Does height matter for kids sports?

[Anonymous]

The other mom is a nut job. If your kid develops a love of swimming, it's a wonderful sport that he can do throughout his life. It doesn't matter if he's not a competitive swimmer (and he still could be). There are many reasons to enroll your kid in sports, and "fun" and "health" are the top ones. "Becoming a competitive athlete", "getting a sports scholarship", and "winning an Olympic medal" should be the last thing someone is thinking about with regards to their 6 year old. Even if you succeeding in producing the next Michael Phelps, that kind of pressure is bad for a child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS just joined a year round swim team and was really excited for it. I was chatting with a relative about it and her response was that I was putting him at a disadvantage because swimming is for tall kids and he wouldn't be able to ever win races if he was a head shorter than everyone else. DS just turned 6 and he's only 44 inches, which is okay, DH is 5'7 and I'm 5'8, we're not expecting our kid to be tall since we aren't tall. He's usually the smallest boy in the room but we picked swimming for him because he likes it and if he wants to do basketball next year I wouldn't hesitate to sign him up for that. I don't particularly care if he ever loses at sports as long as he does his best, but now I'm second guessing myself a bit. Did you ever put a short child into a "tall people sport"? Or a tall child into a sport like gymnastics? How did it go? Does it ever make much of a difference unless you're gunning to be a professional athlete?

So, is your kid turns out to be 5’8” (He could well be a lot taller) then he will not be winning gold at the Olympics in the 50M FS or playing in the NBA. Height and wingspan really do matter. Read Sports Gene by David Epstein if you want to know more.

But does it matter for now? No. Our average height 6 year old regularly beats older and taller kids in the pool because he has better technique and endurance. And even if he didn’t it would not matter to me at all, so long as he is getting exercise and having fun.

Also, if your kid loves swimming and ends up average height there are other options, distance swimming and triathlon for example.

Muggsy Bogues, an excellent NBA player, was just over five feet tall.

Sure, there are exceptions. But the average height of players on the 2019-20 NBA roster is 6’ 6”. So...

Talent is talent, if you’re born talented and work hard and get lucky with opportunities, you can become anything you want.

Sure, but talent + height = advantage. In most sports, tall people will have the extra edge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS just joined a year round swim team and was really excited for it. I was chatting with a relative about it and her response was that I was putting him at a disadvantage because swimming is for tall kids and he wouldn't be able to ever win races if he was a head shorter than everyone else. DS just turned 6 and he's only 44 inches, which is okay, DH is 5'7 and I'm 5'8, we're not expecting our kid to be tall since we aren't tall. He's usually the smallest boy in the room but we picked swimming for him because he likes it and if he wants to do basketball next year I wouldn't hesitate to sign him up for that. I don't particularly care if he ever loses at sports as long as he does his best, but now I'm second guessing myself a bit. Did you ever put a short child into a "tall people sport"? Or a tall child into a sport like gymnastics? How did it go? Does it ever make much of a difference unless you're gunning to be a professional athlete?

So, is your kid turns out to be 5’8” (He could well be a lot taller) then he will not be winning gold at the Olympics in the 50M FS or playing in the NBA. Height and wingspan really do matter. Read Sports Gene by David Epstein if you want to know more.

But does it matter for now? No. Our average height 6 year old regularly beats older and taller kids in the pool because he has better technique and endurance. And even if he didn’t it would not matter to me at all, so long as he is getting exercise and having fun.

Also, if your kid loves swimming and ends up average height there are other options, distance swimming and triathlon for example.

Muggsy Bogues, an excellent NBA player, was just over five feet tall.

Sure, there are exceptions. But the average height of players on the 2019-20 NBA roster is 6’ 6”. So...

Talent is talent, if you’re born talented and work hard and get lucky with opportunities, you can become anything you want.

No, generally not. You need to read David Epstein’s books. Genetics (height, reaction time, wingspan, eyesight, etc) are the biggest keys to success. Of course you need to work incredibly hard too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The other mom is a nut job. If your kid develops a love of swimming, it's a wonderful sport that he can do throughout his life. It doesn't matter if he's not a competitive swimmer (and he still could be). There are many reasons to enroll your kid in sports, and "fun" and "health" are the top ones. "Becoming a competitive athlete", "getting a sports scholarship", and "winning an Olympic medal" should be the last thing someone is thinking about with regards to their 6 year old. Even if you succeeding in producing the next Michael Phelps, that kind of pressure is bad for a child.

