Every time we go to the slab, like, you know,
there are always some guys who are like, yeah,
yeah, the slab master. And it immediately gives
like the stress, like, okay, fuck, now I have
to do good, you know. You're just like full of
this adrenaline and you don't know what to do
with your body anymore. So just things happen
like randomly. Okay, that's maybe bad to say
when you want to help somebody. probably you're
not gonna break your foot so welcome to another
episode of the that's not real climbing podcast
i'm your host Jinni and i'm excited to introduce
my guest for today Hannes van duysen you may have
heard of him as the slab master but hanes is
a climber on team belgium who just recently got
silver and boulder at arco rock masters and also
won a bronze in innsbruck this past 2025 season
In this episode, we'll go over his 2025 season,
get his tips on slab climbing, and learn about
how he tries to stay in the right mindset during
stressful competitions. I hope you enjoy this
interview with Hannes. Please pardon this brief
intermission, but I'm excited to talk about Mad
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Now, back to the show. Yeah, I'm back at home.
I mean, I traveled quite a bit. Some places,
I went to a holiday also with my parents. And
yeah, now I'm back at home in Brussels. Back
at home for a while, back into like regular winter
training. Yeah, I mean, I'm injured. Like I had
the surgery on my elbow. What? Wait, when was
that? So like, yeah, I had some kind of problem
with my elbow already for some time. And so now
we decided to do a surgery. I mean, surgery is
already planned for quite some months, but I
just had to wait until the season was finished
so I could just like end the season. And yeah,
so now it's just rehab. Like it's only six weeks
of not climbing, hopefully, but yeah, then I
have to go. very slowly so yeah i hope it'll
all be okay for the next season wow okay well
it's good that it was planned at least yeah yeah
it was not like randomly surgery no it was what
was the issue like what caused the elbow issues
to begin with so if i understood it good it was
um like a piece of a cartilage that um kind of
broke off and i was just like being there in
the And my elbow. And the problem was, first
of all, it hurted for me, especially while warming
up. And also it could give problems if it gets
worse and worse, the injury. It could start blocking
my elbow, my movement. I want to stretch it and
at one moment it blocks. Actually, I already
had that when I was young because it's already
the second time I had this surgery. So just to
avoid that, I... Yeah, I did the surgery. Did
that like affect your season at all, you think?
No, I don't think so. For me, it was especially
during warming up that I felt it. So once I,
I mean, for some times, especially when I trained
hard or I did like multiple days in a row or
I felt tired, it hurt it like even more. But
for the rest, once I'm warmed up, actually, it's
quite fine. So yeah, it's only during the warming
up. So it never really bothered me during the
climbing competitions or something. That's good.
Well, hopefully you heal up okay and training
isn't too difficult for you after. No, it'll
be fine for sure. Okay, so then going back to,
I guess, a bit of your more recent travels, how
was Rockmasters? Congrats on getting silver and
bouldering. That was cool to see. Yeah, thank
you. um yeah it was super cool i mean uh i was
pretty stressed because the format it's like
like both formats only like uh also the lead
um like both is only like one shot like in a
dual and since i'm not really used to do like
a dual in speed or like ko bouldering where you
have only three tries for a boulder it's like
it's like a bit stressful but in the end like
when i look back on the comp like I think there
was like no reason to be stressed. And during
the comp, I actually had like so much fun. So
no, it was like so cool to do like again. Also
being in ARCO, it's so amazing. I was also there
with Heloise, like one of our team. And yeah,
with her, it was also super fun to be there.
So yeah, it was a really nice experience. Yeah.
Have you not done the format before? No, I did.
Yeah, I did. I'm a pretty competitive person,
so I always want to do good. So whatever competition
I do, I always get kind of stressed. Except for
World Cups, I kind of learn how to control the
stress. But yeah, on comps, I take it a bit easier
when I'm not going all -in for a win or preparing
myself 100 % mentally to perform. Like if I don't
do that, like I don't really get the stress under
control and I feel a bit more stressed. So for
this kind of comps, I felt a bit stressed. Weird.
So you're saying that you feel less stressed
for World Cups than it's like other... Yeah,
you know, like, no, it makes a bit of, yeah,
maybe it doesn't make sense. But for me, it's
like you kind of like your routine, how you like
prepare for the comp, like on the day itself,
like also the preparation, like for the comp,
like... I know exactly what to do and I make
sure I do exactly everything in the right order
that I want. And I make sure there are no mistakes
allowed, like in my mental preparation. So for
me, everything is quite calm at that moment because
I know, I know the plan in my head, what's going
to happen. And when I don't do that, like for
example, at the rock masters, like I just let
everything a bit more be like this, you know,
like if. I'm not going to do my breathing exercises
or make sure to check everything to be ready
for it. So it's all more chill. So that means
that I'm less in this competition mode. And then
it makes me a bit more stressed for the competition
itself because I don't try to keep it under control.
Okay, that's good to know. I mean, we'll get
into mindset a bit later too. So yeah, I think
that'll be good. I'm glad that you have a whole
routine worked out. That's really good to hear.
I guess just in terms of competition format,
how did you like the format compared to World
Cup format? I prefer the World Cup format because
I prefer to be limited in time than being limited
in tries. Because limited in tries, for me, it
adds more pressure. If you do it in time, I mean,
in one minute, you can easily put like, especially
for coordination, you can put five tries or something.
So if you're limited in tries, then like every
try, it feels like it counts more. So I think
I still prefer the World Cup format, but still
like I quite enjoyed it to do it like once because
it's different. So we don't always have to do
the same. It also pushes you a bit more to do
maybe harder boulders since you can try them
in advance. In Arco, we had like 50 minutes.
I think it was 50 minutes to try the boulders
in advance. Wow, really? I had no idea about
that. Yeah, that was in the morning. So it's
like kind of a workout, which 50 minutes is not
a lot. Actually, it's less than 15 minutes a
boulder. It feels like it goes really fast, these
50 minutes, especially when the balls are hard.
For me, it was like 50 minutes almost of non
-stop climbing. It was pretty hard, but it's
pretty fun to do because you kind of get a bit
the same as on World Cups. You're a bit in time
pressure, but it's different because you know
you have a bit more. It's not like it's less.
Less strategy. It's more like trying and trying
and trying. And also you can watch each other.
So it's like a session together. So it's pretty
fun to do. Huh. Okay. I didn't know that people
got to try the boulders beforehand. So does anyone
like send the boulder beforehand and then like
redo it after? Yeah, I think most of the people,
I mean, I could do all the boulders during the,
I mean, no, I didn't do all the boulders. No,
but. Usually, it depends from boulder to boulder.
Some you stand, some you're like, okay, I did
this move, I did this move, so I'm just going
to leave it like this and I'm going to try the
other one because 50 minutes, it goes so fast.
