No confidence playing sports

[Anonymous]

Martial arts. Will be confidence and strength. Parks- let him run, climb, build core strength. Do not hover. Avoid team sports until he has some confidence. Swimming lessons- life skill and awesome for coordination, core, confidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

i might sound a bit mean here. He is six. Relax. He is very young. Is he diagnosed with low muscle tone or is this your impression? The reason I ask is that once again you seem overly concerned with your kid and sports.

NONE of my kids played sports at six (I have three). We tried with some pee wee soccer leagues, gymnastics, etc. and it was a disaster for all of them. They were too young and honestly not ready.

What we did do was hit playgrounds a LOT. Everything was a game - how far can you make it across the bars, we would time an obstacle course, we played tag as a family, etc. We would wear them out. We also climbed trees and boulders, and went on hikes. No organized sports after a few disasters.

We did do swim lessons from age 3 up because that is just s life skill.

At seven we forced them on to a swim team and after some hiccups they loved it. They key is a summer team that promotes friends and doing all the social stuff. Focus on that.

Now I have three tweens, they are all excellent swimmers (club swimmers too), they run track and cross country and are top third or higher, one does gymnastics, and two play basketball (but they had zero interest until they were 9 and we bought a hoop for the outdoors that was lower). They would all be considered jocks at this point.

Stop rushing it. Get you kid physically active. Make it fun.

This.

[Anonymous]

I would echo the recommendation to try a martial arts. Kids of all levels and it builds discipline, focus, and muscle tone.

I remember when age 8 or 9 was a better age to start team sports. I wish that in the DMV that are not team sports for toddlers, it makes you think that you need to get started super early when many kids are just not ready before their gross motor and hand-eye coordination skills fully develop, which can be ages 8-9 for some kids. Honestly, if your kid just spent more time doing puzzles or drawing, this will help develop their hand-eye coordination.