Junior development
Junior Golf Fitness Training
Junior golfers are not small adults, and training them as though they are is the fastest way to produce a teenager with a sore back and a swing built on compensation. The aim at this age is a broad athletic base — coordination, landing mechanics, single-leg control, honest rotation — with golf-specific work layered on as the body is ready for it. Speed comes later, and it comes more easily to a junior who moves well than to one who has been chasing yards since twelve.
Athleticism first, specialisation later
The strongest predictor of a junior's long-term speed potential is not how early they started golf-specific training. It is how well they move generally — how they jump, land, decelerate, change direction and control a single leg under load.
So early sessions look less like golf training than parents expect. Jumping and landing competence, trunk control, hinging, crawling patterns and coordination games build the foundation that rotation is later added to. Golf-specific rotational work is introduced progressively, as clubs lengthen and speeds rise.
I actively encourage juniors to keep playing other sports. Early single-sport specialisation is associated with higher injury rates and burnout, and the movement variety from a second sport usually helps the golf more than another range session would.
Why speed work waits
Around the growth spurt, bones lengthen faster than the muscles and tendons attached to them. Coordination that was reliable six months ago temporarily is not, and the tissue attaching to growth plates is more sensitive to repetitive high-speed load.
This is precisely the window when a keen junior wants to chase clubhead speed, and precisely when maximal-intent work should be dialled back rather than up. Training through it emphasises movement quality, controlled strength and keeping the swing repeatable while limbs change length.
None of this means going easy. It means loading the things that tolerate loading, and being patient with the things that do not — then adding speed exposure when the body has settled and the mechanics hold.
What sessions actually look like
Sessions are engaging and skill-relevant, because a bored fourteen-year-old does not train well. Work is organised in short blocks with clear intent, measurable checkpoints and enough variety to hold attention without becoming random.
Screening applies here too, adjusted for age. Knowing a junior's mobility, stability and control gives us something objective to progress from, and re-testing shows whether the plan is working or whether growth has changed the picture.
Fitting it around school and sport in Dubai
Most juniors here are already busy — school sport, academy sessions, weekend competition and, from May, heat that limits outdoor training. Programmes are built to fit around that load rather than compete with it.
Parents get a clear picture of what matters now versus later, so training decisions are not driven by whichever yardage number was posted on social media that week.
Frequently asked questions
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