You really don't have time to try too much. But
yeah, there are quite some people who do boulders,
but also they change sometimes the boulders.
afterwards for example like the slab nobody actually
did the moves so they changed the boulder made
it a bit easier so we will be able to get through
it or like the first boulder we kind of They
did it on a different way, I think. And also
that they changed, like it depends from situation.
Like sometimes it changes because they want you
to force it to do it the way or sometimes they
make it easier. Sometimes a bit harder. So it
depends. Oh, wow. I had no idea. It's also a
bit stressful, you know, because you try the
boulder for 50 minutes. You're like, okay, this
boulder I can do. And then they put it a bit
further or they add a hold or they put away a
hold. And you're like, oh, fuck. Now I have to
do like. something else or something or it's
a bit different so it's also kind of stressful
yeah no i totally get that and i guess it also
makes more sense now because yeah people were
doing like coordination moves a lot faster than
i expected yeah exactly flashes and i was like
wow i can't believe everyone flashed that that's
crazy yeah we tried before Okay, good to know.
Maybe if I had listened to like an intro, I would
have known that. But that was good to learn right
now. Okay, cool. So then getting into your background,
how did you start climbing and competing in general?
Yeah, so I'm not from a climbing family. I got
a bit into climbing with a bit of luck. Like
my parents, before my seventh birthday, I did
like a lot of other sports. classic like football
uh soccer since you're from america yeah oh thanks
thank you yeah so i did soccer i was like swimming
i was doing some other things tennis i think
too um and then for my seventh birthday oh yeah
maybe most important was gymnastics because i
did this like um until my seventh and i actually
got kicked out when i was seven because yeah
it's Pretty young to kick somebody out from a
gymnastic team. But apparently it was quite professional
already or something. I don't know. I never really
took time to understand it all. But my shoulder
mobility was not good enough. So they said, I
think it was the reason that maybe I could get
injured too fast if I will do gymnastics. So,
I mean, on high level then, I guess. So, yeah,
they said. Yeah, you don't have to come back
anymore. So yeah, then I had to search for another
sport. Yeah, I started climbing at the age of
seven because then my parents, they took me to
the climbing gym like for my birthday. And yeah,
that's how I started. Like I started in like
a really old school, like still until... Today,
it's the most old school gym I've ever seen.
I mean, now it's already gone. Like they broke
it up and they built a whole new gym. But it
was like this copy rock, like really good balls.
And it was really cool. And you always had to
climb out. It was like a bit like Fontainebleau,
like the structures was really cool actually.
And then after that, how did you, when did you
get into competitions? So yeah, this... this
gym it um yeah stopped already after the first
two years i climbed so i mean it stopped it built
a new gym which there was also leads so then
i kind of got more into lead climbing um and
that's how i just started it like what i was
just in this like this team uh where we're just
climbing for fun and then they were like yep
there was like a competition like there Like
you want to go, it was like me climbing, I mean,
top rope at that moment because I was too young
to do it. And yeah, I went there and yeah, I
won. And then my parents, they looked on internet,
like what kind of combat it was. And it appeared
to be like a, like a Belgium cup. And then they
were, I mean, I think, no, it was not my parents.
I think it was my granddad. Like my granddad
is really into, into like my career. So it's
quite funny. He like looked it up and he was
like, okay, there is still like another one there
and there and there. And yeah, that's here. I
just went all over Belgium. It's not that big,
but I just went all to all the Belgian clubs
and I just, I think I almost won them all. So
yeah, that's how we got into, yeah, into the
competitions. And then you just learn automatically
like, okay, there is also a Belgium team. So
in like, I think back then it wasn't like. four
years i can select for that and then i can go
to the international comps and yeah that's how
i that's how i started it all wow it seems like
it almost kind of came naturally to you i feel
like a lot of people i hear like their first
competition ever they get like last place or
something yeah yeah no yeah it was yeah i mean
belgium it's it's also for sure back then it
was even less like climbing is not the biggest
sport in our country um so yeah it was not a
lot of people did it but uh but yeah still was
was pretty cool to do like it to like start with
i mean pretty cool like yeah i started winning
right from the beginning but yeah then you eventually
you learn that yeah the belgium cups are not
like the biggest thing there is because then
once you go to the first like european competition
like you immediately get like shut down and now
so i ended up like last place somewhere so Yeah,
everyone starts from somewhere. Yeah, exactly.
I guess along those lines, how was transitioning
out of youth competitions into real World Cups?
Yeah, my first Adults' Cup, it was, I think,
in 2021. I think I started in the European Cups.
And the week after, I did my first World Cup
in Marion, Didn't go very good. I think I almost,
I ended up almost lost. I think like I was, yeah,
it was, I spent six hours in isolation because
I was very lost. And I think it was one of the
World Cups that I think until now, like one of
the most participants that there ever been, like
I think like 120 or something in total. And I
was the last one to climb. So yeah, I spent so
much time in isolation. just to do like two zones
and that's it like for the rest like falling
off first moves every time and yeah I got like
80 first plays or something actually I have it
pulled up you got 79th so if that's out of 120
that's not bad no okay yeah I think it was much
much worse but but yeah so that was my first
world cup like I got shut down like quite bad
and I remember also the coach he also said like
yeah I don't think you're ready yet for the world
cup level but that's okay like and yeah i was
like okay yeah i understand it's it's true like
if i see my results um also that year i um i
started doing lead two and it was kind of the
same story like it never really went good in
the beginning and so yeah but in the end i just
kept trying and trying and and it worked out
so yeah it's it's good to see the growth at least
yeah Yeah, let's go into, I guess, like the World
Cup season that you had this year. I think, yeah,
I mean, congrats on a great 2025 season. I think
your results this year were better than any other
year before. Yeah, it was. Yeah, for sure. Awesome.
Yeah. So what do you think changed in your training
that helped you perform better this year? What
changed in my training? I don't know. It's hard
to say what really changed in my training. I
stick with the same coach. Like I know it's the
same team. I also didn't do a lot of seasons
yet because with the Olympic year, like I didn't
do, I only did one or two World Cups last year.
And then the year before was kind of my first
year I was like competing for finals. But yeah,
I think it's kind of natural to like, when you
grow up to see your mistakes and it's a bit easier
to adapt because you have like more knowledge
and you start to see. what are your weaknesses
like for me i feel like it's still like coordination
and also a bit of like the strategy in in the
five minutes so i kind of also now i'm still
i'm already thinking to how can i improve in
coordinations like what are the what are really
my mistakes in coordinations and what are also
my mistakes for inside five minutes so i kind
of feel like right now I've got, like, a good
level in, like, most of the styles in the World
Cup, but it's more now, like, putting it into
the five minutes. So I think, like, it's very
important for the first years to, like, focus
on, like, having the level to do the boulders.
