Best sports for a really stiff girl

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you had her evaluated? This sounds like juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in addition to many other things. I would not be pushing her to do anything until she’s evaluated.

You scared me now. I am reading through the symptoms, I don't see anything that applies.

Her joints are not swollen and she is not feeling pain. She is not aware of her posture or her stiffness, or complaining about it. It's just something that you can see - when she was playing tennis she wasn't bending the knees (as she should have), and now, as she is walking, she is not bending them as much as she should, either.

This is odd enough that it is worth talking to her pediatrician about it.

We just had yearly exam. Nobody noticed anything.

Did you mention this to her doctor? They don’t go and look for zebras at the annual exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD13 is really stiff. Even since she hit puberty, she is walking like a soldier. It's like her knees don't bend. It was not always like that but she did always have a very erect posture. She is thin.

She played tennis for about 4 years. She was a fast runner and hits the ball really well. Her serve sucked, and, in any case, she doesn't want to play tennis anymore.

She has recently expressed interest in figure skating. Would this be a good sport for her? How about dance? Not looking for anything competitive, just something that she would enjoy and that would help a little with the flexibility.

Bending one's knees is pretty much the first thing you need to do to ice skate. If she's looking for an activity to push her body a bit outside her comfort zone, then skating lessons could do that. If she's got a medical condition that needs attention in terms of joint flexibility, not sure ice skating is a good place to start.

Is she tall, or starting to outgrow her peers? It's pretty typical for girls that grow quickly to struggle bending knees. The same thing happens to boys a lot when they grow fast. Imagine if your center of mass changed overnight--you would look stiff too as you struggled to keep from falling over. Its especially true for taller kids.

Regardless, agility focused sports will be tough for a bit of time. Knees are integral to almost all of them, but playing one may help a lot (assuming your Dr. is OK with it). Basketball, soccer and volleyball are all agility sports that have rec leagues. You will definitely see other girls struggling to be coordinated at 13 in those sports.

[Anonymous]

Pickleball

seriously, my son's friends (male and female) are very good and compete

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD13 is really stiff. Even since she hit puberty, she is walking like a soldier. It's like her knees don't bend. It was not always like that but she did always have a very erect posture. She is thin.

She played tennis for about 4 years. She was a fast runner and hits the ball really well. Her serve sucked, and, in any case, she doesn't want to play tennis anymore.

She has recently expressed interest in figure skating. Would this be a good sport for her? How about dance? Not looking for anything competitive, just something that she would enjoy and that would help a little with the flexibility.

As a Pediatrician, I would want to rule out many autoimmune conditions. Pls take her to her PCP for an evaluation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given the age is it perhaps more that she's growing into her suddenly longer limbs after a growth spurt? You know, looks a little like Bambi the Disney movie deer? And that awkward movement translates into looking like she's stiff?

My 12 year old looks kind of ridiculous while playing her sport right now because she clearly just doesn't know how to move her growing-an-inch-a-month body.

What is her sport?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pickleball

seriously, my son's friends (male and female) are very good and compete

Are they in the same league as the retirees? I hope they aren’t taking up tennis courts to play a game made for people like me, slower with age and worn out joints.

[Anonymous]

Very weird

[Anonymous]

I would try yoga and/or ballet to start with the goal of moving into skating. I think skating would be pretty miserable to start and falling on the ice is really no fun at all. Once her body has more fluidity through something like yoga or ballet, then she'd have better balance and flexility on the blades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you had her evaluated? This sounds like juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in addition to many other things. I would not be pushing her to do anything until she’s evaluated.

You scared me now. I am reading through the symptoms, I don't see anything that applies.

Her joints are not swollen and she is not feeling pain. She is not aware of her posture or her stiffness, or complaining about it. It's just something that you can see - when she was playing tennis she wasn't bending the knees (as she should have), and now, as she is walking, she is not bending them as much as she should, either.

This is odd enough that it is worth talking to her pediatrician about it.

We just had yearly exam. Nobody noticed anything.

Did you mention this to her doctor? They don’t go and look for zebras at the annual exam.

Did I mention what - that my DD's walk is not sufficiently soft and feminine? That would upset my DD and almost certainly raise a red flag with the doctor (about me, not DD).

