One thing that's been really gratifying in this new year of coaching is that all of the kids who started last year and are returning this year have made huge improvements. They move with so much more confidence on the wall and it's highlighted by the kids who are just starting out. It's not just in climbing but also in the movement work we do on the mats with jumping and running too. 

It's surprising (or maybe not surprising at all) how kids who are not comfortable on the wall are also not comfortable doing things like jumping over mats. Moving their body around in space in novel ways. I know there are people, and even other kids, who look at bear crawls and shuttle runs and hurdling over mats as like 'oh that's a fun thing to do for the little kids' or even 'this is embarrassing/just filling time' but I believe 100% that if a kid/person isn't comfortable doing basic athletic movements like running and jumping on flat ground, it's a little crazy to even ask them to climb at all. I think a common mistake adults make is not understanding where kids actually are (physically, emotionally, mentally, etc). Some things look really simple and trivial but are clearly a challenge for some kids and if they don't develop there first, they won't progress in other areas. 

Some examples:

-hopping on one foot three to four times over some low boundaries (some kids have to work really hard to not switch to their other foot)

-shuttle run. kids have to run back and forth while picking up and/or dropping bean bags (kids have to retain a series of instructions while managing moving as fast as possible and starting and stopping and changing directions)

-jumping over a ~2ft tall mat/hurdle from a crouch position (anything that makes a kid stop and calculate what they're about to do is gold in my book. if you have to download a new set of instructions for your body and then execute that move while being unsure of the outcome--that's climbing. that's the essence of climbing)

I was a not-very-good coach for like my first 3 years but I think existing in that chaos taught me what things actually matter and the structure that I've developed is to address those needs.