And then once I think you have the level, I think
the... I mean, it's my opinion. It's more important
to start focusing on how to top the boulders
in five minutes because I feel like it's something
else to train. I hope you're getting what I tried
to say because it's more like strategy -wise,
you kind of have to know what decisions to make.
So you kind of feel like now you have your strength
base down and it's more focusing on the techniques
or strategies. Yeah, it's a bit like this. Now
that I have the level to do them, now I kind
of have to focus more on knowing how to handle
situations in the five minutes, especially for
coordinations or decision -making on slabs. It's
a very hard game. I feel like topping boulders
almost on your limits in five minutes. You don't
necessarily need the highest level of topping
boulders. You just need a very high level of
like being able to do them in five minutes. It's
kind of something else. It's hard to explain.
Yeah, I mean, thinking back on the season, do
you remember or like did any boulders stand out
to you? Either ones where you maybe surprised
yourself on how you performed or ones that you
just really enjoyed? Yeah, I definitely have
boulders where I surprised myself. I feel like
physically I got a lot stronger. Like I started
topping more like the hard physical boulders
or not topping, but like getting like good tries
on that. So I'm very happy with that. And it's
very nice to see that, yeah, that I'm getting
physically stronger because I think it's my favorite
style. I think a lot of people like just the
physical boulder. So it's very nice to... to
see that I'm also getting like one of the stronger
competitors, like physically. I think for sure
the boulder that surprised me the most was probably
like there was like this coordination semifinal
in Bern, like the first boulder, which started
off with like, it was full coordination. And
in my head, I was like, okay, I'm not the best.
and coordination so coordination is always going
always being a bit hard I think the first move
was kind of the easier move and then the last
coordination was kind of the harder coordination
and I struggled a bit on the first move but once
I passed it like I flashed the last coordination
and it also made me go into finals and like you
can really see it on my face like I was so surprised
to flash the bowler because it felt like And
to pledge this second coordination, it felt like
also natural. And yeah, it's kind of satisfying
to just try it, just go with the flow and then
stick it from the first time. It's a pretty cool
feeling. So I hope I will have it again next
season. Yeah, I'm surprised you went into it
already thinking that you aren't good at coordination
and then you still manage to make it work. Yeah,
it's kind of also a mindset I have to change
and have to get under control because sometimes
it's a bit of a problem to put myself one of
the worst in coordination. So yeah, it's kind
of something I have to work on, definitely. I
heard in another interview you mentioned that
you feel like climbing is going a little bit
back to an old school style. so do you feel like
that would fit you better like would you look
forward more to that yeah I will look forward
like a lot to it because I really I really like
this kind of old school style where I just have
to go for a hold hold the hold and that's it
like just going for bad holds and not just not
just doing like Not just going for big holes,
but also just small holes, like small crimps
or whatever. I don't feel like we have those
a lot anymore. I mean, it's coming back slowly.
Sometimes we see some more crimps, especially
I had a feeling at South Lake. Almost the whole
qualification boulder, I don't have the feeling
there was a coordination. Also at semi -final,
there were also almost no coordination. I mean,
it's nice to have like those rounds because,
yeah, because right now for me, there is quite
a lot of coordination, but it could be, yeah,
a bit less. Like I've done already some rounds
where I'm like, okay, like here I have the feeling
I almost have no chance to pass or to have like
a good result because it's just like all pushed
in this one style. Like, for example, in Prague,
in the final, like... All four boulders were
almost all like this modern style, either coordinations,
either like, yeah, just modern boulders. I'll
have to look back at that one. Maybe because
I do the competitions. It's all like very good
in my mind. like it's kind of started like the
competition it started like with this kind of
slab but it ended in like a slightly overhang
with a coordination as well because the slab
part was like really easy and the second boulder
was like full coordination boulder the third
boulder it was like starting to like push like
push thing and then jump to a jerk and then in
the end like a bit physical so the end was nice
And then this last boulder also started with
the coordination and then also like a push boulder
again. So yeah, it's all like either pushing,
either you do coordination. So there I really
had the feeling like, because I was pretty happy
with my round because it was like, okay, I climbed
good, just in this style, like there was no way
I can beat like Mejdi or Sotato or like, you
know, it's almost. or I need like the best day
of my life. Yeah, I feel like this year, I guess
like every year it kind of seems like maybe there's
a move or a theme that they follow a bit. And
I felt like this year there was a lot of like
monos and pockets. Monos and pockets. Did it
feel like that for you? I don't know. Did I take
mono? I mean, at Leap I took one mono this year.
Maybe it's just because, yeah, when I'm watching,
I always feel surprised when I see a mono. It
just grosses me out. So I think it stands out
in my mind. Whereas to you, the finals boulders
all being coordination stands out to you. Yeah.
But it's true that often there is an idea of
the feeling going around and then they try to
create. Even on Instagram, I feel like Instagram
is influencing. often a lot of competitions like
you see like one move on instagram and then you
see it somewhere else and somewhere else and
it almost always ends up on the competition so
i have a feeling instagram is like doing quite
a lot of what did you see on instagram that showed
up in a world cup what did i see uh for example
we had like this this one push and then you had
to like take a hold and then go again like still
with the push either it's it's hard to always
to explain it kind of goes like you push you
take a hold and then you go again to hold like
for me it like started like on instagram i think
was now probably meshdi uh who did it and then
yeah it ended up on the world cups um also like
with 360 move uh like the 360 spin on the slab
um or 180 it's one more like 180 spin It also
like, yes, kind of started on Instagram. And
then it ended up, I think it was in Innsbruck
in 2023 in the final. Yeah, because I think like,
I mean, that's my point of view. Like if you
don't show or if the athletes don't know about
it, there's like a risk that nobody will actually
try the right method and like the ball will be
untucked or like. I think a good example was
like in Hadjoji when there was like this, like
the first time we had to like jump and like jump
into a press. Like, I mean, nobody did the move
and nobody really knew what to do. And then once
you explain it, like Mejdi, he did the move because
they wanted to do route setters and I asked what
was the method and Mejdi, he did it after the
calm and he put the video online. And then in
the end. yeah they they did it on the world championship
again and the boulder was stoned because they
yeah they knew what to do so it's kind of like
a feeling with complicated moves you have to
like show the show them what to do before they
or or like you need somebody who actually like
figures it out yeah there's always courage that
that don't doesn't work So you need to spend
more time on Instagram to know what to expect
for next year. Maybe, yeah. You really have to
follow Instagram very good to know what kind
of ball you're going to get next year. Okay,
keep scrolling then. So I think I've also heard
a lot of athletes mention that it's hard to keep
up in good shape throughout a long competition
season. It seems like 2025 was pretty long. But
I just feel like if everyone is going through
that same struggle where, you know, it's like
starts out stronger and then it's a long season,
then there shouldn't really be like an issue,
right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I agree.
