The One of the biggest worries I see from football parents is:
“What if my child falls behind?”
Another player is doing extra technical sessions.
Someone else has started 1-to-1 coaching.
Another child is training five or six times a week.
So naturally, parents start thinking:
Should we be doing more?
But more isn't always better.
Youth football is a long journey
I've seen young academy players training three times a week, playing at the weekend, doing extra sessions and travelling hours every week.
At 9 or 10 years old, their schedule can sometimes look like a professional footballer's.
The difference is that professional players also have something very important built into their programme:
Recovery.
Children need that too.
Research referenced in my Pushy Parent guide highlights the importance of rest and recovery and the risks associated with excessive training, including fatigue, injury and burnout.
And burnout doesn't always mean a child suddenly quits football.
Sometimes it starts much more subtly.
They don't want to practise anymore.
They start going through the motions.
They aren't excited about matches.
Something they once loved starts feeling like another job.
Don't try to win the race at 10 years old
Development isn't about fitting ten years of work into three.
I prefer looking at development through the compound effect.
Small amounts of good work, repeated consistently over years.
There will be periods where we train more.
There will also be periods where we need less.
The important thing is remembering:
We're developing a child for the long term, not trying to create the finished footballer at 10 years old.
Sometimes helping your child develop means doing more.
And sometimes it means knowing when to do less.