This. You can swim your entire life, it’s great exercise and a life skill. Everyone should know how to swim!

[Anonymous]

No

[Anonymous]

Your kids height matters.

[Anonymous]

I think learning how to avoid drowning is a fantastic skill, no matter the number on the stopwatch.

[Anonymous]

My short daughter was once doing a butterfly race. At the halfway point they were dead even. Their strokes became synchronized. As they both reached for the wall at the same moment, it was hard to tell who had won. Turns out the taller girl with the longer arm, won by over a second.

Is my short daughter at a disadvantage? Yes. Sometimes she feels odd lining up next to girls that are twice her weight and over a foot taller, but she loves swimming and she loves winning. She works hard in the pool and it shows. My son is tall and it has not helped him win races. There is much more to swimming fast than height.

[Anonymous]

I can’t believe this is a concern at 6. I am sure he is at a disadvantage, but he could grow to be tall. You are tall... maybe he took after you... either way he is enjoying it now and that is all that matters. I was a great swimmer until 12-13... then all other girls grew taller and I stopped since highschool was going to give me a lot of work anyway. I am so glad I swam for as long as I did

[Anonymous]

OP here, glad other folks think she was a bit nuts. Shes a relative and quite competitive. Don't get me wrong, we are also a family of athletes (track for me and my husband loves his bike), but we want our kids to be in sports to develop discipline and learn to set goals and most of all, have fun and develop lifelong friendships. I'm still friends with my high school and college track teammates. I've never thought about height to be honest. My husband isn't tall, his dad is the tallest one in his family at 5'9 but his mom is probably about 5'2 on a good day and so is his sister. My husband was always taller as a kid but then didn't really grow past 14. My parents are both over 6 feet tall, I'm the short one on my side of the family, along with my grandma. I didn't hit over 5 ft tall until I was 12 though and I've always been on the thin/athletic side. My son is more on the petite side as well, only 3'8, I've noticed he was smaller than a lot of kids his age, but hes always been quite athletic so I've never really paid attention until my relative brought it up. Honestly it kind of stuck in my mind, even though it shouldn't have. We always want whats best for our kids, nobody ever wants to see their kid at a disadvantage.

[Anonymous]

^ I'm Asian and most of my family is short. Yes a disadvantage for sports, but then we don't shoot for Olympics or professional career. We do sports for all the other benefits, so no major downside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think learning how to avoid drowning is a fantastic skill, no matter the number on the stopwatch.

This! At 6 you are teaching them to be strong swimmers for safety and other benefits (cardio health, mental health, discipline).

[Anonymous]

I don’t think it matters at age 6, but it will be a dead end sport got him. My mom pulled me from gymnastics very early— I’m super tall. She put me in swimming. As a swim parent there are only two places I feel average height—- sideline of basketball court, and a high level swim meet. I’m almost 6 feet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS just joined a year round swim team and was really excited for it. I was chatting with a relative about it and her response was that I was putting him at a disadvantage because swimming is for tall kids and he wouldn't be able to ever win races if he was a head shorter than everyone else. DS just turned 6 and he's only 44 inches, which is okay, DH is 5'7 and I'm 5'8, we're not expecting our kid to be tall since we aren't tall. He's usually the smallest boy in the room but we picked swimming for him because he likes it and if he wants to do basketball next year I wouldn't hesitate to sign him up for that. I don't particularly care if he ever loses at sports as long as he does his best, but now I'm second guessing myself a bit. Did you ever put a short child into a "tall people sport"? Or a tall child into a sport like gymnastics? How did it go? Does it ever make much of a difference unless you're gunning to be a professional athlete?

So, is your kid turns out to be 5’8” (He could well be a lot taller) then he will not be winning gold at the Olympics in the 50M FS or playing in the NBA. Height and wingspan really do matter. Read Sports Gene by David Epstein if you want to know more.

But does it matter for now? No. Our average height 6 year old regularly beats older and taller kids in the pool because he has better technique and endurance. And even if he didn’t it would not matter to me at all, so long as he is getting exercise and having fun.

Also, if your kid loves swimming and ends up average height there are other options, distance swimming and triathlon for example.

Muggsy Bogues, an excellent NBA player, was just over five feet tall.

[Anonymous]

You do the sport for what it brings you now, not because you think the child has the perfect body to become a superstar in the sport. Most won't either way.

Anyway, distance swimmers tend to be shorter on average than sprinters.