I feel like if everybody does the same, it's
the same for everybody. Do you feel like it's
hard for you to stay in good shape throughout
the season or like last season? Yeah, it was
not super easy. especially when you do like multiple
weeks in a row because the climate competition
takes quite some energy. And of course, yeah,
when you do competition, you're not really training.
So if you do like two or three comps in a row,
it's more like always like three weeks of trying
to recover from the comp and not really training.
But yeah, like you said, if everybody does the
same, then yeah, then everybody will be like,
everybody's shape will go down a bit. But yeah,
I also am a big fan of comms. So yeah, I would
love to have more comms anyway. Like I really
like comms. So the more the better for me. That's
also like I'm still combining both disciplines.
So part of the reason is because I just like
competition. And if I do lead, I can do like
more competitions. So maybe the only thing that
I... maybe would be a bit better is that they
they don't extend the season like too much like
I think this year was okay like the world championship
came quite late especially for boulders when
you finish in Innsbruck there's like three months
I think or maybe four I don't know I think three
three months in between the last comp and then
the world championships so maybe that they could
just try to avoid I also see now that like just
the calendar came out for 2026 yeah and I've
seen that that they put like Celtic City like
beginning of October and I guess the last World
Cup is in Innsbruck again so I mean I didn't
check it 100 % but I guess there will still again
there will again be like a gap of like two or
three months which for me it's like It kind of
sucks because a lot of people just want to also
go rock climbing. And if you do that, it's kind
of like, I mean, rock climbing, it doesn't, it's
a good thing to do, but it's not the best preparation
either for competitions. So yes, some, because
for me, I really want to do rock climbing. Just,
yeah, I'm just a bit scared if I do too much
for the comp. People like, especially for me,
when you're not. feeling the most confident in
coordination she kind of wants to bring coordination
and yeah rock climbing is not all coordination
so yeah it will be a bit nicer if they just like
okay the season stops here and not like a gap
of three months where you're just like okay now
I have to stay inside or I can't go like or I
can't fully commit on a outer project because
if I do that yeah for sure you will lose a bit
of form you know that's the only thing that will
be nice right Yeah, like especially going from
lead back into like a boulder mindset again.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's yeah. Yeah. And
I mean, it looks like you are more of a boulder,
but also improving in your lead climbing as well.
Do you feel like you're going to be more focused
on lead climbing training or is that still more
like secondary for you? No, I mean, I've always
been like very good in lead until the point I
got like good in bouldering, which is kind of
funny. I mean, I have like, I mean, when I was
talking earlier about my injury on my elbow,
when I said I already had it before, like I had
to stop climbing for one year because I had like
a big injury on my elbow, which is like back
in 2019, I think. So quite some time ago, like
when I was still in the youth, I think was my
second year in the youth. So luckily it was not
like in an important year where like it was important
to like push on trainings. But everything before
that, I was always into lead climbing. My boulder
results were very bad. I was not really winning.
I mean, the Belgium Cups sometimes and the Youth
Cups and the European level, I was really nowhere.
I was getting lost or something in the middle.
It was not super good. and then I came out of
this injury and yeah I don't know I think like
I grew a bit because when I was young I was also
very very small like really one of the smallest
I was in the category and I think it was also
kind of linked with that but since I was small
I was also like very very light and I had like
like a lot a lot of endurance so I think it's
also a bit linked with each other like being
very small and um but yeah when I came back out
of injury like my bouldering level it like increased
like quite a lot so yeah since then yeah the
bouldering went better and better and actually
the lead climbing went a bit worse until like
last year when I started training for lead like
a lot a lot trying to expect for the Olympics
and yeah since then I started doing lead also
better and better and until now I'm still like
improving and yeah I really like it so I would
like to keep combining it actually do you have
a preference I mean especially since you don't
really prefer doing crazy coordinations in boulder
it seems like lead has slightly less of that
no yeah I still prefer bouldering actually because
it's not that I dislike coordinations is for
sure it's not the most fun to train but yeah
it's still okay but No, I think I still prefer
bouldering because for me there is still more
variation into it. Also, the competitions are
a bit longer, which I kind of prefer because
there is a bit more the mental aspect. Also,
the strategy within bouldering I like. But when
you look like outdoor, I prefer to go leaf climbing
outdoor because... Yeah, it's a different game
and it's more climbing. And yeah, I prefer to
do like rock climbing, lead outdoor, but on competitions,
I prefer bouldering. That's also kind of a reason
I keep on combining both because I'm scared when
I will say to myself, okay, from now I quit bouldering
and I go, I quit this, I quit lead and I go all
in bouldering. Like I will probably use my formal
lead climbing and I... will not be able to send
the lead projects that i want to send so yeah
um so then moving on to what your training looks
like um what does your training schedule look
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deal as well. Back to the show. So I'm more like
the guy who do like quite some double sessions.
So I'm more into like double sessions instead
of doing multiple days in a row. I mean, I do
multiple days in a row. But yeah, almost every
day I do is like a double session, except for...
This year I kind of had to slow it down because
of the elbow because it was hurting too much,
especially the second session. No, most of the
time it's like two days on and then one day like
off. Then I come the day off, I either like sometimes
I do the slab sessions or I do like cardio when
I go running. I also have like a running program
because my coach and also me believes that it
can help like doing interval training for bouldering.
In what way does running help? I mean, I never
really asked, but when you look at polar comms,
it's like you go like five minutes on the mat.
When you do like, you put like tries and you
know, when you finish in five minutes, you're
quite exhausted. It's just quite hard. And then
you have like five minutes rest. So it's kind
of like an interval. if you can like kind of
recreate it with running and you can like do
like running intervals when you like tire your
body out for a time and then you take like rest,
you do like slower running and then like this,
you can like just train to let your body like
recover like during the five minutes. I guess
it's something like this. I mean, I didn't do
any studies for it, but I trust my coach. Also,
I do fitness. I know not everybody is like a
big fan of fitness in the climbing world because
some are scared to take too much muscles. I mean,
I did take some muscles, but I think the power
you gain from the fitness is better than the
weight gain you have. I mean, at least I hope
so. Like my coach say it's like this. I put a
lot of trust in her. So yeah, I do fitness. It's
about, depends on the time of the year. But in
winter training, it's about three times a week.
Then you go to two times a week. Is that like,
that's like strength training, weightlifting,
stuff like that? Yeah, especially weightlifting.
Yeah, mainly focus on weightlifting. Yeah, I
mean, when I say strength training, I should
have more specified to like actually weightlifting.
