Contents
The growth plate of the finger, between 13 and 15
The growth plate of the finger receives a concentrated force in the crimp grip and in the campus double dyno. In teenagers, it can fracture from fatigue: 36 of the 37 injuries in the Schöffl series come from repeated loading, and onset is most often insidious. The published series agree on age and on location.
Between 13 and 15, the growth plate of the finger is fragile
Stress fractures of the growth plate are concentrated in three years of growth.
98% at the level of the middle finger joint (PIP): 149 injuries in 98 climbers, mean age 14
Sources: Unfallchirurgie 2024 (PubMed 39311912); Jaini et al., PM&R 2026; BMC and UIAA MedCom; FFME (categories, 10/10/2025).
| Study | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Schöffl et al., Am J Sports Med 2022 | 27 patients and 37 growth-plate injuries of the finger, age 14.7 ± 1.5; 66.7% competitors; 28 injuries of Salter-Harris type III; 36 of 37 from repeated loading; healing achieved in every case |
| Jaini et al., PM&R 2026 (scoping review) | 149 growth-plate stress injuries in 98 climbers, mean age 14 (10 to 18); 98% at the middle finger joint; 74% fractures |
| German review, Unfallchirurgie 2024 | more than 200 documented cases, “mostly between 13 and 15”, during the growth spurt |
| Bärtschi et al., Hand Surg Rehabil 2019 | 28 climbers treated, mean age 13.7 ± 1.9; the middle finger (58%) and ring finger (30%) most often affected; 54% fractures, 46% symptomatic sprains |
| Meyers et al., 2020 (267 young climbers aged 9 to 18) | a history of growth-plate fracture is associated with regular training on the standard speed wall (adjusted OR 3.95; 95% CI 1.14 to 13.7): a cross-sectional, self-reported study, which does not prove a cause. Only 6% knew at what age the campus double dyno is safe |
| McMullen et al., 2021 (73 coaches) | 46 coaches (63%) have some or all of their climbers do full body-weight campusing; no consensus on who is entitled to it |
All these data come from clinics, case series or questionnaires. No study has tested a campus ban, a crimp limit or a loading rule against the occurrence of the injury.
The rule, and who states it
The rule on young climbers' fingers rests on several sources of different weight. Mixing them up makes the BMC say what it has not written.
| Rule before 18 | Who states it |
|---|---|
| No campusing with feet off or dynamically | BMC, with the approval of the UIAA Medical Commission: “We advise that climbers aged under 18 do not campus feet-off or dynamically.” |
| Campusing is not recommended | Morrison and Schöffl, BMC article (2021): “campus board use is not recommended for any climbers aged under 18” |
| No added weight while climbing | the same article: “Young climbers must not wear any weights while climbing under the age of 18” |
| Avoid constant crimping | the same article lists it among the methods that cause damage; Schöffl et al. 2025 conclude on reducing the crimp grip |
| No maximal hangs (hangboard, max-hang) | Paak precaution: neither of the two BMC pages names the hangboard or maximal hangs |
The BMC page for over-18s says, for its part, not to campus feet-off or dynamically unless you are an experienced climber who knows what you are doing, to warm up the fingers first and to place it at the start of the session. The page gives no year.
At the first pain on the back of the middle joint of a finger in a young climber aged 10 to 18, Paak's instruction is imaging without delay, not training through the pain. An untreated injury can damage the plate and leave an incongruence of the joint surface, with lasting damage to the finger (Bärtschi 2019).
Injuries by age and sex
- In adults, the finger first: in one clinic series (836 patients, 911 injuries, 2009 to 2012), the fingers account for 52% of injuries, pulleys are the most frequent finger injury, and A4 pulleys are now more numerous than A2 (Schöffl et al. 2015). In a survey of 667 active climbers on their chronic injuries: fingers 41.3%, shoulders 19.4%, elbows 17.7% (Grønhaug 2018).
- Shoulders in women, fingers in men: in a survey of 1,513 responses (877 men, 427 women), the shoulders are the first location in women and the fingers in men, with differences at six locations (Grønhaug 2024).
- Rates in young climbers: 4.44 injuries per 1,000 hours of climbing (95% CI 3.74 to 5.23) in 116 climbers aged 11 to 19, in Alberta (Woollings 2015); 2.7 per 1,000 hours in young American competitors (Barrile 2022). The definitions differ: these two figures cannot be put in one total.
