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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Check out Caitlyn clark competing and learning competitive golf if her off season.

Pump the break. Caitlyn would lose BIG to a D1 University of Virginia golfer.

She’s plenty good enough to impress a middle aged sedentary office worker as an amateur, which was OP’s question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Athletes are good at every sport.

Learning an instrument isn’t unusual.

It’s easier to become passable at a bunch of things than professional at one thing.

Absolute BS. A D1 football player can play recreational golf, but he will not be like a D1 golfer. A D1 tennis player can't play D1 football because he will get killed.

Learning an instrument or vocal cord isn't unusual, but to become good at it takes a lot of time and effort. Every boy wants to pickup the guitar to impress girls, but 99% of them are horrible at it.

Who said anything about D1? You made that up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I couldn’t agree more. It sounds like this guy wasn’t given much time to just be a kid when he was younger and was told that everything he does has to be for the sake of achievement as opposed to strictly the enjoyment of it.

More concerning is eventually he’s going to attempt something and either fail or simply not be the best at it, and that could be completely devastating to him since he’s never experienced not excelling. I’ve know people like this, and their first experience with failure is much more extreme than most others.

Has it ever occurred to you that this guy experienced many failures every time he played in a golf or tennis tournament, or competed in music competitions? At the end of the day, there is only one winner and the rest are losers. Because of this, he will go very far in life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Exaggerating (you physically cannot do all 4 of those sports in the same day unless you are a millionaire with your own tennis court and pool and have tutors lined up one after another)
2. They showcase their highlight reel
3. No down time
4. Mental health issues
5. Lucky genetics
6. $$$$$

p.s. my son does football (middling) and baseball (middling), he skipped a level in gymnastics (must be gifted there) , swims (failed same level multiple times in a row but if I was showing off I wouldn't mention that), does mental math (constant battle at home) and also cello. He used to do piano. I want to start that up again. An outsider does not see the effort on my end and the vast majority of people have no way to know how "good" he is in cello, for example. He happens to be struggling in the moment in mental math but I could brag that he's been in the program since he was 6. The mental math is impressive but it truly comes from 100s of hours of work, it is not mysterious at all. Outsiders rarely see the whining, crying, "I'm tiiiiiiired, I don't want to go to X" rage quitting, the workbook margins covered in gun and mummy doodles etc.

The first day he did football he caught a ball in his face and rage quit. I'm sure he won't be telling coworkers that.

You sound insane.

Not the least of which is putting a kid small enough for gymnastics in football.

It's flag football

And male gymnastics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Check out Caitlyn clark competing and learning competitive golf if her off season.

Pump the break. Caitlyn would lose BIG to a D1 University of Virginia golfer.

She’s plenty good enough to impress a middle aged sedentary office worker as an amateur, which was OP’s question.

No she is not good in golf. Even a high school golfer from Langley HS can beat her, LOL...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You can do anything if you lie enough.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_high_school_students_who_have_run_a_four-minute_mile

calculus in 9th grade is also suspicious.

I alumni interview at Blair. It’s not common but not unheard of, certain cultures tutor and study ahead in math and science. Or just accelerate or demand it from the schools. The kids themselves do to.

There are several kids at McLean HS taking Calculus in 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I couldn’t agree more. It sounds like this guy wasn’t given much time to just be a kid when he was younger and was told that everything he does has to be for the sake of achievement as opposed to strictly the enjoyment of it.

More concerning is eventually he’s going to attempt something and either fail or simply not be the best at it, and that could be completely devastating to him since he’s never experienced not excelling. I’ve know people like this, and their first experience with failure is much more extreme than most others.

6-8 hours after school lets out is a lot of time for sports, homework, eating, hanging out at home.

Seriously, keep an hourly logbook from 3pm onward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Check out Caitlyn clark competing and learning competitive golf if her off season.

Pump the break. Caitlyn would lose BIG to a D1 University of Virginia golfer.

No ones comparing a uva golfer chick one- trick pony who’s has practices and trained 10+ hours a week since age 8.

The topic was a very athletic young adult learning golf in her off season and that trajectory and accelerated learning curve.
Why is it accelerated? Because clark is disciplined, coachable, excellent hand/eye/body coordination, excellent situational awareness, in too muscular and cardiovascular shape.

Personally we like Scootie Sheffler, who’s also a highly gifted athlete who specialized in golf while playing varsity basketball at a huge competitive texas high school too. He’s good at every sport he touches. Being 6’4” and strong helps as well but very gifted athlete.
Read the Wash Post article on him for earlier this year. They interviewed all his sports and teammates and coaches since he was a kid. Very impressive.

And his parents did right: found the best personal coach, put in the time, trusted the process, provided all the travel tourney money and logistics, pushed him and he pushed himself.
Oh, and he had time to play pick up hoops!! And marry his HS sweetheart. And get good grades like Clark! Omg when did they pet the doggie?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I couldn’t agree more. It sounds like this guy wasn’t given much time to just be a kid when he was younger and was told that everything he does has to be for the sake of achievement as opposed to strictly the enjoyment of it.

More concerning is eventually he’s going to attempt something and either fail or simply not be the best at it, and that could be completely devastating to him since he’s never experienced not excelling. I’ve know people like this, and their first experience with failure is much more extreme than most others.

Wishful thinking.

I went to school and work with these types. They deal with major and minor setbacks just fine and are resilient. In fact they are very good at knowing what’s in their control and what’s not, and moving on, finding help, and communicating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I couldn’t agree more. It sounds like this guy wasn’t given much time to just be a kid when he was younger and was told that everything he does has to be for the sake of achievement as opposed to strictly the enjoyment of it.

More concerning is eventually he’s going to attempt something and either fail or simply not be the best at it, and that could be completely devastating to him since he’s never experienced not excelling. I’ve know people like this, and their first experience with failure is much more extreme than most others.

Has it ever occurred to you that this guy experienced many failures every time he played in a golf or tennis tournament, or competed in music competitions? At the end of the day, there is only one winner and the rest are losers. Because of this, he will go very far in life.

Very true.

And life is life.
By age 20-25 you’ve seen death or health crises in your family or friend group, bad test, car accidents, budget issues, breakups, difficult people, etc.

[Anonymous]

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?

He had a Tiger Mom.

[Anonymous]

Or dad. Or both.

[Anonymous]

What about work addict couch potato dad. What’s the result then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Check out Caitlyn clark competing and learning competitive golf if her off season.

Pump the break. Caitlyn would lose BIG to a D1 University of Virginia golfer.

She’s plenty good enough to impress a middle aged sedentary office worker as an amateur, which was OP’s question.

No she is not good in golf. Even a high school golfer from Langley HS can beat her, LOL...

Great point PP! Those silly professional athletics making millions and still learning new sports! Go Langley Hs golf!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You clowns delusional

PP for the win!