Yeah. I don't know if you necessarily know, but
is it true that I guess a lot of like the Japanese
climbers like only do climbing and they're like
the ones who don't do any strength training or
like weightlifting? Yeah, that could be. And
I also ask myself the question if fitness training
is actually the way to go. But I mean, maybe
if the Japanese did weightlifting, they will
have been even more stronger. So I guess we will
never know that. Yeah, I heard it too, but yeah,
I don't know exactly how they are all training.
I mean, for sure, I saw the videos of Tomoa.
He said that he doesn't really do the weightlifting
except like a bit in warming up, but it's definitely
not how most of the people see weightlift training.
But yeah, I've already discussed it with my coach
too, and I think at once... point we're gonna
switch to doing maybe more spray well sessions
instead of weightlifting just because yeah at
one point you will be you you will have and not
done enough like weightlifting and it just like
it's not really a matter to gain more strength
but more like um try to keep the strength at
a certain level so you have to do like less weight
training so but that's in the future so But for
the moment, still a lot of weight training, unfortunately,
because it's not my most preferred. I don't like
it. Yeah, it's kind of lonely, you know, like
I do it in like a fitness, which is not in the
climbing gym. So yeah, it's just like with your
headset on and yeah, being a bit alone. So I
don't really like the trainings alone, but yeah,
so. Yeah, is there any one thing you feel like
you've done in training that has helped you the
most? Like you did it and then after you're like,
whoa, that really worked for me. For me, it's
always been hard to say like this helps or that
helps because I can expect myself to become better
like so. But I would say like something very
important is when you really look at competition
climbing. For bouldering, for me like... repetitions
of coordinations with like a lot a lot helps
for sure um really do them like like just this
one coordination like try to do it like five
times in a row and then you come back like the
next day like try to flash it again really try
to put like a lot of uh repetitions in this one
coordination um because like my opinion they're
they're not endless of variations and coordinations
you know like all coordinations kind of goes
into the same movement as the coordination you've
already done so I mean they're still inventing
I don't know how but every time there's a new
coordination but but yeah still you will always
get especially like in qualification or or in
semi -final you will kind of get like the same
coordination you've already done so if you just
repeat a lot of the coordinations you do at training
eventually you will kind of get the same kind
of coordination comes so that's very um yeah
useful uh for lead i would say like one of the
things i've done a lot um before the olympic
qualifiers which like i felt like my level went
like up like a lot in lead um it's like just
on a spray well you do like one minute on one
minute off and you like you don't go until like
the full pump but you try to to go like to eight
out of ten like being pumped so uh during like
the whole exercise like this i have the feeling
this like helped me the most because it's like
kind of the exercises i did uh the most and yeah
my level went up quite a lot in lead so i think
that's yeah especially for me it's one of the
most important exercise for me That's good to
know. I think one thing that a lot of people,
it came up a lot, a lot of audience members want
to know this. How did you get so good at slab?
Yeah. I wonder, like, because this thing with
slabs, like, it's true that I've done, like,
some slabs that are pretty hard and I got some,
like. only a sense like on competitions of slabs
also like yeah last rock masters again like i
thought the slab that one was crazy um you know
i've i've no idea honestly and and it's it seems
like it's like um and the feeling is not always
true that i'm so good at slabs like when you
see which boulders i do on slabs like actually
it's not that much like um there been a lot of
slaps on comms that a lot of people did and I
didn't do. But then once there was like a very,
very hard slap, like for me, sometimes it just
works out. And I don't know how, I mean, it's
true. I worked a lot, a lot on slaps because
when I was younger, I think slap was kind of
my weaker point. Also with this elbow injury,
I couldn't always climb with two hands. So I
did like at one point I did a lot of slaps. So
yeah, I mean, if you want to get good at slabs,
yeah, there are not a lot of things you can do.
You just like do a lot of slab climbing. So you
don't really consider yourself like a super good
slab climber. Like when you think about your
own climbing, you're not like, I'm the slab person.
Yeah, no, not really. Interesting. It gave me
like a lot of pressure to hear like this thing
because at one moment like... I did some slaps
and I did some hard slaps and then I actually
started to believe that I was good in slaps and
I started to feel more confident in slaps. So
this kind of helped until I also started to expect
myself to every kind of the slaps. Exactly, yeah.
Yeah, and how there's a slap, like, yeah, now
you have to do it because you're supposed to
be the best in slaps. it gives like kind of the
pressure, you know, not only in comms, but also
in trainings, like you do trainings with, with
like, yeah, with other people, like from other
teams or whatever. And every time we go to the
slab, like, you know, there, there are always
some guys were like, yeah, yeah, the slab master.
And they always say something. I was like the
small thing. And then it immediately gives like
the stress, like, okay, fuck. Now I, I have to
do good, you know? And yeah, it's, it's, It's
not always been very easy when people say it,
but it's kind of funny because I came from a
style that was not really good in slaps and now
people say that I'm one of the best at slaps.
It's not completely not true, but it's also not
completely true. It depends from slap to slap.
I believe there are a lot of styles in slaps
too. Yeah, I wonder where it came from then.
I guess because... I think probably like Matt
said it one time during live stream and then
he says it every time. And then, yeah, every
time you show up, if you don't do it, he's like,
oh my God, he didn't do it. Exactly, yeah. I
guess it probably came from, I mean, my first
final I made wasn't had Joji and I was the only
one to top the slab, which was like a super physical
slab. Like there was nothing on the feet. Like
it was all like shouldery things and small. Yeah,
it was just like shouldery things and just like.
switch foot or put foot on a volume like I don't
know but I remember it was just pure physical
and almost everything in in your arms and yeah
that the same comp I also slept in the final
and then also the next comp I did pretty good
and another hard slap so I guess like it's this
and then indeed like Matt Gurum started to saying
it. And then, yeah, he never got it out of his
head. So he just kept saying it for, I guess
he will keep saying it. And every time I don't
do the slap, I will disappoint Matt. And so,
yeah, that's just how it is right now. Yeah,
sorry that you have to carry that weight. I think
one of the audience questions was, what are your
top tips for comp style slab and specifically
foot swaps? So do you have anything for that?
Well, what I did find out is like when you do
foot swaps, especially without hands, it's like
I can always try to put my body out of the wall
a bit. And from the moment I want to do the foot
swap, like I go back into the wall. It's like
only like... a centimeter or like a millimeter
but it kind of it kind of helped me a lot to
do like some foot swaps so the feeling this is
like this is actually pretty helpful like you
should try if you if you do a foot swap like
just go this like tiny bit out of the wall and
once you want to make the foot swap you just
like go back and then you you kind of stop the
momentum when you're again the closest to the
wall you like kind of fall into the wall again
it's just like a small centimeter or less but
can help me like quite a lot also like playing
with like the how you how you switch your foot
because you can switch your foot like this or
you can like turn your feet and switch it like
this like it's like both works but it's a different
situation and like it depends on which situation
you are which one works so No, I think that'll
be helpful. We have like a no hand slab set up
right now. So maybe I'll try out the out and
in method. Yeah, for me, it's always a nightmare,
those no hand slabs. Yeah, because it's always
like so scary. I don't know, especially with
volumes. It's so bad. Yeah, the shoes. I don't
like it. Yeah. I also have a weird thing where
I feel bad doing no hand slab because I feel
like I'm wasting my rubber on it. Like I'm worried
that every single time I turn my foot, I'm like,
there goes, there goes, there goes my, my shoe.
