climb"
   "I don't see a finger-strength imbalance. In fact, your finger strength is very good. You can certainly do XYZ climb"
   [the next day via text message]: "Lapping XYZ climb today...it's all in the mind. Feeling psyched. Good work coach."
   
   The lesson? We all have little bits of errant code in our programming which are not serving us. In fact, they are self-limiting beliefs or programs. If you can identify these, you can begin to break them down. One way to do this is to challenge your own perceptions about what you believe to be possible. This is one of the main things a good coach does, but you can do it yourself. Have a think now about what you "know you can't do". Now ask yourself "why is that?". Could there ever be a situation where you could do it? What would that situation look like? What would be required?
   
   If you do this exercise you'll find your perceptions are often wrong. How good is that?

CoachWise series by Dave MacLeod

Let's face it, good info is good info. And climbing coach and professional climber from Scotland Dave MacLeod has written a number of pieces recently which I think need a wider audience. In my opinion, these articles are well worth reading, and it's possible that you could really make a breakthrough as a result.

Dave's philosophies are very similar to mine, and you'll see very similar messages coming through in in his writings as the ones I preach here at Upskill.

CoachWise Part One:
Using momentum, the tyranny of strength, the "big three" things to train

CoachWise Part Two:
What you do, you become, finding the motivation to work hard, plateau busting, the power of positive people, the truth about famous climbers, finger strength

CoachWise Part Three:
Bad habits, bad shoes, fear of falling

Enjoy! And check out Dave's site if you haven't done so before.

The mental aspects of hard climbing

I asked Upskill climber Susy G to pen her thoughts about the process of climbing her latest conquest, Future Tense at Frog Buttress. This is an all trad route, grade 26 (7b+ or 5.12c). Here's what she had to say...

"Future Tense is a 40 metre route at Frog that branches out from Blood, Sweat and Tears, and also finishes on that route. The section that is uniquely Future Tense is about 18 metres long, and the other 20 or so metres above and below that, are the start and finish of B, S and T. The holds are an eclectic mix of jugs, side-pulls, fingerlocks, incuts, a micro-crack and just a couple of hand-jams, and it’s elegant, stylish climbing for sure.

I took me 12 shots over about 6 weeks to lead it clean on pre-placed gear, and during that projecting process, I got more awareness of the pressures that I bring to bear on myself whilst projecting, and formed opinions about which of those were useful, and which were not.

One pressure was “the timeline”. The timeline was an arbitrary expectation around how long, as in how many days or shots, it would probably take me to achieve my outcome of sending the route. After the first 3 shots, “will probably” somehow shape-shifted of its own volition into “should”. “I should tick after x more goes.” Somehow, it became important to me that I did tick it in that many goes. This was not a helpful pressure to put on myself. When I missed that milestone, I experienced frustration and disappointment. Interestingly, I didn’t have a timeline for the outcome before I started the route; it was after a few shots that I began to measure where I thought I was on the journey and compare how far I’d come to how far I had to go. I will not do that again.

The timeline pressure was brought about to some extent by my telling friends about my project. Naturally, friends will check in with you: “how’s it going with your project”. After a few weeks I felt a sense of embarrassment when I said I was still working on it. How stupid! Luckily, I was able to become aware that this was what I was thinking and feeling, and realised that I was creating a rubbish reality. I switched into the reality that I climb for me and not for anyone else, and my friends support me, not judge me. That change was very helpful, and I am sure enabled me to concentrate more effectively on the next shot.

The other pressure that I brought to bear on myself was also a time pressure, however it was compelling in a positive way. As I pulled through the crux, feeling a mega-pump creep up on me, it was the knowing in the back of my mind that this was my third and last shot of the day, (and having previously decided that I was not going to spend any more days on Future Tense) that gave me the mental and physical roar to slap the final jug.

That particular timeline pressure was a motivator, yet the other was a distraction. Curious, hey.

Future Tense is a beautiful climb. The process of projecting it was character building, and I really enjoyed being at Frog in the company of my friends Steve, young Gareth, Antoine, Mario and Rich."

-- Susy G

If you have any thoughts of insights along this line, please post up a comment.

