MoPro
TrainersEye · The Growing Athlete · Ages 10–16
Growing Athlete B
Trainer's Eye
Phase 1 · Move well first · Session B

Land quietly.
Knee over the toes.
Every time.

Landing is the skill that decides whether a knee gets hurt. Learn it slowly now, before you add speed.

  • Bsession
  • P1Move well
  • 12:00on the clock
  • — donecompleted

Landing is trainable

The inward knee collapse that leads to serious knee injuries improves with coaching and practice. It is a skill, not a fixed shape.

Girls and knee injuries

After puberty, serious knee ligament injuries become several times more common in girls than boys in the same sports. Neuromuscular training reduces that gap.

Prevention programmes work

Warm-ups combining strength, balance, landing and agility cut lower-limb injuries in youth sport by a large margin — often around a third or more.

Three couplets · two rounds · twelve minutes · available all season

A

Land

Drop to landing + landing hold
A1

Drop to landing position

60 s · slow reps

From standing tall, drop quickly into a quarter squat and freeze — hips back, knees over the toes, quiet feet.

Easier slower drop  ·  Harder from the toes

R1R2—
A2

Landing shape hold

10 × 6 s · ×2

Hold the landing shape — knees over the middle toes, chest up, weight through the whole foot.

Easier shallower  ·  Harder one leg

R1R2
B

Step down

Step-downs + split squat
B1

Step-downs

60 s · slow reps

From a step, lower the other heel to the floor over three seconds — watch the knee stays over the toes.

Easier lower step  ·  Harder higher step

R1R2—
B2

Split squat — introduction

10/side · ×2

Long stance; lower straight down with your front heel flat and your torso tall.

Easier hold a chair  ·  Harder deeper

R1R2
C

Hop small

Small hops + hop and stick
C1

Small hops on the spot

60 s · slow reps

Little two-footed hops, landing on the balls of the feet as quietly as you can make them.

Easier step in place  ·  Harder higher

R1R2—
C2

Hop and stick

8/side · ×2

One small hop forward onto one leg; freeze for two seconds, then step back.

Easier two-foot landing  ·  Harder further hop

R1R2

The clock

Round 1settle in — 70%, perfect tracking
0:00A1 → A2
2:00B1 → B2
4:00C1 → C2
Round 2own it — beat Round 1 by quality
6:00A1 → A2
8:00B1 → B2
10:00C1 → C2

Each couplet: 60 s scored → the loading set → 10 s to move on. Done at 12:00.

How to run it

  1. An adult should know you are doing this. Show them the red flags on the back of this sheet before session 1.
  2. Growing bodies are not small adult bodies. The weak link during growth is the growth plate, not the muscle or the tendon.
  3. Technique before load, always. A movement you cannot do well with nothing in your hands does not get weight added to it.
  4. Pain rule: up to 4/10 during, gone by the next morning, no worse week to week. Tell an adult if it is not.

Tick it off

MovementRound 1Round 2Best
A1Drop to landing positionslow reps in 60 s —
A2Landing shape hold10 × 6 s
B1Step-downsslow reps in 60 s —
B2Split squat — introduction10/side
C1Small hops on the spotslow reps in 60 s —
C2Hop and stick8/side
Session time
StreakDay —
Client / Patient
Coach / Clinician signature
Date
TE-12-GROWINGAT-B