Yeah. It kind of, yeah. It's kind of true. Like,
yeah, the rubber, it just changes every time
you slip off or, or whatever. Like, yeah. Especially
when you use shoes that are fast, like flat,
like yes. When you do volume slabs, it's. Yeah,
it can go fast, sure. Yeah, I guess going into
the mindset a bit, you already talked a little
bit about how if you don't send a slab now, it
kind of gets in your head. Yeah, not necessarily
when it's a slab, but just in general, it depends
on which situation you are in. I mean, there
are so many situations that can happen. You can
have the people in front of you that do the boulder,
you can have the people after you that do the
boulder, you can have nobody that do the boulder,
you can have like... your rival that do the boulder
or whatever there's so many not necessarily which
kind of boulder it is it's just like it's more
like the situation you're in like that can change
a lot yeah wait real quick who's your rival I
don't know like I guess everybody I want to beat
everybody I mean in the end I want to win the
competition so I was just talking in general
but yeah okay For me, it's more like, yeah, I
just want to win, so I have to beat everybody
anyway. Okay, so of those situations you just
mentioned, like people before you or after you
topped or nobody topped, which of those do you
feel like, I guess, hurts your mindset the most
and which one kind of fires you up more? For
me, what fires you up the most for sure is when
the people in front of you don't do the boulder.
That's what really gives you like, okay, like...
Now you can like make the show, you know, like
the boulder, it has not been topped. So, so,
you know, you can really do something great.
The worst is probably when the people behind
you do the boulder, because, you know, you can't
change it anymore. And you know that it has been
topped. So, you know, you're like kind of disadvantaged
to already the person that's behind you. And,
you know, you don't know who else, but possibly
somebody else too. And yeah, when somebody from
a few tops, it's more like, okay, like, yeah,
you kind of have to do the boulder or the boulder
is just really hard and he just didn't. But anyway,
you know that he did it, so it is a possible
boulder. And yeah, if you want to have the best
chance to pass to the next round, you kind of
have to do the boulder too. I mean, the best
is to not get it into your head. anyway you you
kind of see it anyway like it's either you just
close your eyes for the next five minutes or
or you even even just hearing the the crowd like
the crowd is pretty loud so even if you have
like some special thing with noise cancelling
you will hear it anyway so right so yeah it's
yeah it's it's hard to to not get anything into
your head but maybe sometimes it's better to
try to like just let it into your head and just
like knowing how to react on these situations
then always try to avoid it and then like having
to like like calm yourself again down or something
because i think it's yeah what like i said it's
impossible to not see it so it's better to to
train how to react on these situations than to
not trying to not see it Yeah, I guess, how do
you train yourself to not react? Well, that's
the hard thing. It's hard to train that, but
I think one of the good strategies, I mean, one
of the good training methods for sure is visualization.
I feel like visualization is hard because it's
not like... It's not like 100 meter sprint where
you just like have to sprint and you're just
going to visualize that you're ready for the
sprint and you do the sprint and you win the
sprint. Because when you visualize, try to do
it as realistic as possible. Only when you do
a boulder comp and lead comp also, you're not
going to know the routes or boulders two weeks
in advance. So having a perfect visualization
of your comp is already impossible. So you kind
of have to... visualize this situation. It's
not always easy, but I still feel like this helps
a lot. Also, I think the best thing is on simulations,
just like training with good people who are possibly
going to top the boulder before you or after
you and putting yourself in these situations.
And every time when you're in this situation,
you really have to acknowledge that you're in
this situation and then try to find the best
method to handle it. Yeah, I don't exactly know
that much about visualization. I thought that
was more about when you see the boulder, like
trying to see that like you on it and then you
doing it. But you're saying like even way before
the comp, you're just like imagining yourself
winning the comp. Yeah, that's a different kind
of visualization. That's really like trying to
prepare your body or your mind, more like your
mind for the competition that's coming. Like
if you visualize, like, for example, like me,
when I was at the Olympics, it was hard to concentrate.
Like I was like blown away. Like I can say it's
like I was like blown away of the comp. Yeah,
that's like a huge event. And like, there was
no way I could have like. known it was this big
so if you like just go back like like i don't
know like months before and you start like visualize
like in your head like every like like multiple
times a week you like visualize everything like
the crowd the the impression you're gonna get
like the fact that you're gonna get blown away
but like every like you try to visualize all
that like you kind of prepare yourself um that
it doesn't feel like this first time anymore
like it feels like you've already done it and
yeah then you kind of know how to handle it it's
i mean i'm still like i still it's hard and so
i i can't do it like super good but i i'm pretty
convinced that this method is like very good
to prepare prepare for big competitions like
just to not have this feeling of being the first
time at this big event like yeah like overwhelmed
i guess yeah yeah exactly yeah this is the word
like not being overwhelmed because it will feel
like you've already done it i mean you try to
get the feeling that you have already done it
yeah okay that's interesting i haven't heard
that one before but i can see that how that would
help yeah it's it's very hard because visualizing
it's hard to keep the concentration while visualizing
it's also hard to really know what to visualize,
especially in bowlering or lead climbing because
you don't know what you're going to get as a
bowler. But I think it can help, especially when
you know what kind of mistakes you're making,
when you know what kind of thoughts you're getting
when somebody before you top a bowler. So I think
it can help for sure. One more thing about mindset.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in my mind, when
I think of all the male competitors, I feel like
you seem like one of the more angry competitors.
Oh, really? Yeah. Do you feel like that's the
case? I don't know. I don't feel angry at competitions.
Maybe I look angry. I know my dad is a teacher
and I went to the same school as my dad in high
school. And I know everybody was always saying
like, yeah, why? Like they were not saying it
to me, but I heard it from my mom. But they were
like, yeah, your dad is always like angry. Like
why? And then my dad is like, yeah, but no, but
I'm not angry. It's just like my face is just
angry. So maybe my face is just angry. I don't
know. But I know that I'm always in this serious
mindset. I'm not like the one who is always like
going to smile because it doesn't really help
me for. Yeah, I think it's kind of some people
like when they do a comp, they have to smile
to do good. Or me, I think I'm just like a bit
more serious when I do the comp. So I'm not always
going to look very happy. But yeah, I'm definitely
not angry all the time. Okay, that's good to
know. I mean, it depends. There are for sure
situations where I'm angry, but yeah. And I don't
think I get upset like very fast at competitions.
