Pros and cons of different sports for kids

[Anonymous]

I don't know about tennis, but basketball is a game of skill. It is hard to pick up at 12+. It takes many years of practice to be good with dribbling with both hands, etc.

[Anonymous]

Agree that the least athletically gifted kids gravitate to baseball. Its also a sport that overweight kids can participate in somewhat successfully.

of all the common sports, it is also the one where expensive private lessons help the most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about tennis, but basketball is a game of skill. It is hard to pick up at 12+. It takes many years of practice to be good with dribbling with both hands, etc.

Tell that to Tim Duncan . I would argue swimming or tennis are almost impossible to get to a high level after 12

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about tennis, but basketball is a game of skill. It is hard to pick up at 12+. It takes many years of practice to be good with dribbling with both hands, etc.

Tell that to Tim Duncan . I would argue swimming or tennis are almost impossible to get to a high level after 12

Tim Duncan is a one in five million level elite athlete. That's probably not OP's kids.

[Anonymous]

If I could do it over, would encourage individual sports that are lifetime pursuits and also sports that are most competitive at the HS level like track and field or basketball where you don't have to do the travel team thing. The travel club sports are full of families looking for college recruiting and it is exhausting and sucks a lot of fun out of it

Do that if you want but I would stick to an academic focus for college decisions if possible.

[Anonymous]

Basket ball development leagues are only in winter in McLean where we live. If a 7 year old child plays the sport only during winters, is it possible to continue recreational basketball until high school? We are not interested in travel and competitive basketball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basket ball development leagues are only in winter in McLean where we live. If a 7 year old child plays the sport only during winters, is it possible to continue recreational basketball until high school? We are not interested in travel and competitive basketball.

Of course. Any kid can play rec basketball all the way through 12th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it over, would encourage individual sports that are lifetime pursuits and also sports that are most competitive at the HS level like track and field or basketball where you don't have to do the travel team thing. The travel club sports are full of families looking for college recruiting and it is exhausting and sucks a lot of fun out of it

Do that if you want but I would stick to an academic focus for college decisions if possible.

The problem with that is how few spots there are on high school teams. The odds are that all of the kids who occupy them will also play AAU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be honest with yourself from the beginning about how willing you are to take the sport. I encouraged my children to learn to ride because I love it, but I also knew I would never be ok from a risk standpoint with competitive jumping. When we had to make choices about which activity to drop and when, we kept riding limits to the purely weekly/recreational level accordingly.

Swimming should always be in a separate category because in my opinion, every child should learn to swim for safety reasons.

Competitive jumper here—that’s pretty sad and, I think, wrongheaded. My worst injuries from falls were when I was trotting on a loose rein, and I’ve never been hurt falling off at a jump in my life (30+ years of jumping!). Horses are dangerous for sure, but you’re missing out on the best parts of equestrian sport just taking a weekly lesson.

On topic: I didn’t pressure my kids to do any sports. They dabbled around a little with soccer and basketball, but only one still plays a sport (track). My other spends all his time building computers. I don’t get the desire of some parents to push sports. If they love it, great! If not, let them find what they do love….and do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be honest with yourself from the beginning about how willing you are to take the sport. I encouraged my children to learn to ride because I love it, but I also knew I would never be ok from a risk standpoint with competitive jumping. When we had to make choices about which activity to drop and when, we kept riding limits to the purely weekly/recreational level accordingly.

Swimming should always be in a separate category because in my opinion, every child should learn to swim for safety reasons.

Competitive jumper here—that’s pretty sad and, I think, wrongheaded. My worst injuries from falls were when I was trotting on a loose rein, and I’ve never been hurt falling off at a jump in my life (30+ years of jumping!). Horses are dangerous for sure, but you’re missing out on the best parts of equestrian sport just taking a weekly lesson.

On topic: I didn’t pressure my kids to do any sports. They dabbled around a little with soccer and basketball, but only one still plays a sport (track). My other spends all his time building computers. I don’t get the desire of some parents to push sports. If they love it, great! If not, let them find what they do love….and do that.

Says the person posting in a sports forum

[Anonymous]

Well I'll just say what we're doing with our kids.

I really encouraged tennis because it's a lifelong sport and I personally find it really fun. My DH also plays so I thought it would be great to get the kids involved as well. They all love it.

Swimming was non negotiable until they were good swimmers. None of my kids chose to take it any farther than that.

Both of my DDs do ballet. Super fun and easy to get them involved at a young age and it just blossomed from there. I tried to choose a studio that was not insane about body type and the "right type" of ballet dancer but that also taught good technique.

I also really wanted them to be at least comfortable on ice skates. My youngest DD absolutely loved it and has been skating ever since. She's only 8 now so who knows what will happen in the future but in her biased mom's opinion, she's quite good. The other kids just like to go every once in a while or when rinks pop up during the winter.

Soccer is great too, especially because it's pretty popular and easy to get started with. My DS plays travel soccer now and it's a lot but it's also a great way to make friends and be active.

[Anonymous]

Are individual sports like martial arts/ taekwondo have any pros and cons over sports are tennis/ squash? Which individual sports are better and can be long term for boys?
If DC who is 8 now, is really good and enjoys an individual sport is it worth pursuing it at competitive level? Is it better to pursue 4 different types of sports of 1 sport competitive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are individual sports like martial arts/ taekwondo have any pros and cons over sports are tennis/ squash? Which individual sports are better and can be long term for boys?
If DC who is 8 now, is really good and enjoys an individual sport is it worth pursuing it at competitive level? Is it better to pursue 4 different types of sports of 1 sport competitive?

Call me

[Anonymous]

😂 phone number?

[Anonymous]

Whatever sports a) your kid enjoys, b) you enjoy watching. Bonus points if it’s something they can continue playing fairly easily into adulthood (tennis, swimming, soccer, basketball).

I also think starting out w gymnastics and/or dance and/or karate is good to build some athleticism and foundational skills they can use in any sport.