Dont you need to perform a surgery to fix this kind of injury?

Very thoughtful analysis and reflection. Thank you for sharing! I just got into climbing regularly about 3 months ago and I'm fighting really hard to balance rest and recovery against my excitement. Hope you heal quickly and fully!

Super late comment but I really appreciate this type of content as well! It is sometimes hard to find examples of this level of quality climbing on the lower benchmarks, I love comparing my own attempts to yours!

Dude exactly that happened to me in May this year. Undercling move on the tension board and POP. I also had no idea why it came to be, I was deep in my session on the tension board working on some V7 & V8 projects, then decided to just chill on some V5's and then it made tha pop sound. I'm not that great at climbing so It was sort of embarrassing to mess it up on such a low grade. I ended up getting into hiking and backpacking so I could focus on something else while recovering and spend time outside. I hope you have a speedy recovery and I'm glad you didn't let it bum you out.

as someone who‘s currently in hospital for anorexia athletica, I‘m amazed by your perspective and I‘ll try to shift mine as well. sport isn‘t everything. my body suffers so much, I have so many injuries, it‘s time to recover and explore life. thank you so much 🙏🏽 I wish you a speedy recovery 😇

Thanks Tom. I just had an A5 pop and your perspective is nice. I wasn't too mad but it's not a bad thing to have a break from climbing for a bit

I’ve popped my fair share of pulleys in my time. Currently recovering from an A4 pulley injury. At this point, I don’t get upset when it happens, I actually tend to get excited to step back, reflect on what’s important, and work on things that I may have overlooked in my training, such as weight training. This time around, I’ve been working with a well known trainer in climbing. We set up a rehab program, I’m about 3 months out from the injury and feel incredibly strong and I’m not even at 100%. In the past I would’ve thought this was a major setback in my training, but now it’s the complete opposite. These injuries are an opportunity to become a way better athlete than you were before. Tom, I’m not sure how many times you’ve ruptured a pulley, but I would love to chat further one of these days.

I popped my A2 pulley like 2 years ago and although the active pain healed after a month and I went back to climbing, even removed from teh injury by two years I still can't load more than 5kg on that finger without the pain reoccuring. It's made it so I use different fingers for two finger pockets on my right hand now versus my left hand in order to not load the ring finger. Not sure what I can do to fully recover the right ring finger or who to even see about it. I still climb regularily but still can feel the noticeable difference in crimp strength from my healthy left and to the 2 year old injured right hand...

Darn, so sorry to hear this Tom. You've got the best outlook here and we appreciate the insight shared! Can you keep us updated with what you are doing for the rehab and what your return looks like to get back to that last top 2% of ability (mentally and physically)? Good luck with the recovery!

Very helpful video -- thanks!

Faaaa! Sorry Tom. This story resonates with me so much. A year ago I was also on one of the best highs in my climbing just for it to come to an abrupt stop; also an A2 pop. I was really upset, I had a Rocklands trip coming up and I was in the best shape I've ever been and wanted to go crush some projects. Felt like all of that was down the drain. But like you I also got into running and that kept me going. That injury taught me so much about why I climb and gave me the time to step back from something that consumes a lot of my time and effort and evaluate it from a different perspective. Climbing hasn't been the same for me since recovery but, it became better and less forced as I now look at it more from an emotional perspective rather than a physical one. Hope you allow yourself the time to see climbing from a different perspective through this recovery period, and come back not just with new psych but also with some new insights into other aspects of your life. We're all just riding this wave.

Hey Tom! I also recently injured that same pulley and have found a love for calisthenics during my downtime. I was wondering what suggestions you had for rehab since there is a ton out on the web and I don’t want to injure myself further. I wish you a fast recovery!

Everyone at Tension is wishing you a speedy recovery! The Tension Board will be waiting for you with open arms upon your return ❤

Collab with Vlad Ixel for trail running next? 😆

Love the froth despite the setback. enjoy the Kiosko trail run and you’ll be back at it in no time.

They always go pop when you're climbing at your best! I did the climbing to trail run transition as well, it's fun but bloody time consuming. Good luck in the 30km!

Underclings are some of the most common holds to pop pulleys on. You can put an insane amount of force on your fingers depending on how much you're driving through your legs. So you in my head cannon you were just driving with your feet so savagely you overcame the strength of your finger. Good luck with recovery!!

All the best my guy! I know you will bounce back strong next year anyway!

I went from running for climbing, to running for running. Trail running is just so much fun. Enjoy the races, but hope you are back on the rocks soon.

It only really starts to suck when you suffer a running injury and also can’t run any more.

bro me too, so unlucky :c

I hope you recover as soon as possible and you cash go back to climbing. Get well soon

Anecdotally, it feels like crimp underclings tend to put a crazy amount of strain on my fingers, more so than any other hold besides pockets. I wonder if there are any biomechanics of the move/hold combo that seems to exacerbate injury for fingers (and perhaps wrist).

You got the right mindset, man! Popped my A4 half a year ago and went through the whole process. I never felt like there is a reason to be upset. There were so many things - within climbing - I had the opportunity to try out and learn. One-Armed finger lifts, assisted one-arm pull ups, learning to rehab and assess the progress. Maintenance work. Also reflecting the habits that lead to the injury opened up new doors. Never really stopped climbing, only adapting the level and getting the one finger out of the equation - surprised how hard you can climb with front two plus thumb. Now my max strength went down (only) 10% compared to pre-injury. Back in no time. :-) Wishing you a speedy recovery and loads of fun runs!

