Table 4.

Participants’ quotes sample for the perceived role and function of route previewing in sport climbing performance.

Decision-making of climb progression	P1: What I try to do, to teach them every time, is to spot the hard sections and the easy sections, to intersperse the rest position points and the non-rest positions… Afterward, if we have the time, we’ll try to spot more specific moves (but sometimes, like when competing, there’s no time to do all that). Spot instead. The “left-right-left” so you don’t do it wrong! The hidden holds… And especially spot the points or the different parts of the route: “there it’s hard, watch out there because there’s no resting point, over there it’s easier…”
	P4: The ideal thing is to see the sequence as a whole (feet and hands): sequence by sequence, the series of moves (like a collection of photos). Route finding steps: This is all about a process going from broader and general to more specific and fine-tuned: (1) Look at the route as a whole: (a) Trace it out (without focusing). You need to understand the route so you can focus afterward; (b) With as wide a scope as possible (like a movie). (2) Memorize the route: (a) Zoom in to spot the details; (b) Get the plan as firmed up as possible. (3) Read in sequences: (a) Figure out the various ways of succeeding; (b) Choose the moves best suited for each one…
	P7: Actually, speed in making the moves is a factor in success… a result of correct route finding among other things… in fact, two climbers at the same level can have different levels of route finding. You can see this because “the best finder” will bind the sections together faster (very fast), for example, he’ll be stable in every position (or almost every one), he’ll take the best advantage of the resting points, manage the route and the transitions between the parts correctly, the easier sections, etc. And from there you get a whole efficient climbing body-language strategy, which goes for the moves as well… you see a fluid series, fine-tuned moves, etc.
	P8: When I’m reading the route from the ground, instead of thinking about how I’m going to crimp the hold (because often it’s hard to see its exact characteristics, maybe it’s blocked and so I can’t crimp it the way I planned from the ground), I spot how I’m going to use it in the best way. What I’ll do when I’m there (rest, dyno, etc.) and see what’s got to be done, what’s going to happen next… now, if I know how I’m going to do it, that’s just great, but my first concern is to know what I’m going to do when I’m there, so I don’t waste time!
Strategic management of climb effort/exertion	P2: The basic principle of climbing is to save your arms by pulling yourself up by your feet…
	P3: Hold back… as soon as you can, you have to rest. It’s important to spot all the resting points on the route as far as possible, especially visually, and to use them! Find the most efficient path you can: this is one of the key tips you should never forget. Listen to your body and feel it: when you feel tired, it’s already too late… too much lactic acid in the muscles!
	P4: The goal is to find the most efficient movement, the fastest one possible (the slower you go, the less your chances of succeeding).
	P5: This is a climbing basic: be as efficient as you can! When you’re reading, you have to see what hold to take further on before taking the one right before that one… while taking great care to save energy… and sometimes there are holds that don’t get you anywhere… or on the other hand, you find there is no foothold and you have to use the wall like a foothold!
	P6: From the ground you learn how to evaluate the risks that a route entails and see that, over there, it’s risky and you could fall. And then too, for the same route, you can evaluate the difference between two ways of going forward (the one that’s going to take the most energy)… of course!!! that’s what the job of route finding is all about… What’s the way that’s going to cost me the least amount of energy and get me as far along as possible! That’s it: I try to record everything I’ll have to do in advance… all the effort I’m going to have to make in advance, right to the top! Doing and effort (two things): When I read, relying on my experience, I know how much energy I’ll have to use, bit by bit, from the start. If you don’t manage your energy, you won’t know when you should rest and how useful that is: Make the climb as easily as you can. Economize as much as you can. There’s obviously a link between reading the route and performance!
	P10: When I read a route, I try and map out the big traps… I especially look at the start, the start, ok… I imagine… the big traps and I tell myself “ok, you’ve got to get there right handed, if I don’t get there with my right I’m screwed. Next, I take everything apart and tell myself that to get there right-handed, I absolutely have to do this, this, this, this and this… watching out for the big traps like I said (a big trap is a place where if you get there with the wrong hand, you’ll fall… or you’re going to get tired, you’ll have to go back or you’ll have to change hands, whatever!). I really try to see that ‘for sure that grip is right-handed,” ok… then from below I’ll take it to my right then… I’ll do a re-launch there… here, there’s got to be a half-way spot and not a key grip… so, yeah, stuff like that’… and the feet follow… of course… and it’s true you think of your feet too, but generally speaking you concentrate more on the hands (the grips), but the move you’re going to make always depends on your feet!!! So I also watch the feet… if for instance I’ve got a vertical climb and I see a foothold is very far, it’ll be sure to be a drop knee or stuff like that… rest-spots on the route… I look for where I’ll be sure to be able to rest… like, on a corner…