Climbing as a pair: Instructions and instructed body movements in indoor climbing with visually impaired athletes

The paper investigates instructions in the context of indoor climbing sessions involving blind and partially-sighted athletes. Within this sport setting, climbers with sight impairments are supported by sighted guides (in our data, trainers) who verbally instruct them during the climb. Drawing on data from élite-level training sessions, we analyse the production of the climb as a stepwise and sequenced accomplishment, cooperatively realized through the systematic distribution of action within the trainer-climber couple. The analytical focus is on the sequential and temporal coordination of the trainer's instructions with the progress of the climb. The analysis shows that the trainer systematically produces instructions to locate footholds and handholds before the climber starts moving, and that she subsequently assists the climber in reaching the holds by producing further instructions. The temporal coordination of the trainer's instructions with the climber's movement and her orientation to the tactile and proprioceptive resources available to the climber's perception prove there is attunement between the trainer and the climber's action. Finally, we draw conclusions about the socialization of perception which characterizes this setting. Data are in Italian.