I was out for a year ..... i feel your pain😢😮😮😅

Wish you a fast recovery mate! ❤

Im not that freakeshly strong, i ^only” redpointed a couple 8b+ but i high grade ruptured both a2s in both of my ringfingers. All i can say that for me i recovered fully, my grip is stronger that ever, hands are robust and i do the Highest training workload ive ever done nowadays. Youre doing exactly the right thing by seing it as a opportunity and i dont think it will impede you in the long run. Dont get frustrated when the pain lingers a bit, though i was back to solid climbing After 2.5 months it took almost a year to go back to 100% for me… but everyone is different i Guess. All the best man!

Dude, I admire your positivity.

I popped my A2 back in May so I completely get it lol. I shifted to cycling! More because I also have a swollen ankle and shoulder tendinitis so it’s what I can still be active

I'm sorry to hear about your finger! I hope it gets better. With that said, thank you for sharing your thoughts and I really resonated with your thoughts. It's funny what injuries can end up teaching us. I've had my fair share of them and every time it happens, it's hard not to be frustrated or disappointed (especially when it feels like you're finally getting to a point in your climbing that you feel really stoked about). However, through them, I've learned a lot about myself and the climbing community overall. With my most recent injury, I was fortunately still able to climb and even got to a point where I was probably climbing at my strongest. I also was able to go on a really awesome trip and push myself on all sorts of climbing I never really imagined myself doing. But more importantly, I connected with a lot of the climbing community (and really, just people overall) and I have so much gratitude towards them and all of their support and kindness. As much as injuries can and do suck, sometimes it's hard for me to imagine trading away all of the experiences and perspectives I've gained because of them. It really shifts your perspectives on things and as you mentioned, maybe it's a chance to find that balance, joy, or whatever else it may be, in your life. It's just up to you to take what you will from that opportunity and run with it :). (I also picked up some old and new hobbies and it's definitely been really fun). Best of luck with the recovery and thank you as always for sharing your thoughts. Always appreciated!

Damn it, I hope it heals fast Tom!

Totally agree - the question isn't what can't you do, it's what can you do? What's the opportunity? Also encouraging to hear that as an elite climber there's a lot more to your life than climbing! I've got a weird nerve injury so I'm aiming to run 10km for the first time and trying to smash some deadlift PBs.

Wishing you a speedy recovery! I'm also recovering from a finger injury, and your outlook really cheered me up. Thank you for making this!

much love to you brother. You are handling this so well. Enjoy the trail running and keep on the rehab. Consistency, slow and steady, and you will be back crushing it on the wall in 2025!

Why do so many of these supposed instructional videos end up being just some poser climbing? Cutting in some to camera verbiage to justify the click bait title.

Great point about letting the sessions run too long

Very sad to hear, best of luck in your recovery. Had a friend have this happen to them and they sent V10 outdoors for the first time a month after recovery ended.

Great video Tom! I really resonate with what you’ve said here. For ages, I was super frightened of getting injured and losing my one and only rewarding hobby (climbing). But when I injured my wrist a month ago I had a similar realisation: We don’t lose the froth for doing all physical/fun/rewarding activities just because we can’t specifically climb. You just need to channel the froth into different stuff/hobbies/activities. For me, it came pretty natural to get into cycling while rehabbing the wrist. I definitely had a few weeks of being depressed about losing climbing for at least a month, but before I knew it, I was just as frothed on cycling as climbing. Now I’m excited to now be part of both once the wrist heals. Injury can put things in a different perspective that way.

thanks, you unlocked a newfound fear: popped pulley because fate decides to.

Good on ya for a quick recovery mate. Just broke my wrist and had surgery so I can relate to the new horizons perspective. Great there was some success before this slight step back but all good things in time.

Make some trail running vids! So crazy that it came out of nowhere like that. It's always when you're feeling the most psyched and keen to climb more and more that injury strikes. This is a good reminder for me to prioritise rest BEFORE things start hurting.

Great attitude to injury. Get well soon.

Some very good points here to learn. I have very hard time whenever i get injury. Youre an inspiration💪

I've blown so many pulleys over the years and always found climbing on large open hand sloper jugs was the best rehab. Injuries like this always allowed me to focus on building power. Good luck with the rehab...

Good luck Tom! You'll be back before you know it! I bet in 4-6 months You'll be doing a video on the positive effect trail running has had on your climbing fitness! 😅

This is really poetic timing. Popped mine a few hours ago, also in a situation where i was feeling better than ever and close to a lot of my goals. It was very nice and helpful to get your thought process on such a situation! It definitely helps to view such relatively small injuries as opportunities to grow - even if that is outside of climbing. ;) So cheers for your perspective and good luck with your injury!

As someone who recently popped my A2 too and was mad as hell about it, I'm glad that you helped get some perspective that life is way more than just climbing and that shit happens to everyone, even to the most skilled and strong climbers out there... Tk my dude, and that the rest of '24 be a great year for y'all, climbing or running into bushes :)

Wow I really appreciate the positivity and mature outlook in the face of injury - it's a good reminder for myself to be more well rounded as an athlete and as a hobbyist. Wishing you the speediest of recoveries!

Love it!! How tall is the kicker?

I just got a pair of RAs today. Big fan,,, is homie sponsored by tenaya lol?