Why Bad Training Can Be Worse Than No Training

And why the right mix of sport + gym matters for 12–16 year olds

School's back - which means it wont be long until it's time for something so close to my heart! The first night back at footy training for young boys and girls everywhere!

That first session so often starts with good intentions.

New season. Fresh energy. Whistle in hand.
The kids line up… and before anyone’s touched a ball, they’re sent off on a 2km time trial.

It looks organised.
It looks tough.
It looks like “getting a fitness baseline”.

But there’s a simple question that rarely gets asked:

When have you ever seen a footballer run 2 kilometres non-stop during a game? Let alone a junior player?

Footy is built on:

• Short accelerations

• Hard decelerations

• Changes of direction

• Contests, collisions, stoppages

• Repeated efforts under fatigue

It’s chaotic and reactive — not a steady jog around an oval.

So when we ask a 13-year-old, fresh off an off-season, to run 2km continuously, what are we actually testing?

Not game fitness.
Not skill.
Not decision-making.
And certainly not how well they move.

What we’re really measuring is discomfort tolerance — while exposing poor movement patterns under fatigue.

For some kids, that’s manageable.
For others, it’s demoralising, painful, or both.

And while it feels like preparation, it often creates more problems than it solves. So...why are we doing it?

This isn’t about blaming coaches

Most junior coaches care deeply (and I don't want to be criticising people volunteering to help coach kids!). Most parents are simply trying to support their kids.

The issue isn’t effort or intent — it’s how young athletes are being prepared.

Junior sport often borrows from adult training:

• Fitness tests instead of preparation

• Conditioning instead of movement quality

• “Hard work” instead of smart work

It feels familiar because many adults grew up with it.
But familiar doesn’t always mean appropriate — especially between 12 and 16, when bodies are changing rapidly.

Why this age is different

Between 12–16, athletes are:

• Growing fast

• Changing limb lengths and coordination

• Relearning how to control their bodies

• Highly sensitive to fatigue and overload

At this age, training doesn’t just build fitness.
It teaches the body how to move under pressure.

That’s why the quality of training matters more than the quantity.

When training misses the mark

Bad training at this age doesn’t always look bad.
Often it just looks hard.

But the hidden costs add up.

1. Poor movement becomes the default

When young athletes repeatedly move poorly — especially when tired — those patterns stick.

Later on, coaches aren’t improving performance.
They’re undoing habits.

2. Bodies get overloaded before they’re ready

Bones, tendons and joints adapt slower than motivation.

That’s where:

• Knee pain

• Heel pain

• Back tightness

• Constant “niggles”

Start appearing and get dismissed as “just growing pains”.

3. Confidence quietly erodes

Not every athlete fails loudly.

Some just:

• Feel clumsy

• Feel slow

• Feel behind

They don’t think “this training isn’t right for me”.
They think “maybe I’m not good at this”.

That’s often where dropout begins.

When development squads quietly double the load

This is where things really escalate.

A young athlete is invited into a development-level program.
It’s exciting — and it should be.

Better coaching.
Higher standards.
Training alongside stronger, faster peers.

But almost overnight, the training week shifts from:

• 2x club sessions
  to

• 2x club + 2x development sessions

That’s a 100% increase in training load.

On paper, it looks like progress.
In reality, it often creates problems.

More sessions don’t automatically mean better development

It’s easy to assume:

“If the coaching is better, more of it must be better.”

But development doesn’t work like that.

Without changes to:

• Session intent

• Intensity and volume

• Recovery and rest

• The type of work being done

Four sessions often become:

• Four lots of running

• Four lots of fatigue

• Four similar sessions

• Four chances to reinforce poor movement while tired

That’s not development.
That’s accumulation.

Where things start to unravel

The warning signs are subtle at first:

• Kids are always sore

• Energy drops late in the week

• Speed disappears

• Posture collapses under fatigue

Then come the bigger issues:

• Ongoing “growing pains”

• Repeated minor injuries

• Confidence loss

• Performance plateaus

Parents are left wondering why more opportunity isn’t leading to better outcomes.

The missing question parents rarely get to ask

The real question isn’t:

“How many sessions are they doing?”

It’s:

“What problem are the extra sessions actually solving?”

If all sessions look the same, the athlete isn’t getting:

• Better movement

• Better strength

• Better speed mechanics

They’re just getting more tired.

What the right mix actually looks like

The best outcomes usually come from balance.

✔ A couple of nights at sport
Where kids:

• Learn skills

• Play

• Compete

• Enjoy being part of a team

✔ A couple of nights in the gym
Where they:

• Learn how to move properly

• Build strength relative to their body

• Develop speed — acceleration and deceleration

• Learn to maintain posture under fatigue

• Add load only when technique allows

The gym doesn’t replace sport.
It supports it.

Why we run Developing Athlete sessions

Our Developing Athlete sessions aren’t about turning kids into weightlifters.

They’re about:

• Teaching movement first

• Using strength training to improve control and resilience

• Building speed and braking ability

• Challenging posture under pressure

• Managing load through growth phases

By separating physical development from sport training, athletes:

• Get more out of their sport sessions

• Break down less

• Recover better

• And build confidence in their bodies

That’s the goal.

A better question for parents to ask

Instead of:

• “Is this hard enough?”

• “Will this make them fitter?”

Try:

• “Is this appropriate for their age and stage?”

• “Is this building something we’ll rely on later?”

• “Would we be happy doing this for the next 12 months?”

That last question matters.

Playing the long game

The goal isn’t a strong 14-year-old.

It’s an 18–22-year-old who:

• Is healthy

• Moves well

• Has confidence in their body

• Still enjoys training and sport

Sometimes progress doesn’t come from doing more.

It comes from doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons.

If you’re unsure whether your child’s current training mix is supporting long-term development — or just adding fatigue — a short conversation can often bring clarity. Getting this stage right makes everything that comes after much easier.