Maybe I used a wrong a word (stiff) - DD has no problem bending knees to sit, walk stairs, run etc. If she needs to or is told to do it, it's a non issue. It's just that she doesn't have that natural softness of movement and needs reminders to bend knees when skiing, playing tennis etc - whereas someone (e.g. one of my other kids) else will just assume those positions naturally and won't need any reminders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would try yoga and/or ballet to start with the goal of moving into skating. I think skating would be pretty miserable to start and falling on the ice is really no fun at all. Once her body has more fluidity through something like yoga or ballet, then she'd have better balance and flexility on the blades.

This sounds like a good idea, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you had her evaluated? This sounds like juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in addition to many other things. I would not be pushing her to do anything until she’s evaluated.

You scared me now. I am reading through the symptoms, I don't see anything that applies.

Her joints are not swollen and she is not feeling pain. She is not aware of her posture or her stiffness, or complaining about it. It's just something that you can see - when she was playing tennis she wasn't bending the knees (as she should have), and now, as she is walking, she is not bending them as much as she should, either.

This is odd enough that it is worth talking to her pediatrician about it.

We just had yearly exam. Nobody noticed anything.

Did you mention this to her doctor? They don’t go and look for zebras at the annual exam.

Did I mention what - that my DD's walk is not sufficiently soft and feminine? That would upset my DD and almost certainly raise a red flag with the doctor (about me, not DD).

Maybe I used a wrong a word (stiff) - DD has no problem bending knees to sit, walk stairs, run etc. If she needs to or is told to do it, it's a non issue. It's just that she doesn't have that natural softness of movement and needs reminders to bend knees when skiing, playing tennis etc - whereas someone (e.g. one of my other kids) else will just assume those positions naturally and won't need any reminders.

I’m not sure why you’re acting defensive now, these were your own words but maybe you’re exaggerating. This doesn’t sound like normal development.

“DD13 is really stiff. Even since she hit puberty, she is walking like a soldier. It's like her knees don't bend.”

[Anonymous]

OMG. I get it OP. Some of us don't have that athletic flow. When you know you know. If she just wants fun, agree with the pickleball poster. You don't need to coordinate bends and moving into shots to improve. She can just play for fun and will probably be really good because she was a tennis player.

Dance would be good too, or color guard. Crew or ultimate frisbee. We're looking for sports where you don't need natural athleticism to progress or have fun. You just need to learn a couple of movements and build up some muscle memory.

[Anonymous]

Try curling because this girls a stiff

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the age is it perhaps more that she's growing into her suddenly longer limbs after a growth spurt? You know, looks a little like Bambi the Disney movie deer? And that awkward movement translates into looking like she's stiff?

My 12 year old looks kind of ridiculous while playing her sport right now because she clearly just doesn't know how to move her growing-an-inch-a-month body.

What is her sport?

Softball. Her baserunning looks the exact opposite of smooth and strong, but she gets the job done generally. She'll grow into herself and it will be better because she worked through it. Not concerned. I saw a different poster upthread mentioned the same thing - the growth spurt age can be tough on some athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you had her evaluated? This sounds like juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in addition to many other things. I would not be pushing her to do anything until she’s evaluated.

You scared me now. I am reading through the symptoms, I don't see anything that applies.

Her joints are not swollen and she is not feeling pain. She is not aware of her posture or her stiffness, or complaining about it. It's just something that you can see - when she was playing tennis she wasn't bending the knees (as she should have), and now, as she is walking, she is not bending them as much as she should, either.

This is odd enough that it is worth talking to her pediatrician about it.

We just had yearly exam. Nobody noticed anything.

Did you mention this to her doctor? They don’t go and look for zebras at the annual exam.

Did I mention what - that my DD's walk is not sufficiently soft and feminine? That would upset my DD and almost certainly raise a red flag with the doctor (about me, not DD).

Maybe I used a wrong a word (stiff) - DD has no problem bending knees to sit, walk stairs, run etc. If she needs to or is told to do it, it's a non issue. It's just that she doesn't have that natural softness of movement and needs reminders to bend knees when skiing, playing tennis etc - whereas someone (e.g. one of my other kids) else will just assume those positions naturally and won't need any reminders.

I don't even begin to understand what a soft and feminine walk would look like, and I read a lot of fiction from the Victorian era as an English major.

Every kid is different and some kids aren't as good at feeling what is going on with their bodies, especially when rapidly growing. Don't know that it has anything to do with being soft or feminine?