Tape over holds
Cover 2-4 key holds on 3-4 easy boulders, then climb each from memory.
- Slot
- On the wall
- Focus
- Reading
- Time
- 20 min
- Intensity
- Low intensity
- Injury risk
- Low injury risk
- Equipment
- Boulders, Tape
How to do it
Pick an easy, safe boulder. Study it and plan your sequence, then tape over or cover 2-4 key holds so you can't see them while climbing. Climb from memory, feeling for the covered holds where you expect them. If you can't find one within a few seconds, look, correct, and keep going - the point is noticing how well your memory matches the wall, not finishing blind at all costs. Do 3-4 boulders.
Run it now
The same timer as the app: a five-second get-ready, then every round and rest counted down with a beep. Keep this page open while you train.
Tape over holds
0:00 / 20:05
Ready
20:05
3 rounds
Cover 2-4 key holds on 3-4 easy boulders, then climb each from memory.
High risk: read the protocol, stop if anything feels wrong.
- 3
- rounds
- 20:05
- total
Done.
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Take the quizWho it's for
Testing whether your route reading actually holds up once you're on the wall. Covering a hold you planned to use is the closest thing to a memory test climbing offers.
Common mistakes
- Covering the start or a hold you'd land badly without. Pick an easy, safe boulder and cover holds in the middle.
- Covering too many. Two to four. Beyond that you're climbing blind, which trains something else.
- Feeling around for ten seconds. Give it a few seconds, then look, correct and carry on. Noticing the gap is the point, not finishing blind.
- Choosing holds you'd never use. Cover the key ones, or nothing is being tested.
How to progress
Cover holds further apart, then cover footholds instead of handholds, which almost everyone finds harder. On a board you can do the same thing by turning the lights down rather than taping.
When it fits
The training periods this exercise fits into in Blok Sessions.
Base Lots of easy climbing, good movement and aerobic fitness.
Performance Peak for a trip or a comp: focus, reading problems, trying hard.