Yeah, I'll maybe have to look through and think
about what times I remembered you being angry.
I was like, oh my God, that's really scary. I
guess, well, I don't think you looked specifically
angry in this example, but there was that one
time where you did a backflip after you couldn't
do the climb. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know.
It's funny because I was just doing like a random
session in Paris and there were like three different
guys. who came to me like, yeah, you're the guy
from the backflip. And I was like, what? I guess
it's something that I understand. I mean, also
with this backflip that comes, it's kind of special
to do it. And I don't really know why I did it.
I guess I remember I came pretty close to sticking
this pinch boulder. And I don't know, at one
point I come down and I think I was like, just
like full of like... adrenaline that I like kind
of didn't control myself and I like just jumped
up and did like a backflip just out of like yeah
just because I had like full of adrenaline and
I had to do something and I knew my time was
up and I was like yeah like yeah yeah I wish
I just had topped the boulders Yeah, I know.
No, I mean, I wish you had done it. But yeah,
when you came off and did that, I was just like,
oh, it's like the backflip of anger. Yeah, yeah,
no, I was definitely, I mean, I was, yeah, it
was more like out of like, just like being full
of adrenaline being like, like, why did I like,
like, how did it happen? I let go, you know,
it's like, it's like, it's like, you know, when
you see Adam, Adam Ondra, when he cups the ball,
or he's like, jumping around everywhere, you
know, it's like. kind of like this like you just
like pull up this adrenaline and you don't know
what to do with your body anymore so it just
things happen like randomly so yeah that makes
sense uh before we go into more audience questions
um in terms of non -climbing or um yeah anything
that you do outside of climbing and competing
um especially because you're still healing from
your injury for like the next six weeks yeah
what do you like to spend your time doing what
are you going to do in the next six weeks Yeah,
hard question. I mean, the operation was quite
recently. It was like Wednesday. Some days have
passed. I went on holiday with my parents because
they happened to go on holiday just now. So I
joined them. What I'm going to do, it's a hard
question. I mean, I live with six other people.
Oh my gosh. I live with five other people. They're
all climbers. But yeah, I mean, for sure, there
are always people here. So I will never like
be lonely. Like every time I'm eating, like somebody
is there. The climbing gym is not that far away.
So I can always go there. I know quite some people
there. I mean, I still do have to train. Like
I cannot just like relax and chill for the next
six weeks. I have to... go to another town where
my physio is so i have to go like three or four
times to the physio i will start like exercises
uh yeah without the elbow um so yeah that's for
like training part when i won't be training um
and then i'm kind of a lot into sports so i always
try to find like more active um solutions so
I already went because my little brother he's
like he liked to do tennis so I hope I can I
hope I will be able to do some tennis with him
just like with one hand like single hand backhand
but yeah he's pretty good so he kind of teaches
me Vasta and he teaches me a bit how to do the
tennis yeah if not Yeah, I don't know. I have
a PlayStation 5 here, so I guess I will just
be gaming. Nothing really special. Yeah, it's
hard. I've tried to think about a lot of things,
but a lot of things you just need two arms. Yeah,
that's true, actually. I mean, I'm currently
working on my driving license and I can't move
my arms. I mean, I think in Belgium, The wheel
is on the left side. I don't know, in America,
on the right or left side? It's on the left side,
yeah. Okay, yeah. Okay, so anyway, then it's
the same. But yeah, so I can do the... How do
you say the changing of numbers? Oh, the... The
gear. Like the gear shifting? Yeah, the gear
shifting. Oh, you don't have automatic. No, I
mean, to pass the exam, it's better to do it
on manual because then I can do both. Yeah. So,
yeah. Anyway, I can drive a bit. So actually,
yesterday we tried, but I got in the argument
with my dad and so I couldn't drive for my dad
anymore. So he was pushing too much. Oh, I get
that. Oh, yeah. Teaching a kid how to drive,
I think, it's a stressful process. Yeah, I can
imagine. So, yeah. So, yeah. I tried to do that.
And for the rest, I mean, I will go watch some
competitions, actually. There are some competitions
coming up. Like, there is the Tokyo Sessions
in Amsterdam, which is not super far. And there
will be, like, I think Sota will be there. Okata
will be there Mao so I think I will go watch
that which will be quite fun there will be the
team bowler arena which is like the duo competition
in France I think I'll go watch that too because
yeah France with like the French team quite of
the French team and so yeah just go watch that
also some people who I live with in Brussels
they will go do the events so yeah I guess I
just train like yeah just go watch competitions
or things like that still a lot of climbing then
yeah I hope so just doing one hand climbing yeah
doing some slabs more slab work okay cool and
then I guess your goals for 2026 do you have
anything in mind for next season Well, yeah,
I still haven't won a World Cup, so I would really
like to. I mean, I'm still young, so there's
still a lot of time, but I hope I can win a World
Cup this year. It will be amazing. My goal eventually,
I really hope to become Olympic champion one
day. I mean, I have to start with the World Cup.
So yeah, I think that's the biggest goal for
next year. Also, the European Championships will
be in Brussels. So that's pretty big. So it's
going to be the beginning of the season. I don't
know how it will be with the recovery of the
yellow ball. But yeah, I'll try to do my best
there. And it's for sure going to be a big goal
to win there. So yeah, that's the thing. I also
hope to still be able to compete in the lead.
Now I will have done less lead than I normally
do. So I guess I'll see how that goes. Also,
I have quite some outdoor projects. Mike Yannick,
he just did the second descent of Rastaman migration
in Seuss. I've tried with him like sometimes
and yeah, I hope I will be able to send that.
That will be really amazing, yeah. Okay, best
of luck to you there. Thank you. Hopefully it
will be a good 2026 for you. I hope so too. So
then, yeah, before we end things, we have a few
more audience -submitted questions left. We'll
get into some of those now. So the first one,
would love some insight into the language situation
in Team Belgium. You're Flemish, but most of
the team is French -speaking. Is that ever challenging
for you? Not anymore. I mean, now I'm quite okay
with French. In the beginning, I was challenging.
In the beginning, I mean, when I was very young,
I didn't speak English. I didn't speak French.
I only spoke Dutch. But yeah, there were a lot
of French -speaking people, a lot of French -speaking
people. Also, the coaches and the adult team,
now it's... My coach is now on the adult team.
I mean, yeah, often. She's Flemish, but before
it was mostly French. So in the beginning it
was quite hard also to communicate with the athletes.
