A problem many parents know
Your child trains regularly and gives their all, yet after half an hour of a match, sometimes after barely fifteen minutes, they look exhausted? They slow down, stop tracking back, “disappear” from the game? The first thought is obvious: they lack fitness. And so the classic “fix” begins: more running, more training, more pressure. The trouble is that very often… it doesn’t work. Sometimes it even makes things worse. Why? Because both the cause and the solution lie somewhere else entirely.
It isn’t always a lack of fitness
Many parents and coaches assume that if a child tires, they simply need to improve their endurance. It’s logical, but not always accurate. You can be fit “on paper” and still tire quickly in a game. Why? Because endurance isn’t only about muscles and the heart. It’s also about how the body manages oxygen and carbon dioxide. And that depends directly on… the way you breathe. If breathing doesn’t work properly, the body can’t make effective use of its potential.
What is functional breathing?
Functional breathing is a way of breathing that supports the body during exertion rather than limiting it.
Among other things, it means:
- breathing through the nose (at rest and during moderate effort)
- calm, rhythmic breathing
- using the diaphragm rather than lifting the chest
- controlling the pace of breathing
Sounds trivial? In theory, yes. In practice, though, many children and teenagers, including those who play sport, breathe in a way that holds back their game.
Signs you might notice in your child
A dysfunctional breathing pattern isn’t always obvious, but some signs come up again and again. The player breathes through the mouth, even away from training. During a match they gasp for air, as if they “can’t get enough oxygen”. Fatigue that’s out of proportion to the effort is also common. Add to that a drop in concentration, poorer decisions and lower resilience to stress during the game. All of this can look like poor form combined with various external factors, but it is often largely the result of inefficient breathing.
How does breathing affect endurance?
Most people think: the more air, the better. When effort begins, players often start breathing fast and through the mouth. Yet breathing that is too fast and shallow reduces the efficiency of gas exchange. It overstimulates the nervous system. On top of that, this kind of ventilation puts even more strain on a respiratory system that is already working sub-optimally. Taken together, all of this increases perceived fatigue. No wonder. In this situation the body tires faster, breathlessness sets in, and the child feels short of air even though they are breathing more. It’s a bit like constantly refuelling a car whose engine can’t make effective use of the fuel it’s given.
A common mistake: more running
When a child tires quickly, the natural reaction is to increase the training load. More running, more intensity, more work. It seems logical. Football is an endurance sport, after all. The trouble is that if the foundation – breathing – isn’t working properly, adding more load only deepens the problem. If a young player breathes inefficiently and starts “pushing” that breathing during intense effort (for example in extra running sessions), the body doesn’t fix the problem. It adapts to it, and compensation sets in. In practice this means that:
- the player starts breathing even faster
- even more tension builds up in the body
- control of the body under fatigue gets worse
And here a paradox may appear: a child can improve their running times and be “physically stronger”, while at the same time reinforcing a breathing pattern that limits their endurance on the pitch. In other words, they don’t fix the foundation; they just learn to function despite the problem. It’s a vicious circle that often ends in frustration – for both the child and the parent. This approach also carries a risk of avoidable injuries and can lead to burning out sooner – both over a season and over a whole career.
How can you tell whether breathing is the problem?
What surprises many parents is that breathing is very easy to assess. There are simple tests that show how the body copes with respiratory effort, what its CO₂ tolerance is, and whether the child is really using their aerobic potential. It’s about how the player manages gas exchange and how their body responds to changes in breathing, exercise intensity and carbon dioxide levels. This is exactly where limitations very often appear that, at first glance, look like a lack of fitness. This kind of assessment is part of our work based on the Oxygen Advantage® methodology, where an individual approach and tailoring the work to each specific case are key. Because two different people can have identical symptoms of fatigue with completely different causes.
What can you do right now?
The simplest things often make the biggest difference. Notice whether your child breathes through their nose during the day. That’s the absolute basic. It’s also worth watching their breathing while they sleep. A mouth left open at night is a fairly common but often overlooked sign of a problem. In training, it’s good to start with awareness. Not by trying to change everything at once, but by noticing how your child breathes at different moments of effort. That awareness alone can give you valuable information that helps you tackle the problem better.
Why this isn’t a “YouTube topic”
Of course, you can find plenty of breathing exercises online, and some of them are worthwhile. The problem is that breathing is a system. It isn’t one technique or one magic exercise. This system affects how the whole body works – from posture, through muscle tension, brain function, oxygen delivery and speed of recovery, to the response to stress. That’s why for one player the first issue to address will be mouth breathing, while for another it may be a lack of breath control under pressure. Without an individual assessment, it’s easy to do a lot, but not necessarily in the right direction.
When is it worth consulting a specialist?
If you can see that your child:
- tires quickly despite regular training
- often breathes through their mouth
- struggles to “catch their breath” during a game
- loses control and/or concentration when tired
it’s quite possible that the problem lies not in their fitness but in their breathing. And that’s good news. Because breathing can be trained, but you need to know how. In an individual consultation (in Polish) we don’t guess. We check how your child actually breathes, where the limitations appear and what real impact breathing may have on their level of fatigue in a game. Only then do we choose specific steps – so that the improvement is felt not only in training but, above all, in matches. Sometimes a few changes are enough to see a big difference.
Summary
Fatigue on the pitch doesn’t always mean poor form. Sometimes it’s a sign that the body can’t make effective use of what it already has. Breathing is one of the most underrated elements of a young footballer’s training. And at the same time one of those that can bring results the fastest. If you want to understand how this looks in your child’s case, the right assessment is the place to start.
Frequently asked questions
Does tiring quickly on the pitch always mean a lack of fitness?
No. You can have good endurance “on paper” and still tire quickly in a game, because endurance isn’t only about muscles and the heart but also about how the body manages oxygen and carbon dioxide – and that depends on breathing.
What is functional breathing?
It’s a way of breathing that supports the body during exertion rather than limiting it: breathing through the nose at rest and during moderate effort, calm and rhythmic breathing, using the diaphragm rather than lifting the chest, and controlling the pace of breathing.
What signs should a parent look out for?
Mouth breathing even away from training, gasping for air during a match, fatigue out of proportion to the effort, a drop in concentration, poorer decisions and lower resilience to stress during the game.
Will more running solve the problem?
No, and it may make it worse. If the foundation isn’t working properly, adding load leads to compensation: the player breathes even faster, tension in the body grows and control under fatigue gets worse. They may improve their running times while reinforcing a pattern that limits them on the pitch.
What can be done straight away?
Watch whether your child breathes through their nose during the day and check their breathing during sleep – a mouth left open at night is a common but overlooked sign. In training, start by becoming aware of how your child breathes at different moments of effort.