- Falls: 9% of the FFME climbers surveyed had a fall-related injury in 12 months; no effect of sex; beginners (0 to 3 years of practice) had 1.7 times more than those with 5 to 8 years and 3.6 times more than those with 14 to 23 years (Luiggi 2023). The mechanisms cited: natural falls, unexpected falls and static belaying. It is a matter of belaying competence and supervision, not of a set of exercises.
- Shoulder, elbow: the surveys above give their share of injuries; the detailed epidemiology (subacromial impingement, labrum tear, epicondylopathy) was not found, and no figure is put forward.
Prevention: what is not proven
The search of 28 October 2026 (PubMed, Europe PMC, ClinicalTrials.gov) found no proven injury-prevention exercise programme in climbers. It has to be said as it is. A 2015 systematic review judges the results on prevention measures inconclusive (Woollings), and the 2023 review on adult overuse injuries calls for new research on prevention programmes; it finds no link between warm-up, cool-down, stretching, taping or hydration and injury risk (Quarmby).
- The only randomised trial with injury as the outcome: Kozin et al. 2021, 84 physical education students, all men aged 18 and 19, over one year. A 15-minute programme at every session (ring push-ups, feet-on-ground pull-ups, three-point climbing, an eccentric pronation exercise with a 4 kg dumbbell): 3 shoulder injuries per 6,000 exposures, against 21 per 6,600 in the control group. But: injuries were recorded by the athletes and coaches themselves, without blinding; the intervention group also attended a seminar on the causes of injuries; 24 injuries in total; no replication elsewhere. No women, no minors. It is not strong enough to suggest a programme.
- Under-18s: no trial of any kind.
- Girls and women: no trial with a female participant, no programme designed for them.
- The hangboard, antagonist exercises: no trial with injury as the outcome. A core and antagonist exercise in the library is general conditioning; its effect on injuries has not been tested.
So never say that an exercise “prevents pulley injuries” or that the campus board has been “shown to be dangerous” by a trial: the under-18 rule is the advice of a medical commission, based on case series.
What remains: general conditioning
The studies on strength endurance and on antagonist work were not found: no figure or prescription is put forward. The library offers two conditioning drills with no load on the fingers, one on continuity, the other on core; they are in the hub's drill list, presented as common practices, never as proven programmes. Contact strength (campus, hangs, limit bouldering) is reserved for adults aged 18 and over, in another drill of the hub.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a warm-up that prevents climbing injuries?
Can a 15-year-old do hangs on a hangboard?
What should you do about finger pain in a young climber?
Sources
Literature search of 28 October 2026 (PubMed, Europe PMC, ClinicalTrials.gov; Google Scholar and Cochrane not queried). Schöffl V et al., Am J Sports Med 2022 (PMID 34817275); Jaini A et al., PM&R 2026 (PMID 41424400); Schöffl V, Moser O, Küpper T, Unfallchirurgie 2024 (PMID 39311912); Bärtschi N et al., Hand Surg Rehabil 2019 (PMID 31103479); Schöffl VR et al., BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med 2025 (PMID 39995613); Meyers RN et al., Wilderness Environ Med 2020 (PMID 32981830) and Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020 (PMID 32012970); McMullen CW et al., Wilderness Environ Med 2021 (PMID 33972161); Schöffl V et al., Wilderness Environ Med 2015 (PMID 25712297); Grønhaug G, BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med 2018 (PMID 30057779) and 2024 (PMID 39081465); Woollings KY et al., Br J Sports Med 2015 (PMID 25385168; review PMID 26009554); Barrile AM et al., Wilderness Environ Med 2022 (PMID 35144853); Luiggi M et al., J Sports Med Phys Fitness 2023 (PMID 36321816); Quarmby A et al., Front Sports Act Living 2023 (PMID 38162697); Kozin S et al., Acta Bioeng Biomech 2021 (PMID 34846050). BMC: “Campus boards: guidance on use” (approved by the UIAA Medical Commission) and Morrison A, Schöffl V, “Should U18s use campus boards?” (article 4228). FFME: categories (10 October 2025). Not read in full text: Qu et al. 2025, Kozin's second article on the elbow, the FFME, DAV and SAC texts on young climbers' fingers.