Pros and cons of different sports for kids

[Anonymous]

My 9 year old DC has been doing fencing since last 8 months and enjoys it. I am not sure if he will be able to continue it long term or not. It’s not like tennis which is popular and can be played in adult life. Should I ask him to quit fencing and pick a sport that can be played when he grows up?

[Anonymous]

Having played both competitive golf and tennis growing up, here is my take on this:
1) Golf and tennis are both life long sports.  I played high school varsity golf in the fall and tennis in the spring so it worked out well.  I had lot of friends and girlfriends in HS because I was a two sports athletes and that was a huge boost to my own ego.  
2) I played tennis throughout my adult life to stay in shape until after I turned 60 and it got harder to play due to my limited mobility.  These days I play golf much more with a driving cart on the golf course,
3) Tennis is a sport that will keep you in shape.  Golf is a skill game.  It is almost impossible to play tennis competitively with a "beer" belly.  You can still play golf with a "beer" belly,
Pros:  Golf and tennis are lifelong sports.  They can also help with your professional careers.  
Cons:  They are very expensive.  It is not a team sport
I have three kids and all three play golf and tennis.  We pay $150/hour on golf lessons per kid per week; $125/hour on tennis lessons per kid per week; All in all, we set a side about 95K/year for their golf and tennis activities.  We have not included costs to travel to tournaments such as entry fees, hotel and travel, etc....

YMMV.

[Anonymous]

All three of your kids ONLY want to do the same exact two sports you played in high school? That is very odd.

[Anonymous]

a kid can definitely play tennis for exercise and enjoyment without weekly private lessons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All three of your kids ONLY want to do the same exact two sports you played in high school? That is very odd.

I encouraged them to play both golf and tennis at a very early age. All of them played both without complaining.

[Anonymous]

My 9 year old DC has been doing fencing since last 8 months and enjoys it. I am not sure if he will be able to continue it long term or not. It’s not like tennis which is popular and can be played in adult life. Should I ask him to quit fencing and pick a sport that can be played when he grows up?

There are absolutely adult fencers -- my daughter's studio has veteran fencers who have won national medals and competed internationally, as well as ones who just show up to open fencing for fun. It is truly a lifelong sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My 9 year old DC has been doing fencing since last 8 months and enjoys it. I am not sure if he will be able to continue it long term or not. It’s not like tennis which is popular and can be played in adult life. Should I ask him to quit fencing and pick a sport that can be played when he grows up?

There are absolutely adult fencers -- my daughter's studio has veteran fencers who have won national medals and competed internationally, as well as ones who just show up to open fencing for fun. It is truly a lifelong sport.

Yeah sure

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All three of your kids ONLY want to do the same exact two sports you played in high school? That is very odd.

Why is that odd clown?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having played both competitive golf and tennis growing up, here is my take on this:
1) Golf and tennis are both life long sports.  I played high school varsity golf in the fall and tennis in the spring so it worked out well.  I had lot of friends and girlfriends in HS because I was a two sports athletes and that was a huge boost to my own ego.  
2) I played tennis throughout my adult life to stay in shape until after I turned 60 and it got harder to play due to my limited mobility.  These days I play golf much more with a driving cart on the golf course,
3) Tennis is a sport that will keep you in shape.  Golf is a skill game.  It is almost impossible to play tennis competitively with a "beer" belly.  You can still play golf with a "beer" belly,
Pros:  Golf and tennis are lifelong sports.  They can also help with your professional careers.  
Cons:  They are very expensive.  It is not a team sport
I have three kids and all three play golf and tennis.  We pay $150/hour on golf lessons per kid per week; $125/hour on tennis lessons per kid per week; All in all, we set a side about 95K/year for their golf and tennis activities.  We have not included costs to travel to tournaments such as entry fees, hotel and travel, etc....

YMMV.

How old are your kids? You are over 60 and still have three kids young enough that you are paying for their weekly sports lessons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having played both competitive golf and tennis growing up, here is my take on this:
1) Golf and tennis are both life long sports.  I played high school varsity golf in the fall and tennis in the spring so it worked out well.  I had lot of friends and girlfriends in HS because I was a two sports athletes and that was a huge boost to my own ego.  
2) I played tennis throughout my adult life to stay in shape until after I turned 60 and it got harder to play due to my limited mobility.  These days I play golf much more with a driving cart on the golf course,
3) Tennis is a sport that will keep you in shape.  Golf is a skill game.  It is almost impossible to play tennis competitively with a "beer" belly.  You can still play golf with a "beer" belly,
Pros:  Golf and tennis are lifelong sports.  They can also help with your professional careers.  
Cons:  They are very expensive.  It is not a team sport
I have three kids and all three play golf and tennis.  We pay $150/hour on golf lessons per kid per week; $125/hour on tennis lessons per kid per week; All in all, we set a side about 95K/year for their golf and tennis activities.  We have not included costs to travel to tournaments such as entry fees, hotel and travel, etc....

