Purpose: To assess the validity and reliability of a novel movement performance assessment tool for climbing/sport climbing. Methods: Firstly, salient climbing movement performance factors were identified through an iterative consultation process with ten expert climbing coaches; the resulting Climber`s Movement Performance Assessment Tool (CMPAT) contained 14 items in five categories. Secondly, 61 intermediate to advanced climbers ascending a single route, which was video recorded. Subsequently, four experienced (>10 years coaching) coaches used the CM-PAT to observe and score the climbers performance. Interrater reliability and comparisons with existing measures of climbing performance (six-month self-reported ability, success and failure, climbing pace [m.min-1] and geometric entropy [GE]) were made. Results: Intra-Class Correlation Coefficient (ICC 2,k), for the four raters demonstrated excellent reliability (>0.81) between observers, and good to excellent test - retest reliability (0.71 - 0.91). Pearson`s correlations between self-reported ability and CM-PAT scores explained 61% variance in self-reported climbing performance compared to 16% for GE and 52% for climbing pace. Considering differences in successful and unsuccessful climbers, the CM-PAT (p < .0005; d = 2.14), GE (p = .014; d = .67) and pace (p < .0005; d = 1.88) were able to differentiate between groups. Conclusion: The CM-PAT is the first sport climbing performance observational instrument to be developed through a thorough iterative process with expert coaches. Excellent inter-rater and test-retest reliability and excellent agreement with self-reported ability existing quantitative measures of performance, support its recommendation for use in coaching and research contexts. Notably, a key advantage over existing measures is the identification of coachable elements of performance.
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