Peak Height Velocity (PHV) in Young Athletes and Training Adjustments: Coordination and Injury Management During Growth Spurts

A Critical Window Most Coaches Overlook

Adolescent development is not linear. During puberty, there is a period of rapid height gain (peak height velocity, PHV)—children grow significantly in a relatively short time. The significance of this window for training is often overlooked: it temporarily disrupts movement coordination, alters body proportions and lever arms, and increases injury susceptibility in certain areas. Understanding PHV allows you to shift training from creating risk to facilitating development during this period when “the body is still restructuring.”

What Happens to the Body During PHV

The most commonly misunderstood point: during PHV, children suddenly become “clumsy and regress” in their movements—it is not a lack of effort or declining ability; the body’s proportions are rapidly restructuring and the nervous system is still recalibrating. Pressuring them with “why have you regressed” is the most common and most damaging mistake in this window.

How Training Should Be Adjusted Accordingly

1. Reduce the Proportion of High-Impact and High-Technical Load

With temporarily reduced coordination and heightened sensitivity to excessive load during rapid bone growth, this period should involve reducing the accumulation of high-impact volume and technical difficulty, avoiding pushing high-risk stimuli when the body is at its most unstable. Slow down mileage/intensity progression and allow more buffer.

2. Re-polish Foundational Movement Quality

Rather than chasing volume, use this window to re-establish movement patterns: because proportions have changed, original movements need to be relearned in a new body. Focusing on movement quality, control, and foundational strength (age-appropriate, supervised) is a high-yield investment.

3. Watch Flexibility and Tendon Tension

Bones grow faster than muscles and tendons, often causing relative tightness and discomfort at traction points. Incorporate appropriate mobility and control training, stay alert to nagging pain at traction points, and seek medical evaluation when necessary—don’t dismiss everything as “growing pains, just bear with it.”

4. Individualize: Use Maturity, Not Age

The timing of PHV varies greatly among same-age children. Load and expectations should be individualized based on individual maturity and whether they are in PHV, rather than applying the same standard by birth year—this is the practical application of the long-term athlete development framework’s emphasis on “developmental stage over chronological age.”

This Window Is Also an Opportunity, Not Just a Risk

PHV is not just a “dangerous period”; it is also a sensitive window for the development of certain abilities. If you polish physical literacy, movement competence, and foundational strength during this period (under conservative loading and proper supervision), once body proportions stabilize and neural recalibration is complete, children often enter the next stage with better coordination and a more solid foundation. Treat it as an opportunity for “restructuring and building a base,” rather than just thinking about “getting through it.”

Reminders for Coaches and Parents

1. When you see a child become clumsy or show fluctuating performance during this period, think of PHV first—don’t rush to apply pressure or conclude “regression.”
2. Temporary stagnation in performance during this period is normal—the success indicators during developmental stages are long-term health and foundation, not this season’s rankings.
3. Align with long-term development principles: conservative progression, adequate recovery, sufficient energy (dual demands of growth + training), and technique first.

PHV is one of the few critical windows in adolescent athletic development where “handled well, it clearly adds value; handled poorly, it clearly causes injury”—it deserves the attention of every coach working with adolescents.

“In the year a child’s height shoots up, their movements suddenly become strange and performance stalls—parents most often ask me if it’s because the child isn’t trying hard enough. I always say: they are changing into a new body; give them time to relearn how to use it. Pushing them or increasing their volume at this time is the easiest way to cause problems; helping them rebuild their foundation means they’ll come out transformed after this phase.” —An expert in adolescent growth, development, and athletic development

Related Reading

• Adolescent Endurance Training and Growth & Development: Training Considerations and Injury Risk During the Growth Spurt
• Research on Pubertal Growth Acceleration (PHV) and Optimal Timing of Athletic Training
• Adolescent Endurance Training: Growth Plates, Training Volume Limits, and the “Early Maturation Trap”
• Adolescent Body Weight and Athletic Performance: A Healthy Development Perspective That Discourages Weight Loss