The three questions
Ask them once or twice a week, at the same point in the week, and write the numbers somewhere. Individual answers mean little. Trends mean a lot, and a young athlete who has gone from an 8 to a 4 on keenness over three weeks is telling you something before their knee does.
- How did you sleep, out of 10?
- How sore are your legs this morning, out of 10?
- How keen are you for training today, out of 10?
How to read the answers
| Pattern | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| All three steady | The week is sustainable | Hold, and progress gradually |
| Soreness up for one week | A hard week, normal | Keep the week the same, do not add |
| Soreness up two weeks running | Load is outpacing recovery | Reduce the high-impact volume by about a third |
| Sleep dropping | Schedule, screens or stress | Fix bedtime before touching training |
| Keenness dropping | Fatigue, or the sport stopped being fun | Ask why, and plan an easier week |
A practical response to what you are seeing.
The morning-after test for individual sessions
For any young athlete managing a niggle, the useful measure is not how the knee, heel or shin felt during the session, it is how it feels the following morning. No worse means the dose was appropriate. Clearly worse means it was too much, and holding the same level for another week is usually better than dropping the activity entirely.
This single rule keeps modified participation going, which is almost always better for a growing athlete than stopping and coming back to a full week in one jump.
Write the week down
List every session across school, club, second sports and any private coaching, plus match minutes. Most families are surprised by the total. Six days of activity with two hard days back to back is very common, and it is the sort of week where growth-related knee and heel pain shows up.
Then look for the easy fixes: one clear rest day, hard days separated, and a lighter week planned after tournaments.
When to get advice
Speak to a physiotherapist or GP if a niggle is not settling over two to three weeks of sensible load reduction, if pain is pinpoint and worsening, if your child is limping, or if fatigue, repeated illness, missed periods or unexplained weight change are part of the picture. Those are recovery signals worth taking seriously rather than training around.