by Sally Maple

Sport is fantastic for children and teenagers. It helps develop strength, coordination, fitness, confidence and social skills, and it can create a lifelong enjoyment of being active. But more is not always better.

As children move into adolescence, it is increasingly common for them to train and compete in multiple teams, attend additional skills sessions, participate in school sports and undertake strength or conditioning programs—all while their bodies are still growing and developing. When the amount of training exceeds the body’s ability to recover, injuries can occur.

For parents, coaches and young athletes, the challenge is finding the balance between being active enough to develop fitness and skills, without doing so much that the body cannot keep up.

What are soft tissue injuries?

Soft tissues include muscles, tendons and ligaments. Injuries to these structures can occur suddenly—for example, during a sprint, change of direction or awkward landing—but many problems in young athletes develop gradually through repetitive loading.

These are often called overuse injuries.

A young athlete may initially notice only a small ache after training. They may continue playing because the pain disappears once they warm up. Over time, however, the pain can begin occurring during training, affect performance or eventually persist even at rest.

Common examples include:

• Muscle strains and recurring muscle tightness
• Tendinopathy and tendon irritation
• Knee pain associated with repetitive running and jumping
• Achilles or calf problems
• Shin and lower-leg pain
• Shoulder problems in throwing athletes
• Growth-related conditions such as Osgood-Schlatter’s or Sever’s disease

It is important to remember that not every sports injury is a soft tissue injury. Bone and growth-plate injuries can also occur with excessive training, and persistent pain in a growing athlete should not simply be assumed to be “tight muscles.”

Why are adolescents particularly vulnerable?

Adolescence is a period of rapid physical change.

Bones may grow faster than muscles and tendons adapt. Strength, coordination and body proportions can change considerably over a relatively short period. At the same time, young athletes may be increasing their training volume because they are becoming more competitive or specialising in a particular sport.

The result can be a mismatch between training load and recovery capacity.

Training load is not simply the number of hours an athlete spends at training. It includes:

• How often they train
• How long each session lasts
• How hard they train
• The type of activity
• The number of games or competitions
• Additional gym or conditioning sessions
• School and recreational sport
• Sudden increases in workload

A teenager who trains for six hours a week may therefore have a very different physical load from another teenager who also trains for six hours but spends those hours doing high-intensity sprinting, jumping and competition.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends gradual increases in training load and advises against having young athletes train or play more than 5–6 days per week. It also recommends periods away from a particular sport during the year to allow recovery.

How much sport should children actually do?

This is where parents often receive confusing advice.

The Australian Government’s current physical activity recommendations for children and young people aged 5–17 years recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day. This can include sport, active transport, running, swimming, cycling, dancing, games and other activities. At least three days each week should include vigorous activity and activities that strengthen muscles and bones.

Importantly, 60 minutes of physical activity does not mean that children should only exercise for 60 minutes. It is a minimum health target, not a maximum.

Likewise, there is no recommendation that every child should participate in a particular number of hours of organised sport based solely on their age.

A better way to think about activity is:

For children aged 5–17, the Australian guidelines also emphasise the importance of several hours of light physical activity throughout the day, limiting prolonged sitting and getting adequate sleep. Children aged 5–13 should generally get 9–11 hours of sleep, while teenagers aged 14–17 should get 8–10 hours.

So, when does sport become “too much”?

Rather than focusing solely on the number of hours, look at the overall picture.

A child may be doing too much if:

• Training volume has increased rapidly
• They are training or competing most days without adequate recovery
• They are playing the same sport year-round
• They are participating in multiple teams with overlapping schedules
• They have little time for free play or other activities
• They are regularly tired or struggling to recover between sessions
• Their performance is declining despite doing more training
• They are experiencing persistent or recurring pain
• They are becoming increasingly irritable, unmotivated or reluctant to attend training
• They are not getting enough sleep
• They are not eating enough to support their activity and growth

The AAP recommends that young athletes vary their activities where possible and avoid excessive sport specialisation, particularly at younger ages. It also recommends at least one day off each week and time away from a particular sport during the year.

5 Signs Your Child May Be Doing Too Much Sport

For young athletes involved in multiple sports or intensive training, watch for these five warning signs that their body may not be coping with the workload.

1. Persistent or recurring pain

Pain that repeatedly occurs during or after training is one of the most important warning signs. A young athlete might initially complain of a sore knee after football, a tight calf after running or shoulder pain after swimming or throwing. If the same pain keeps coming back, becomes more intense or starts occurring earlier during training, it should not simply be dismissed as normal soreness.

Pain that repeatedly returns is a reason to reduce the load and have the problem assessed.

2. Performance starts to decline

It may seem logical that more training should always lead to better performance. However, excessive training without adequate recovery can have the opposite effect.

