Here might be the most commonly asked question a strength & conditioning professional must answer to youth athlete parents.
Question:
“Will my 13-year-old child (or younger) have a stunted growth from lifting weights?”
Answer:
Unsupervised training or unqualified coaches could potentially put youth athletes in scenarios that could damage growth plates. Again, few youth athletes experience stunted growth and damaged growth plates and these rare occurrences from improper movements should not detour youth athletes from exercising young. The benefits a youth athlete receives from intelligent training and sport play are far too valuable to be passed up. There are many brilliant minds and a plethora of scientific research that shows bone growth will be improved (sometimes more than genetics had planned) rather than stunted through biomechanically sound youth training. Depriving a youth athlete from proper training before, during and after their peak height velocity is doing that athlete a major disservice and could potentially cause that athlete to never reach their genetic potential.
It’s always a relief when someone with obvious exiprtese answers. Thanks!