Like I had to learn English. So it was not always
easy. But luckily in Belgium, I think it's quite
easy to learn English since we're not really
a country that like... dub all the all the movies
we kind of we kind of watch the movies in English
I mean just in the original language so so yeah
it's I think in Belgium it's very like almost
especially in Flanders I mean as you have said
like the Flemish part don't dub the French part
they they put everything in French but yeah a
lot of Flemish people speak English So luckily
I learned English pretty good. French, I have
always got on school too. And once I went to
the Belgium team and I started hearing all the
French, I started trying to speak French. And
now it's okay. But yeah, when you do like team
meetings in the Belgian team, mostly it's in
English. Also, it's kind of a habit to speak
with some English, with some I speak French.
It depends. For example, when I speak with Nico,
even though I speak perfectly, that I speak good
French, we just have the habit to speak English
because we kind of go back to the time that I
didn't speak French and I spoke better English.
So with him, I always speak English. But when
I speak with a French team, it's always going
to be in French now. So yeah, it depends on people.
But yeah, right now, it's not really a problem.
Yeah, okay. That's good to know. Being in the
US, that's all very... I don't even think about
other people having to speak different languages.
Yeah, I guess it's easy, yeah. Next one. Do you
think calisthenics or gymnastics training is
necessary now in comp climbing? Well, I've thought
about it and I have the feeling like... The time
you can spend on gymnastics or other things,
you can as well just spend on your wall doing
coordination. So I'm not really the biggest fan
of doing like the coordination training outside
of climbing. So yeah, I would say no, but I mean,
climbing is still like not the most developed
sports. I wouldn't be surprised if it actually
can help. But for the moment, I've not heard
of anybody or I've not seen any exercises that
I would say, okay, that can actually like help
for coordination. So yeah, like I said, I think
the time for the moment, my opinion is more like
the time you can, you spend on gymnastics, you
can just spend on the climbing or the coordinations.
Yeah, I guess that makes sense. You don't think
any of your gymnastics training before the age
of seven helped with your climbing? Yeah, I mean,
seven is very young, you know, so I don't even
remember what I was doing. But yeah, I've always
done gymnastics at school too because I was in
a sport. I was doing sports at school and I've
done two hours of gymnastics. So there I saw
automatically like I'm... better than the average
student in gymnastics just because it's kind
of the same muscles um so but yeah when I was
seven I don't even remember what I did so I thought
I thought that it's gonna be it's gonna have
made a big difference Okay, last one. Well, there
were two, but they are kind of similar, and they're
both about slab climbing, of course. People say
that slab climbing needs a climber to stay calm,
especially during competitions. So how do you
stay calm on slab? And then the other one was
someone, I think, who also competes in climbing.
How do you get better at slabs, specifically
in competitions, because it's hard to relax?
Yeah, it's very important to stay calm. I see
also myself slabs that I don't do. Like often
it's when you don't stay calm or you're like
kind of want to grab things that are not there,
especially like when you have like this edges
on the volumes, like you're always tend to take
them, but often it's, or sometimes it's not better.
Like you're just going to put yourself in. in
bad positions so yes staying calm on the slab
is one of the most important also one of the
most the hardest parts and i think it's like
i said this being aware that you're not not calm
enough so you can adapt to the situation when
you're not calm it's mostly because you you don't
trust your feet and then or something like this,
or you feel like you're going to fall off, and
then you just have to realize, okay, what's the
worst thing that can happen when you just fall
off? The worst thing can maybe break your foot,
but probably not. Terrible, okay. Yeah, but okay,
that's maybe bad to say when you want to help
somebody, but probably you're not going to break
your foot. So if you just try and and you just
go for the move, then you will feel that it's
staying. I mean, every boulder is tested, every
boulder works. So you're just trusting everything.
It's hard to give better advice than that feeling.
Just feel it and trust it. Yeah. I've also, I
know already like often when I don't do a slap,
it's just like, you don't stay calm. You don't
trust the feet. Like you want to rush too much,
but it's just about trying to do the move. And
once you try to do a move, maybe you fall off,
but then you can like adapt to the move. If you're
not trusting it. Like you're like two steps behind,
like first you have to trust it, then you can
start learning the moves. And then I guess, especially
with like the time pressure and competitions
on slab, because it's like a slower climb too.
Yeah, it is. For me, it kind of helped to put
myself into those situations. Like I get a slab
and I just put like, instead of five minutes,
you put like one minute and then you're just
gonna. know you're under time pressure, but at
least you know you're going to be under time
pressure and you're going to learn how to stay
calm. It's very easy, but you're just going to
learn it like this, I think. I guess, do you
remember that Rockmaster's Slab Top? That was
kind of like a buzzer beater, right? Yeah, that
was crazy. What were you thinking on that last
try? I was thinking it's over, actually, because
I was getting eliminated if I didn't pass the
move. Because I don't know why, but I just slipped
two times in the beginning. And then I just watched,
I think Yannick did the move. And so I just watched
him and I was like, okay, for sure it's going
to feel bad. But, I mean, if I don't commit to
it, it's finished. It's over. Like, I'm going
out. I just tried to stay calm. I just, I just
tried to feel and yeah, put my feet through and
I put it on hold. And as I expected, it didn't
feel good, but I knew like, okay, you, you can
stand on the feet. So I just slowly, it's, it's
all about like finding the right balance between
like going slow and moving your, moving your
weight to the other foot, but not too fast. And
just. keep feeling and feeling. And at one moment,
like you, you feel when you can go on the other
foot and it's kind of just, it's, it was just
about this, just like feeling when it's the time
to just put it all on this one feet. And yeah,
it's just like, I thought about it, how it was
going to feel and it felt like that. And yeah,
then it worked out. So, so yeah, it's, it's,
yeah, it was crazy. Just the slap. It worked
out. Yeah. It was cool to see. So I think, yeah,
that's all the questions I had today then. Thanks
for joining me. Any like last minute words of
wisdom you want to get out there? It's really,
I have the feeling, I already now have the feeling
people expect to say, to give some wisdom words
about Slab Clan, but I really don't have anything
more. No, I mean, I think your Slab tips were
good. When you really want to improve slab climbing,
you should just go to France probably. It's the
best place to train slab climbing. Okay. No,
that totally works. That's good. And where can
people find you if they want to reach out? Yeah,
probably on Instagram. I mean, I'm not always
responding because I always forget to look at
the request. Because Instagram put an update
and you don't see the numbers of how many requests
we have anymore. So now you have to really think
about it. But yeah, I mean, if they have a question,
they can just reach me on Instagram. I try to
respond. Okay, cool. Well, awesome. Thank you
again. And it was amazing to talk to you. Yeah,
no worries. What's fun to do. Thank you so much
for making it to the end of the podcast. Don't
forget to like and subscribe if you enjoyed.
Otherwise, you are a super big climber. If you're
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discord linked in the description. Thanks again
for listening.