Both Chris’ and my own college timetable have a three and a half hour gap on Friday afternoon. We decided that we should use this time to train at the Ivybridge estate. After stashing our bags in a mate’s locker we jogged to our destination. We headed straight to the playground area to warm up.
The playground area is one of the best places I have ever trained. It is really interesting because it has such a combination of different surfaces and shapes. It is enclosed by both a tall rail, and a low wall, making for some excellent combinations. In the middle of the playground, there is a frame, which has a climbing wall either side. We used this to practise the grip on our cat leaps. We experimented with many different combinations of grips and it encouraged us to be really creative. Only one realistic combination eluded us, as shown in the video below.
This shows our completed grip combinations.
Here is the mini video we made.
After a few playground missions we headed to the back of the estate where there are a couple of nice walls and rails. The walls rise up from a big metal grate, which is a great incentive to land your cat leaps cleanly. We decided to start a mission after spotting a few interesting structures on the walls. They serve as grips but actually hold the rail to the wall. We filmed our second attempt however we got it a lot faster afterwards. You will have to wait for Wednesday for that!
I found it very interesting that Chris and myself placed our hands on the rail differently. I found it easier to put my swinging hand over my holding hand. I believed this gave me more of a pivot to swing on. An analogy would be a weight on a longer string having more momentum. However we both completed it at a similar pace.
After that we headed round a few metres to a really interesting, derelict area. It has three different levels of concrete blocks, which lead to a cat leap. The most challenging part is being able to look up and spot the cat leap after treading on the blocks. However we both completed it in the end.
We later explored a couple of places we hadn’t really been before. I definitely spotted some awesome precisions I want to do this year.
As it approached 3.00pm it started to drizzle so we decided to head back via Tescos. However we hadn’t warmed down so I convinced Chris to jam in the playground one last time. After looking at some massive precisions earlier, I got up to one I had wanted to do ever since I first jammed there. Suddenly I just realised it was nothing and that I could do it. So I did. I felt so pleased; the hang time was the best part. Here it is on film.
From now on we will be holding regular sessions on Wed and Fri afternoons. Friday being more strength based. Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave comments or drop us an email.
Peace. Ross.