What to ask a new climbing client before you write their plan

Ask in the order that changes the plan

Most intake forms are too long, and the answer that matters most is buried on page two. Put the questions that change the first plan at the top.

1. Anything that hurts now, or has in the last year. Which finger, joint or shoulder, when it started, whether a doctor or physio saw it and what they said. A current finger injury decides the whole first block.
2. Their goal and when. A project by the summer, a comp in March, or just climbing better. The deadline sets how many weeks you have.
3. The days and minutes they can really train. Ask about an ordinary week, not a good one. A plan built for four days that gets three is a worse plan than one built for three.
4. Where they train and what's there. A gym with a board, a hangboard at home, rings, weights, or only the wall.
5. What they climb now. Hardest boulder or route in the last three months, and what they flash.
6. Their training history. Years climbing, whether they've done finger training, weights or a structured plan before, and how it went.
7. Everything else that loads them. Other sports, physical work, a second club.
8. How they want to hear from you. Once a week, at the end of each block, or only when something comes up.

Test instead of asking how strong they are

"How strong are your fingers?" gets a guess. A test gets a number you can compare at the end of the block. Simple ones that need a hangboard and a bar:

• a hang on a 20 mm edge, half crimp and open hand;
• a 2-rep max pull-up;
• a max hang for time;
• bodyweight on the day, so the numbers mean the same thing next time.

Ask for two or three weeks of logged sessions as well: what they climbed, at what grade, how hard it felt. Their week as it is beats their week as they remember it.

Extra questions for climbers under 16

• A parent or guardian's contact and their consent. In the Netherlands consent for a child under 16 comes from the parent.
• Height, measured. Repeat it every three months. A fast growth spurt is when growth plate injuries in the fingers are most likely.
• Every other sport and club. Total hours matter more than your sessions alone.
• Hangboard, campus board and weights at home or elsewhere. Since when, and how often.

Leave out weight, body fat and questions about puberty. They add little to a training plan and are the wrong things to collect about a child.

Review it every block

People's weeks change, injuries heal and goals move. Go back over the first three questions at the start of every block, and test again at the end of it.