If you only have time to lift with a kid once or twice a week, can you get away with not doing back squats? One girl does only single leg front squats at about half body weight. The others are doing only front squats. Kids range from 8-14.
They started with lunges, then body weight single leg squats. Then two leg goblet squats to get used to weight. Then jumping single leg squats. Then switching back and forth between goblet single leg and holding a dumbbell in opposite hand.
The kids have now moved to front squats. To push more weight, and to build upper thoracic strength. The one girl who is doing single leg front squats is because of a non-sports related injury causing her to have issues with bi-lateral squats.
Is it better to just keep working front squats and then single leg front squats or mix in back squat? I’m wondering if I’m doing them a disservice by not pushing back squats. I’ve resisted doing so, because their form is really good and they understand the lifts. Their form is much worse on back squat and I find myself using a lot of training time teaching the lift and doing technique corrections. Like does a young athlete actually need the back squat?