How can a kid be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

[Anonymous]

In my family we are natural athletes. First time I threw a football it was a perfect spiral. When my nephew was two I could toss a ball and he’d hit it to me with a racquet. Like four out of five times. My dad can play three instruments in three different families. My brother and I can play two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some humans are just really impressive.

My kids go to a top private (not in DC) and there are a few there who are just insanely impressive. They are national merit semifinalists, have perfect SAT scores (1600) took calculus in 9th grade, run a 4 minute mile and are team captains for another sport. Plus they're artistic, kind, funny, good looking and completely solid on a mental health level.

It's not my kids (at all) but they exist.

Yep.

No one's perfect, but my kids each have a couple of friends who do, indeed, seem to be good at everything!

One thing I noticed when my kids were young. We are solidly middle class. I stayed home with the kids when they were in elementary school. They all learned how to swim slowly, over the course of a couple of summers, because I never pushed it. We were always at the town pool, and they stayed in the shallow end until they were ready to learn. Let's say age 6.

As we made friends with wealthier families, we'd get invited to a pool party, and all the kids were swimming like fish and diving proficiently. How? Well, a lot of them had gone to summer camps where swimming instruction was built in every day. And/or, I think a lot of wealthier parents were just a little more hard-core about it than I was. They had the kids in lessons at 4 so they would be good by age 6. That kind of thing does multiply across sports, music, academics ... a LITTLE more pushing, a LITTLE more resources devoted to various things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Practicing a sport could have been 20 minutes in the back yard hitting gold balls into a net or putting around the yard. Tennis practice could be hitting a ball against the garage door or at the local court for 20-30 minutes. Not all practice is hours long, drills that help develop footwork or specific skills can be done pretty quickly.

School work doesn’t have to be an hours long activity. An individual who is smart and has good study skills can probably knock out most high school work and college work reasonably quickly. There are kids who take hours to do homework, they tend to be kids that have to work harder to get good grades for some reason. DS is only in MS but he has maybe 15 minutes of homework a day and his friends have hours. His friends struggle with anxiety and ADHD so focus is an issue and makes homework harder for them than it is for my NT child.

I wouldn’t trust videos to show how good a child is at anything, they are pretty easy to edit. I am sure that he is probably pretty good at the sports he played but videos do not tell the whole story.

I find it odd that he was showing you videos his parents took. It sounds like he has been indoctrinated with the idea that he has to be good at everything and he has to continually sell himself to people. Hopefully he is able to out grow that.

+1. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned the bolded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 22-year-old recently grad started his job yesterday in accounting/finance, and he reports directly to me. We had lunch and a long conversation while he was waiting for access to the system. According to this young man, his childhood was always busy with activities. His parents made him practice piano, guitar, swimming, soccer, golf, and tennis everyday. He was also a very good student on top of those activities. He even showed me some of those activities that his parents captured on YouTube, and he looked excellent. He ended up at a very good college, and played sport there. His social life also improved because of the activities that he acquired in his teen years. I came away very impressed by this young man, and I would not be surprised that he will be my boss a few years from now.

All of this brings up my question: How can someone be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

What! practice all of those things every day?
That was a choice made by the parents early on (with no input from him) and they had the resources to provide that to him. Because really it's not just a matter of lessons. If my kids wanted to play tennis everyday, they would have to head to the neighborhood court, and golfing (which they do a little of) would be even harder to schedule everyday. You are unduly impressed by a kid from a very wealthy family. Of course he would be impressive. Sounds like he started life half way between 3rd and home.

+1

Wealthy people can also get rid of every little bit of friction that a normal person has to deal with on a daily basis. They can outsource any activity (cleaning, organizing, purchasing needed items -- they can even outsource the coordination of these outsourced services to a household manager or assistant) that does not perfectly optimize their time.

This kid was raised the way Jeff Bezos currently lives his life, with an army of staff and plenty of resources to ensure that each waking moment can be as productive as possible. But it's relevant that Bezos actually had to work to get to that point and this kid was just born into it, like royalty.

Without obstacles anything is possible. Most people deal with obstacles. I wonder what might happen if this kid encounters an obstacle that cannot be easily resolved with money and privilege. A relationship failure or a dire medical issue.

This is such an odd thread. OP didn't describe someone who sounds ultra wealthy at all. And what teen needs outsourcing in order to do activities? Teens have plenty of time after school.

She really did.
You just missed the clues.
All those activities everyday? Maybe she was exaggerating that he played golf and tennis every day. If so, fine I agree.
But if not, yes, they were wealthy.

