My first year of football as an 11-year old boy brings back great memories. I loved everything about it and it was all new to me. I’d watched plenty of football on TV, but I didn’t know the game all that well until I played on an official team and had the chance to learn by experience. At 11 years old I was still very little and hadn’t really hit a big growth spurt yet. I remember several of the players on my team became obsessed with gaining weight, so they started talking about weight training. Our coach told us to keep that out of our mind at that young of an age and for very good reason.
Lifting weights at too young of an age is risky
As young players, their bodies are still developing. Weightlifting puts undue strain on parts of the body that just aren’t ready for that yet. With bones still growing and tendons adjusting to the bones growing and developing tissues, it simply isn’t worth the risk despite the benefits it would include.
There is no doubt that lifting weights and becoming stronger makes you a better football player. I had kids on my team at age 11 that had older brothers and they would lift weights with them. They were better players for the time being. This is why so many parents encourage their kids to get started with football training at a young age. The strength gained even as this age is a big difference but the kids suffered as a result. Most of them got hurt by lifting because they were trying to do too much weight. We also had kids who didn’t see the results for years, but they saw them later with injuries that shouldn’t have happened but were attributed to improper weight training at a young age. I know individuals that were phenomenal athletes at the junior high level but ended up not making it very far at the varsity level and beyond, because they were fighting injuries caused by over-straining their body at a young age.
The same is said for baseball players who throw curveballs at age 12 or earlier. Their bodies just aren’t ready and though it may help them at the time it surely doesn’t help them in the long run.
Natural exercises are effective and safe
When training young football players I stress to always keep them in shape by doing a lot of natural exercises. That includes running, pushups, pull-ups, stretching, etc. This doesn’t put undue stress on the body and actually does a very good job increasing strength. Running is natural and keeps the body in good shape. Plyometric exercises can be done also, but I don’t encourage a lot of speed training at ages under 12 for the same reason I don’t push a lot of weight training. Once a player gets to an age where you can see that he is developing, it is safe to get them on a more aggressive training program. We’ve all seen the kids who are full grown at age 13 or 14. For them it is different than a kid who is still 99 pounds as a freshman in high school. Everyone has their own time when they are ready to push it. Even when they are ready it’s really important for them to know the proper lifting techniques. That’s another reason why so many young athletes destroy their bodies. They may be ready to lift, but if they are lazy in their technique they’ll do just as much damage as they would have if they started lifting too early.
Football is one of, if not the best sport in America. Ruining your body at a young age is not worth the temporary satisfaction of being the best youth player in your league. Let your body mature so you can really be your best when you hit your prime years and so you can play the game for 10-15 years as opposed to three or four.
Andy Louder - I'm a basketball junkie and love to write about it. In 2002 I started a basketball training and coaching website called HoopSkills.com. ...