Parents and coaches may notice that a young athlete:

• Is slower than usual

• Is struggling with skills they normally perform well

• Feels unusually heavy or fatigued

• Needs longer to recover between sessions

• Is not performing at their usual level despite increased training

A decline in performance can be a sign that the athlete needs more recovery rather than more training.

3. They are constantly tired

Fatigue is another important clue. If a child is regularly exhausted after training, struggles to get through the school day, wakes feeling tired or seems to need significantly more recovery than usual, it is worth looking at their overall workload.

Remember that training is only one part of the equation. School, homework, social activities, travel, competitions and everyday life all contribute to the demands placed on a young person.

4. They are losing interest in sport

A child who previously loved their sport may suddenly become reluctant to attend training, unusually irritable or frustrated, or start saying they are “over it.” This doesn’t necessarily mean they have lost their passion for the sport. Sometimes it is a sign that they are physically or mentally fatigued.

Young athletes need time away from structured training to relax, play with friends and participate in activities simply because they enjoy them. A healthy sporting environment should support enjoyment rather than make children feel that they must constantly train to keep up.

5. Injuries keep coming back

Repeated injuries are a particularly important warning sign. If a young athlete repeatedly develops hamstring strains, calf problems, knee pain, shin pain or other soft tissue complaints, simply treating each injury individually may not solve the underlying problem.

A Simple Rule for Parents

Rather than asking, “How many hours of sport should my child be doing?”, ask:

“Is my child’s body recovering from the amount of sport they are doing?”

Pain is a warning sign

Muscle soreness after an unfamiliar workout can be normal. Persistent, localised or progressively worsening pain is different.

A useful rule is:

Soreness that settles with recovery is different from pain that keeps returning or progressively worsens.

For example, an athlete might initially notice knee pain only after training. A few weeks later, the pain may appear during training and eventually affect running, jumping or everyday activities.

The earlier an emerging problem is recognised, the easier it is generally to modify the workload and prevent a minor issue from becoming a significant injury.

Recovery is part of training

For young athletes, rest should not be viewed as lost training time. Recovery is training.

Muscles, tendons, bones and other tissues need time to adapt to physical stress. Sleep and adequate nutrition are also essential for recovery and normal growth. A sensible training week should therefore include variation in intensity and adequate recovery.

For example, a young athlete may have:

• Hard training days
• Easier training or skill days
• Competition days
• At least one genuine rest day
• Time for unstructured play
• Time away from their main sport during the year

The exact schedule will depend on the child’s age, sport, training level and individual circumstances.

What can parents and coaches do?

Parents don’t need to become sports scientists to help prevent overuse injuries. Start by looking at the whole week, rather than each individual training session.

Ask:

How many sessions does my child have? Include school sport, club training, private coaching, competitions, gym sessions and additional practice.

How hard are those sessions? Five easy sessions are very different from five high-intensity sessions.

When does my child recover? Look for genuine rest and easier days.

Is the workload increasing gradually? Avoid sudden jumps in training volume, particularly after school holidays, injuries or periods of inactivity. The AAP notes that gradual increases in training load are preferable to sudden increases.

Is my child still enjoying sport? Motivation, mood and enjoyment are important indicators of whether the overall load is sustainable.

The goal isn’t less sport—it’s better-balanced sport

Children and teenagers should be encouraged to be active. The solution to overuse injuries is not to discourage sport or physical activity.

Instead, the goal is to create a healthy balance between:

Training + competition + variety + recovery + sleep + nutrition + enjoyment

For most children, particularly younger athletes, a variety of activities is preferable to year-round intensive specialisation in a single sport.

For talented adolescent athletes who are training at a higher level, more structured training may be appropriate—but it should be carefully planned, monitored and adjusted as the athlete grows.

When should an injured young athlete be assessed?

Persistent or recurrent pain should not be ignored. A young athlete should be assessed by a qualified health professional if pain:

• Persists despite reducing activity
• Keeps returning every time they train
• Is getting progressively worse
• Causes a limp or change in movement
• Occurs at rest or at night
• Causes significant weakness
• Is associated with swelling or loss of function
• Prevents normal sport or everyday activities

A sports physiotherapist, GP or sports medicine professional can help determine whether the problem is a muscle or tendon injury, a growth-related condition, a bone injury or something else.

The bottom line

There is no magic number of hours of sport that is “too much” for every child.

The Australian guidelines provide a clear target: children and adolescents aged 5–17 should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day, with vigorous and muscle/bone-strengthening activities included at least three days per week.

But for young athletes involved in competitive sport, the more important question is not simply “How many hours are they doing?”

It is:“Can their growing body recover from the amount and intensity of training they are doing?”

When training is progressively increased, activities are varied, recovery is protected and pain is addressed early, children can enjoy the many benefits of sport while reducing their risk of overuse and soft tissue injuries.