Parents knew how to find the best private teacher for each of those activities and were able to pay for it. It takes a lot longer to get to be a great swimmer if you take group lessons at the Y or swim only summer league. i had literally never heard of private swimming lessons until we moved to NOrthern Virginia, like I didn't know that these things existed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practicing a sport could have been 20 minutes in the back yard hitting gold balls into a net or putting around the yard. Tennis practice could be hitting a ball against the garage door or at the local court for 20-30 minutes. Not all practice is hours long, drills that help develop footwork or specific skills can be done pretty quickly.

School work doesn’t have to be an hours long activity. An individual who is smart and has good study skills can probably knock out most high school work and college work reasonably quickly. There are kids who take hours to do homework, they tend to be kids that have to work harder to get good grades for some reason. DS is only in MS but he has maybe 15 minutes of homework a day and his friends have hours. His friends struggle with anxiety and ADHD so focus is an issue and makes homework harder for them than it is for my NT child.

I wouldn’t trust videos to show how good a child is at anything, they are pretty easy to edit. I am sure that he is probably pretty good at the sports he played but videos do not tell the whole story.

I find it odd that he was showing you videos his parents took. It sounds like he has been indoctrinated with the idea that he has to be good at everything and he has to continually sell himself to people. Hopefully he is able to out grow that.

+1. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned the bolded.

LOL, yes. That is very silly. Hopefully he'll grow out of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some humans are just really impressive.

My kids go to a top private (not in DC) and there are a few there who are just insanely impressive. They are national merit semifinalists, have perfect SAT scores (1600) took calculus in 9th grade, run a 4 minute mile and are team captains for another sport. Plus they're artistic, kind, funny, good looking and completely solid on a mental health level.

It's not my kids (at all) but they exist.

NP.

I worked at the Center for Talented Youth at JHU for years.

To 7th grade students, we administered the SAT. Not the PSAT, the actual SAT. In 7th grade.

A percentage of bright children easily scored a 920 or higher (some, much higher) in 7th grade. This was during the early 90s.

I also worked with these kids during CTY’s summer program. About 2/3rds were all-around talented: excellent in academics, accomplished athletes, and often gifted musicians too.

True, about 1/3rd fell into the, for lack of a better term, “nerdy” stereotype and lacked much beyond academic accomplishment.

But again, 2/3rds were highly accomplished all-around, for their age. These individuals exist.

[Anonymous]

1. He may be embellishing a bit.
2. His parents are at least middle class and gave him a lot of attention.
3. He really is a quick learner, physically fit, with social skills. Which is great!!!


4. He showed you videos of his sports right when you met him? That's not normal, actually. For me that would be a red flag and I wouldn't be impressed about that sort of need for attention. Yes, he might impress others and get very far in life, but... I don't trust people like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. He may be embellishing a bit.
2. His parents are at least middle class and gave him a lot of attention.
3. He really is a quick learner, physically fit, with social skills. Which is great!!!


4. He showed you videos of his sports right when you met him? That's not normal, actually. For me that would be a red flag and I wouldn't be impressed about that sort of need for attention. Yes, he might impress others and get very far in life, but... I don't trust people like that.

Completely agree with all. It IS super odd to brag like this!

[Anonymous]

Most sports are not year round, they have their own season (fall, spring, winter). By playing multiple sports and doing multiple physical activities you build muscles and stamina that help in other sports. At that point it’s just a matter of learning rules of the game and making improvements in skills which can be worked on each season and alone or with friends. Musical instrument practice only requires an 30-60mins a day to be reasonable good.

There’s 24hours in a day

9 hours of sleep
7 hours of school
1 hour instrument practice
2.5 hours of homework/studying/research
1.5 hour sport practice/workout
1.5 hours personal hygiene/grooming/care
🟰 22.5hours
Repeat 5 days a week

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most sports are not year round, they have their own season (fall, spring, winter). By playing multiple sports and doing multiple physical activities you build muscles and stamina that help in other sports. At that point it’s just a matter of learning rules of the game and making improvements in skills which can be worked on each season and alone or with friends. Musical instrument practice only requires an 30-60mins a day to be reasonable good.

There’s 24hours in a day

9 hours of sleep
7 hours of school
1 hour instrument practice
2.5 hours of homework/studying/research
1.5 hour sport practice/workout
1.5 hours personal hygiene/grooming/care
🟰 22.5hours
Repeat 5 days a week

The other 1.5 hours would probably be commuting (school, lessons, practice locations). And the kid does have to eat sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practicing a sport could have been 20 minutes in the back yard hitting gold balls into a net or putting around the yard. Tennis practice could be hitting a ball against the garage door or at the local court for 20-30 minutes. Not all practice is hours long, drills that help develop footwork or specific skills can be done pretty quickly.

