Age is a proxy, maturity is the variable
Two 13-year-olds can be four years apart in biological maturity. One may be mid-growth-spurt with 10cm added in a year; the other may not have started. They should not be doing identical programmes.
Use the growth signal rather than the birthday: is the athlete growing rapidly right now? Have they finished their spurt? That question shapes programming more usefully than the age group they play in.
Around 10: skill and coordination
The goal at this stage is a broad movement vocabulary. Strength gains happen, but they are a side effect of learning to move well and often.
- Bodyweight squats, lunges, push-ups, hangs, crawling, carrying.
- Skipping, hopping and landing games, the foundation for later plyometrics.
- Balance and single-leg control in playful formats.
- Sprinting short distances for fun, and lots of varied sport.
- Sessions of 20–30 minutes, twice a week, that feel like play rather than gym work.
Around 12: structure and consistency
Many athletes hit their growth spurt somewhere in this window. If growth is rapid, hold volume steady, keep the sessions going, and expect coordination to be temporarily worse, this is normal and passes.
- The same movement patterns, now performed in structured sets and repetitions.
- Light external load introduced where technique is consistent - dumbbells, bands, med balls.
- Deliberate landing and deceleration work.
- Calf, glute and trunk strength, all of which pay off during the coming growth spurt.
- Two sessions a week of 30 minutes, tracked so progression is visible.
Around 14: building force
- Progressive loading on squat, hinge, split squat and calf work.
- Heavier, slower strength work becomes productive as hormonal maturity arrives.
- Plyometrics progressed to higher intensity: bounding, depth landings, repeated hops.
- Sprint mechanics and top-speed exposure programmed year-round.
- Two to three sessions of 40–60 minutes a week, integrated with the sport schedule.
What stays the same at every age
- A warm-up that includes hopping, landing and single-leg control.
- Technique before load, and quality on the final repetition.
- Two sessions a week as the minimum effective dose.
- Rest days and an off-season.
- Sleep and adequate food, which underpin everything else.
How to know it's working
Testing every 8–12 weeks with a broad jump, single-leg hop, short sprint and maximum single-leg calf raises gives a clear picture. Expect steady improvement outside growth spurts and a temporary plateau during them.
Availability is the other measure. A young athlete who trains sensibly should be missing fewer sessions to niggles year on year, not more.