Steep + Powerful: Bouldering At Lulworth Cove | Matthew Phillips Strong Armed Ep.3

Oh, hey F8 TV, welcome to my crib. Let me show you around. So normally I'd show you the whole of my place, but unfortunately due to the current conditions, we've got to keep you outside. So I'm just going to be able to show you the motherboard in here. So we're going to throw some cool shapes on this board today. We're going to show you what it's all about. And yeah, hopefully you'll enjoy it. So I'm going to give you the rundown of the board. We got it foot built a few years ago now. So it can go at 35 degree angle, or it can go up vertically for doing some circuits on it. But I think it stays at the 35 most of the time, just because that's the best angle for it to be at for training hard. It's got some really bad feet on it. You know, I bought some really small ones, smallest I could get basically. I'm surprised you can put two screws in half of them. I made some of my own holes as well. I've been doing a little bit of woodworking and create some really nasty little crimps as well, because I do love a good little crimp on the left-hand side. But yeah, I mean, throughout lockdown, it's been a godsend basically, just being able to keep training hard. Got a couple of bolts up on there as well, so I can put my rings up and do my pull-ups and all of that sort of stuff too. But yeah, I mean, I've been able to stay in relatively good shape because of this beast. So like in the first two lockdowns, I think it was a lot easier to stay motivated just because like the weather was better. And like, we all thought that it was going to, it was going to sort of peter out at some point in the near future. But like in the third lockdown, it really sort of hit that it was a, thumbs up, there we go. It was a hit that it was sticking around for a little bit. So it was definitely harder to stay motivated in the third lockdown and sort of around that time. So I sort of was looking for different training, different training methods to stay sort of, to mix it up basically. And I got a bit into doing sort of calisthenics stuff. So handstands, planches, I did a lot of TRX stuff. I didn't really touch my wall for a couple of weeks, just because I wasn't really getting much out of it. And I thought that if I mixed it up and did some sort of fun calisthenics stuff instead, that I'd get the motivation back. And I'm definitely feeling that it has come back now that the gyms are sort of opening again. I can go and play on some sort of bigger walls with some cooler moves. But yeah, I mean, that's sort of been the ups and downs of the journey. And now I've got some psych again ready for the walls, but yeah, just sort of mixing it up so that it's been more interesting. In the third lockdown, when it was starting to get quite hard. Cool. I need tape for us. Feeling that, and then we can delve into sort of the harder problems. I haven't got too many sort of medium problems on this either which is a bit annoying. It's all sort of easy or hard. I guess that's the problem with having a shorter board, but we'll get on some of the easy blocks and then I will start projecting. I've been, so I sort of specifically been looking at crimp strength a lot. I've used some of the time to make some of my own holds as well so that I can make them as small as possible. And that's sort of building, yeah, building up my sort of finger strength in a slightly more exciting way than just finger boarding. Yeah, and doing sort of big powerful moves on small crimps trying to replicate the sort of stuff that I want to climb outside. So my first impressions of the Lower Worth Boarding Area where I was quite shocked by how expansive and how quite good it is as well. Cause it's not an area that you tend to hear so much about. And I wasn't sure what to expect. I mean, I saw the pictures in the guide book and they look kind of good, but I wasn't sure how they'd play out in real life. But actually it's some really stunning boulders and quite striking lines. We are about to try some very cool looking blocks down the Lower Worth at Church Rock. They're steep, they're powerful, and I think I love them. They're very, very good. I'm very excited to try them. They look world-class basically. They remind you of anything? It does. It reminds me a little bit of Emerald Lake in America. They've got that vibe. I know the rock's not the same, but it's got the same sort of vibes. I like that. I like that a lot. You've got the steepness, huge ass spans, soft, tiny undercut things. Actually, it's quite a big undercut, but I'm going to say tiny because it's undercut. And then also from a technical point of view, it has a wide variety of sort of technique in it. It's got heel hooks, toe hooks, knee bars as well, which isn't something that I've really had the opportunity to explore too much. We don't tend to get too many knee bars sort of down south in that way. So that was sort of an exciting one to chuck in there. And then also it's got some really cool, powerful moves as well, which I really like. And it reminds me a lot of some of the other projects I've done such as The Kind in Emerald Lake. It's got the same sort of vibes and the same sort of moves, and I really quite like that. Just getting a little go, a little test out on the moves. It's pretty hardcore, that's for sure. Still need to work them out a little bit. Landing is a little bit sketchy as well, which is great. And a bit of motivation. The top bit feels okay. But yeah, it's just the bottom bit is like the really hard bit I've got to figure through. Oh! There we go! Ha ha ha! Oh my God! What was that? That was a freaking excellent knee bar right there. Woo! Hell yeah! That's like the only time I've ever used a knee bar. The knee bar, that felt pretty solid. I really wish I had a knee pad right now though. Thank you. I'd look like such a professional if I had a knee pad right now. Can you imagine? Look like freaking Jim Pope or someone. Cruz, not this is Steve Vaught. I think it does suit me, but I think it's pushing at the edges of what does suit me. And for the most part, the move that I'm struggling on is a move that generally is my sort of strength, which can be quite frustrating, but can also be quite nice to find sort of the max end of that. And then at the same time, finding the stuff that I thought I would struggle with. So the toe hooks, the heel hooks, the knee bars, relatively easy as well. It's like quite nice. I guess it shows that I can diversify my climbing a little bit more. But then molding those two sort of things together is really quite, it makes it quite a challenging mixed problem, which I quite like. I think it's going to happen today. Stop getting me all sad. What are you doing? Yeah, it's sad, mate. Catching all the sadness. That's all right, it happens though, doesn't it? Yeah, I know. Oh boy. Just feeling powered out and the tide's coming in. Exactly, pressures are on. Do you know what? What? It's the classic go, isn't it? Oh, **** yeah, all right. Another one at the end of the session where you're all tired and battered and then you do it, because, I don't know, why do you do it? No one knows. It's a mystery. Last go, best go, isn't it? Last go, best go. Take the pressure away. Come on, Matt. Nice, Matt. Yeah, easy. Come on. Solid. Oh, that was nearly it. That was a good effort there. I was inches off the point. That was a good effort. That was closer. That was the last, last go. Ow. Oh, God. He's in the wrong colour. Oh, well. One to return to. Oh, gosh. Yeah. I've been chilled out as well. So, I guess my initial feelings after coming away from the boulder were frustration, just because it was a move that I felt I should be able to do. And it's a move that I managed to do in isolation, but couldn't quite link into the whole thing. So, there's definite feelings of frustration, but I don't like to hang on to them at all. I don't think it's good to hang on to frustration about a boulder for them. So, I just moved on, and it's something I want to get back to, and I feel excitement for now. Yeah, I feel ready to give it another go without the frustration, and hopefully improve slightly more. Do it. There we go. That's a bit evil, that. I definitely feel a little bit more ready for the second go at it now, with the replicas and everything like that, and my sort of new mindset. Now that I've a bit more relaxed mindset about approaching it now, I think that it should, I'm feeling pretty confident that it should be able to go down fairly easily. So, I'm definitely psyched to head back down and get it done. On the next episode, I'll be taking you down to one of my favorite bouldering destinations on the South Coast, Portland Bill, and having a nice, chill, relaxing day.