School work doesn’t have to be an hours long activity. An individual who is smart and has good study skills can probably knock out most high school work and college work reasonably quickly. There are kids who take hours to do homework, they tend to be kids that have to work harder to get good grades for some reason. DS is only in MS but he has maybe 15 minutes of homework a day and his friends have hours. His friends struggle with anxiety and ADHD so focus is an issue and makes homework harder for them than it is for my NT child.

I wouldn’t trust videos to show how good a child is at anything, they are pretty easy to edit. I am sure that he is probably pretty good at the sports he played but videos do not tell the whole story.

I find it odd that he was showing you videos his parents took. It sounds like he has been indoctrinated with the idea that he has to be good at everything and he has to continually sell himself to people. Hopefully he is able to out grow that.

+1. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned the bolded.

LOL, yes. That is very silly. Hopefully he'll grow out of that.

Gen Z kids are different. But maybe it came up organically in the conversation with OP or she asked to see them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most sports are not year round, they have their own season (fall, spring, winter). By playing multiple sports and doing multiple physical activities you build muscles and stamina that help in other sports. At that point it’s just a matter of learning rules of the game and making improvements in skills which can be worked on each season and alone or with friends. Musical instrument practice only requires an 30-60mins a day to be reasonable good.

There’s 24hours in a day

9 hours of sleep
7 hours of school
1 hour instrument practice
2.5 hours of homework/studying/research
1.5 hour sport practice/workout
1.5 hours personal hygiene/grooming/care
🟰 22.5hours
Repeat 5 days a week

The other 1.5 hours would probably be commuting (school, lessons, practice locations). And the kid does have to eat sometimes.

Times can be adjusted. Maybe they only sleep 8 hours. Maybe they’re family meal preps and makes ahead so cooking takes less time during the week. Maybe they only practice the instrument for 45mins or do so every other day. Sports practice usually is not 5 days a week all year long. The point is that there is plenty of time to accomplish a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- Play guitar 45 minutes every day. Definitely doable,
- Play piano 45 minutes every day. Definitely doable,
- Practice tennis one hour every day. Definitely doable
- Practice golf one hour every day. Definitely doable,
- Swimming one hour every day. Definitely doable,
- Play an 18-hole round of golf (3 1/2 hours) and 2 hours of tennis on Saturday. Definitely doable,
- Practice two hours of guitar and piano on Sunday. Definitely doable,

High school ends at 3pm, and it takes 20 minutes to get to Westwood CC in Vienna. Take three hours to practice golf, tennis, swimming. Get home at 6:30pm, and have dinner at 7pm. Practice piano and guitar from 7:30pm until 9pm. Homework from 9pm until 11pm. Go to bed at 11pm and wake up at 7am. Rinse and repeat.

The question is how many kids can actually do this for years in order to be good?

When do they have time to pet the dog, talk to their GF/BF, watch a sunset, bake brownies, play a board game, curl up with a good book, or just relax?

Grind culture is so dreary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practicing a sport could have been 20 minutes in the back yard hitting gold balls into a net or putting around the yard. Tennis practice could be hitting a ball against the garage door or at the local court for 20-30 minutes. Not all practice is hours long, drills that help develop footwork or specific skills can be done pretty quickly.

School work doesn’t have to be an hours long activity. An individual who is smart and has good study skills can probably knock out most high school work and college work reasonably quickly. There are kids who take hours to do homework, they tend to be kids that have to work harder to get good grades for some reason. DS is only in MS but he has maybe 15 minutes of homework a day and his friends have hours. His friends struggle with anxiety and ADHD so focus is an issue and makes homework harder for them than it is for my NT child.

I wouldn’t trust videos to show how good a child is at anything, they are pretty easy to edit. I am sure that he is probably pretty good at the sports he played but videos do not tell the whole story.

I find it odd that he was showing you videos his parents took. It sounds like he has been indoctrinated with the idea that he has to be good at everything and he has to continually sell himself to people. Hopefully he is able to out grow that.

+1. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned the bolded.

LOL, yes. That is very silly. Hopefully he'll grow out of that.

Gen Z kids are different. But maybe it came up organically in the conversation with OP or she asked to see them.

College new grad shows off videos of how he was good at stuff in high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My ds is naturally good at everything he does. He has a musical ear, plays trombone in band but can also play guitar and piano just by ear. He can ski black diamond slopes, is as good at golf as kids on the golf team, is an excellent skater, on the swim team one season and as fast as some of the kids who did it since they were 5yo, beats people at tennis and pickle ball who play daily. He's been exposed to all of those things through childhood (only moderate cost, a few lessons for each thing, most through school, city programs...), but he goes from beginner to excellent within a very short amount of time. As far as personality, he cannot stand being bored so he is always out doing something, either sports or social activities. He's a good student, but would rather be active.

I have two teens and they are also really good at many things. They also want to do a lot of things.