Testimonials List

"Robbie Phillips is one of the top performance coaches in the UK. He is able to combine a high level of personal climbing ability with extensive background knowledge and a great talent for inspiring others. Unlike so many hard climbers, Robbie can see climbing through the eyes of his clients and he adapts his coaching methods to suit the requirements of individuals.

He has dedicated his life to climbing and coaching and it's not surprising that Robbie's list of coaching successes runs from work with the British junior team, to 1-to-1 and group work with adults to coaching holidays on rock.

If I was looking for a personal coach, Robbie would be one of the first people in the UK who I would trust to deliver results."

Neil Gresham – UK's first professional climbing coach, author of Climber's "Neil Gresham's Masterclass" series, and also the founder of "Masterclass Coaching Academy", Britain's first dedicated coaching qualification for performance sport climbing and bouldering.

'Robbie's enthusiasm was infectious, his knowledge and experience as climber and coach superb, coaching technique & encouragement excellent. A brilliant few days of improvement that couldn't be spoiled by the inclement Yorkshire weather. I only wish I lived near Edinburgh!!'

Ben joined Natalie and I for a weeks climbing and coaching in the Yorkshire Dales. By the end of the week, Ben had improved on his personal performance by about 2 grades (when he climbed a tricky 6c+ at Robin Proctor's Scar) and his confidence climbing on lead has never been so good since...

"Robbie's coaching style and approach with the kids from our club was fantastic! With the short time spent with them he provided a quality coached session of the highest standard and also had a great rapport. Awesome day had by all!"

Jamie Smith - Head Coach and Events Coordinator, Young Explorers Scotland

"Robbie's day coaching me and a few pals was great fun and well structured. Robbie knowledgeably critiqued and gave helpful constructive feedback and instruction on my technique and strategy throughout the day, covering many different aspects of indoor climbing, from warming up and movement techniques, to route reading and red-point strategy.

The day really helped with self-honesty on weaknesses and highlighted how much was possible without massively changing to my lifestyle. Robbie had a professional but relaxed approach to the day and was awesome at motivating and encouraging with his very positive attitude.

His in depth individual analysis at the end of the day made achievable suggestions on how to continue improving my climbing. Thanks Robbie, a really enjoyable day!"

Sam did a day workshop with me alongside his friends Tom, Andy, Geoff and Calum. The day was split into performance aspects from physical and technical performance to the tactical and mental approach of climbing. It was a long day that included video analysis, group discussion, 1:1 coach to client feedback and of course a lot of climbing! By the end of the day everyone was pretty tired (including me) but I've no doubt they learned a lot from the days session and have put it to good use on the wall since...

“I first met Robbie in Ceuse whilst on a climbing trip. We got talking about training and after having just finished my first structured cycle of training I was interested to hear his ideas. I was impressed by his knowledge and his obvious passion for helping others improve, so asked if he would write a training plan for me.

Phil climbing at Siurana, Spain!

As part of the plan he recommended that we do a 1:1 coaching session to assess my current ability. Having climbed for quite a few years already I was pretty sure my technique was ok and it was just my fitness letting me down… Wrong! In that coaching session Robbie pointed out numerous flaws in my technique and tactics all of which were holding me back. Implementing these small changes into my climbing made a massive difference to my efficiency of movement on rock.

I would recommend this to anyone regardless of ability or years climbing. If you feel like your climbing has plateaued, having someone like Robbie look from the outside and offer constructive criticism will give great insight into the small technical mistakes you can’t notice for yourself. You may be surprised at the bad habits you’ve developed!

The training plan was great too, with emphasis on my weaknesses and geared towards current goals, tailored to my offshore work schedule and realistic in the amount of time I have to dedicate to training while at home. I found it gave me great motivation to train even when feeling tired or lazy knowing that I had a box to tick for the day.”

Phil Jack – Phil is probably the only guy in the world I can think of that is obsessive about climbing and training as much as me! Working with him has been an honour and a privilege as he has over the last two years kept me on my toes by quizzing me whenever he has a query on training, climbing, nutrition, etc… He was a tough client to work with in respect that his off-shore rope access job meant he had less time at the wall - developing a periodised training plan for him was an interesting challenge.

Robbie has been coaching my son Connor (11) for almost a year now and has helped develop / nurture his climbing ability both indoors and outdoors.

Robbie recognises Connor’s love for the sport and takes a genuine interest in his development. He provides enthusiasm and instils a strong positive mental attitude to help him progress towards his goals – but always in a fun way. This is something that stays with Connor beyond his coaching sessions and into his day-to-day at school and home. Thanks for providing him with a way to ‘label’ his homework and get psyched for the crux moves in his piano practise!

Connor always looks forward to his coaching and training sessions – it’s the highlight of his week. He still talks about his trip to Siurana as “the best time of his life”!

Robbie has recently also taken my daughter Katie (8) for a coaching session. It’s great to see her enthusiasm for the sport grow alongside her brother – something that will hopefully continue to feature as part of family life for many years to come.

Connor has grown so much over the last year both in climbing and in character! His attitude towards climbing as a sport and passion is inspiring to say the least. When I first started coaching Connor, he was working a particularly tough 6a+ on the Competiton Wall - in the last year he has become one of the most talented and promising young climbers in Scotland achieving 7a+ on rock (Easter 2012), 7b indoors (Autumn 2012) and placing top 10 in a National Competition (Youth Open December 2012). He is now looking forward to the 2013 YCS Rounds, an International Competition in Austria (Imst Youth Colors) as well as a week training with the Austrian Team and hopefully an October trip to Kalymnos! He is following a structured training plan and is looking at achieving his first 7c this year. Good luck mate!

Katie is just the girl equivalent to Connor. Her attitude towards climbing is - "Have fun, push hard, and afterwards, lets have a sit up competition!". Katie is still only 8 years old and in her second year of Youth E. She is very talented and incredibly strong for someone so young (she's a gymnast!). I hope she continues to enjoy climbing as much as she does now as I don't think I've known a more promising young female climber. Her hero is Shauna Coxsey, maybe one day it will be Shauna asking for Katie's autograph :