YMMV.

How old are your kids? You are over 60 and still have three kids young enough that you are paying for their weekly sports lessons?

Didn't get married until I was 45 years old to a 26 years old wife. Kids are currently 17, 16 and 12 years old. I used to play both tennis and golf with them until about three years ago. Father, sons and daughter play golf together on weekends, and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having played both competitive golf and tennis growing up, here is my take on this:
1) Golf and tennis are both life long sports.  I played high school varsity golf in the fall and tennis in the spring so it worked out well.  I had lot of friends and girlfriends in HS because I was a two sports athletes and that was a huge boost to my own ego.  
2) I played tennis throughout my adult life to stay in shape until after I turned 60 and it got harder to play due to my limited mobility.  These days I play golf much more with a driving cart on the golf course,
3) Tennis is a sport that will keep you in shape.  Golf is a skill game.  It is almost impossible to play tennis competitively with a "beer" belly.  You can still play golf with a "beer" belly,
Pros:  Golf and tennis are lifelong sports.  They can also help with your professional careers.  
Cons:  They are very expensive.  It is not a team sport
I have three kids and all three play golf and tennis.  We pay $150/hour on golf lessons per kid per week; $125/hour on tennis lessons per kid per week; All in all, we set a side about 95K/year for their golf and tennis activities.  We have not included costs to travel to tournaments such as entry fees, hotel and travel, etc....

YMMV.

How old are your kids? You are over 60 and still have three kids young enough that you are paying for their weekly sports lessons?

Didn't get married until I was 45 years old to a 26 years old wife. Kids are currently 17, 16 and 12 years old. I used to play both tennis and golf with them until about three years ago. Father, sons and daughter play golf together on weekends, and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

You are the man sir

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My 9 year old DC has been doing fencing since last 8 months and enjoys it. I am not sure if he will be able to continue it long term or not. It’s not like tennis which is popular and can be played in adult life. Should I ask him to quit fencing and pick a sport that can be played when he grows up?


There are absolutely adult fencers -- my daughter's studio has veteran fencers who have won national medals and competed internationally, as well as ones who just show up to open fencing for fun. It is truly a lifelong sport.


Yeah sure

Uh, do you have any idea what you are talking about? The January NAC had veterans events through Vet70. DC Fencers in Silver Spring has a huge group of adults who fence, many of whom learned as adults. Most of the NOVA studios also have adult fencers. I mean, fine, don't like fencing for other reasons, but at least have them be based in reality and knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My average coordination kid picked up baseball for the very first time in 6th grade, now is playing travel ball in 9th grade. Baseball seemed pretty easy to pick up, actually. But it seemed like overall the 'baseball kids' were less naturally athletic then the soccer/basketball/football kids we knew, so maybe it just seems that way to baseball dads?

This is true, and baseball is easily picked up by naturally athletic people. Michael Jordan and Tim Tebow went and joined professional baseball teams well past their prime. There are also quite a few interviews of MLB players that go something like "well I didn't get to start on my college football team so I went back to baseball and now here I am playing for the Braves!"

[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.

You said yourself horses are dangerous - because they are. As someone who rides, I know that. I also didn’t want my kids doing competitive cheerleading or tackle football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My average coordination kid picked up baseball for the very first time in 6th grade, now is playing travel ball in 9th grade. Baseball seemed pretty easy to pick up, actually. But it seemed like overall the 'baseball kids' were less naturally athletic then the soccer/basketball/football kids we knew, so maybe it just seems that way to baseball dads?

This is true, and baseball is easily picked up by naturally athletic people. Michael Jordan and Tim Tebow went and joined professional baseball teams well past their prime. There are also quite a few interviews of MLB players that go something like "well I didn't get to start on my college football team so I went back to baseball and now here I am playing for the Braves!"

This is so NOT true. Both MJ and Tim Tebow couldn't make it into the Major League MLB, both of them stuck in the AA or AAA leagues. I wouldn't call baseball AA or AAA professional teams, more like a sweat shop.

Any sports, including baseball, take years to develop, even for elite athletes.