Narrative:

Lax changed airport operations from west to east-bound departures at our push time due to prevailing winds. We reacquired a new clearance. We got clearance to push and planned a single engine taxi for departure on runway 6R. During our push we could hear that the ground frequency was saturated and that ground control was verbally chastising one of the (other airline) carriers for not following taxi instructions correctly. When we called for taxi; ground told us to taxi via east to hold short of D8; but then changed it to short of D9; expect departure on 7L; and told us to contact clearance delivery for a new clearance. I mistakenly turned on taxiway D and held short of D9. We contacted clearance delivery and they told us our current clearance was still good (i.e. No changes); we reloaded the runway in the FMC and ran the departure plan checklist for the runway change. When we were ready to resume taxi; ground told us we should have been on east short of D9; but now to stay on D and taxi D; short of west. My first officer and I couldn't find how that would work on the airport diagram and it took a while to get a break in communications to clarify that clearance. Then a series of mis-speaks occurred when the controller told us to keep our speed up and 'taxi left on aa; left on east; hold short of B16 and switch to tower.' I could barely keep up looking into the sun and trying to find those directions on my efb by tracing the route with the jepps pencil on the airport diagram. I told my first officer I was confused by those directions and to get it clarified. Again; busy radios. He understood it as left on aa; left on B; hold short of B16 but I had already taxied the wrong way earlier and I insisted that we get that clarified again. The controller repeated his earlier clearance; in a frustrated tone and I had to break into the frequency while taxiing to tell ground that he was speaking too quickly and not (in general) listening to what was being read back on his frequency. I said I understood the clearance as left on aa; left on B; and to hold short of B16; which he said was correct. The remainder of our taxi out and subsequent departure was uneventful.in the high stress environment of a runway swap; everyone's confusion factor can (and did) go way up. Radios in lax get extremely busy and require extra vigilance on everyone's part; to follow directions correctly. It was evident the ground controller was task saturated prior to our taxi; and my initial mis-taxi just added to the confusion.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported confusion with the clearance from LAX Ground Control. Frequency congestion and difficulty finding their route contributed to the situation.

Narrative: LAX changed airport operations from west to east-bound departures at our push time due to prevailing winds. We reacquired a new clearance. We got clearance to push and planned a single engine taxi for departure on Runway 6R. During our push we could hear that the Ground frequency was saturated and that Ground Control was verbally chastising one of the (other airline) carriers for not following taxi instructions correctly. When we called for taxi; Ground told us to taxi via E to hold short of D8; but then changed it to short of D9; expect departure on 7L; and told us to contact Clearance Delivery for a new clearance. I mistakenly turned on Taxiway D and held short of D9. We contacted Clearance Delivery and they told us our current clearance was still good (i.e. no changes); we reloaded the runway in the FMC and ran the Departure Plan Checklist for the runway change. When we were ready to resume taxi; Ground told us we should have been on E short of D9; but now to stay on D and taxi D; short of W. My F/O and I couldn't find how that would work on the airport diagram and it took a while to get a break in communications to clarify that clearance. Then a series of mis-speaks occurred when the Controller told us to keep our speed up and 'taxi left on AA; left on E; hold short of B16 and switch to Tower.' I could barely keep up looking into the sun and trying to find those directions on my EFB by tracing the route with the JEPPS pencil on the airport diagram. I told my F/O I was confused by those directions and to get it clarified. Again; busy radios. He understood it as left on AA; left on B; hold short of B16 but I had already taxied the wrong way earlier and I insisted that we get that clarified again. The Controller repeated his earlier clearance; in a frustrated tone and I had to break into the frequency while taxiing to tell Ground that he was speaking too quickly and not (in general) listening to what was being read back on his frequency. I said I understood the clearance as left on AA; left on B; and to hold short of B16; which he said was correct. The remainder of our taxi out and subsequent departure was uneventful.In the high stress environment of a runway swap; everyone's confusion factor can (and did) go way up. Radios in LAX get extremely busy and require extra vigilance on everyone's part; to follow directions correctly. It was evident the Ground Controller was task saturated prior to our taxi; and my initial mis-taxi just added to the confusion.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.