Fear of falling

I was at the gym last night and got asked a question which will be relevant to many climbers out there...

"I'm just so afraid of falling right now. It's really affecting my climbing, what can I do about it?"

So first up - has it always been like this, or is it something has has come about recently? If so, try to identify why. Change in belayer, recent scary fall, witnessed an accident? If it's always been like this, then you have to train away the fear with practice. Mental exercises and visualisation can only do so much.

I truly believe climbing is 80% mental and 20% physical. So regardless of all the training we do on the bouldering wall or in the gym, if our biggest weakness lies in the mental arena, we're not going to improve out there on the rock. So what can we do?

1. Establish climber-belayer trust
   If you don't trust your belayer, you might as well not leave the ground. I often hear things like this "Well, I was with a group of newbies and they hadn't belayed a leader before so I couldn't climb anything above grade 16". This is a load of crap. You either trust your belayer 100% or you don't. So if they're an inexperienced belayer, you spend extra time with them on the ground, teaching them the principles of belaying a leader. Personally, I feel better when my more inexperienced belayers use autolocking belay devices such as the Faders Sum. Climb up and slump on the first bolt so they get the feeling of what a fall will feel like. Spend the time and teach them well. They will appreciate it, and you will gain a reliable belayer. If you have doubts as to their ability, teach them until your doubts disappear.
2. Dynamic belaysThe art of belaying has changed in the last 10 years. It used to be that the climber would fall and the belayer would reef in slack and sit down or run backwards to take up rope. This was great for limiting the length of the fall, but was also good for smashing the climber into the wall and breaking their ankles. These days in a modern sport-climbing scenario, belayers should give their climber a dynamic belay. Providing it's a clean fall and the climber isn't going to hit anything, as the climber falls, the belayer either stands tall or jumps slightly (for light climbers) as the rope takes up, which has the effect of slowing the climber down more gradually. This takes the jarring impact out of a lead fall. Practice this technique - it is vital!
3. Take test falls
   
   If you're scared of falling, you need to take safe falls to prove to yourself that falling is no big deal. So, you need to find an appropriate route. Something not overly hard that you can at least dog your way up. Preferably something overhanging or something with a bolt on a bulge so you can fall into clean air. A good route for SE QLD climbers is something like Slider (22) on Mt Tibrogargan or perhaps Dysentery (17) at KP. Remember, you're not interested in ticking the route. You're here to take falls, so come up with a plan with your belayer i.e. "I'm going to climb to the 6th bolt but not clip it, and then I'm going to fall and you'll give me a dynamic belay". Then put your helmet on, get on and do it. Start small, with the clipped bolt at your chest, then waist, then knees, then feet, and finally get above the bolt. Take multiple falls of increasing size. It will be scary at first. Keep doing it until you reach a level of comfort in the process.
4. Take REAL fallsNow, take the skills you learned in test falls and apply them in a real situation. This means, choose a route which you know is going to be hard for you and on which you probably will fall. It might be the route you took test falls on, or it might be something a bit harder. It should be something again which is well bolted and offers safe falls such as Squealer (23) at Mt Tibrogargan. You don't want something with dodgy gear, evil ledges or nasty blocks. Pick your route. Now, before you leave the ground, discuss the route with your belayer, talk about where you might fall and where they should be paying extra special attention. Now get on and go for it. If you think you are going to fall, do not grab the draw and do not yell "take!". You may call "watch me!", but keep climbing until you actually fall. If you manage this, congratulations. You are well on the way to mastering your fear of falling.

Remember, not every route gives safe falls. In fact, on most routes there will be sections where you definitely don't want to fall. That's okay. Usually these sections are easy climbing. However it's important to discuss the route with your belayer before you leave the ground so you both know what you are up against.

I hope that was useful. If you've got any suggestions, real-world examples that may have worked for you, or any other advice to share, please feel free to post them here.

Other info
Training for climbing: fear of falling and anxiety (Climbing Coach blog - UK)
Beating fear of falling in 5 sessions (Dave MacLeod)
Fear of falling dictates your technique - yes you too! (Dave MacLeod)

Ethan is not afraid of going LARGE in the quest for the hardest route in China.