Climbing is a multifaceted sport that requires a mastery of several climbing techniques, which allows the climber to move optimally on the climbing wall. Learning the correct climbing technique is crucial, particularly at an early stage of climbing development, and can be optimized by using various behavioural analysis procedures. Video analysis and expert modelling are two particularly pertinent procedures that can be used in the educational or training process and have shown promising results in various sports. This is the first randomized control study to examine the impact of video analysis and expert modeling on the development of climbing techniques in novice climbers in three specific climbing techniques - drop knee, heel hook, and high step. The 30 participants (20 women) included in this study were randomly divided into the following two groups: 1) the experimental group, in which the participants climbed problems with verbal feedback, video feedback and expert modelling in the intervention phase, and 2) the control group, in which the participants climbed problems with only verbal feedback. The study was conducted at the Scena bouldering climbing centre, where the participants completed 5 research visits: An assessment of the participants’ baseline condition was conducted on the first visit, which was followed by three training sessions/visits, during which climbing was conducted in line with the intervention outlined above. During the last visit, an assessment of the participants’ final condition was conducted. Videos of the participants’ climbing execution during the baseline visit and the final visit were evaluated by two experts with many years of climbing experience. To determine the differences between the groups, the expert scores of the baseline condition and the final condition were compared. After 5 visits, results improved significantly in both groups (p=0,001), but more so in the experimental group than in the control group, especially for high step (0,017). Improvement in heel hook (p=0,75) and drop knee (p=0,052) was similar in both groups. Comparisons showed that the intervention package, with the addition of video analysis and expert modeling, can potentially improve the accuracy of performing climbing techniques. Introduction of such an intervention package can lead to faster and safer progress in climbing skills and the climbing level of novice climbers.
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