Reply to Sports and lack of aggressiveness

Forum Index » Elementary School-Aged Kids

Reply to "Sports and lack of aggressiveness"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wow we have a bunch of amazing athletic kids! We are the best[/quote]

Athleticism is a gift, just like any other gift. If one were a gifted musician who decided not to play their instrument or any instrument of choice, that would feel like a loss. Or if your child were brilliant but chose to do nothing with it, that would be maddening and also, feel like a loss. When you are the parent, coach, teacher, or choir instructor of one of these types of kids, then you know it when you see it—the kid who has a gift but no or very little drive to do anything with it.

Eventually, we all hopefully learn to accept our children for who they are and choose to be, but it's not easy when you see natural god-given talent not being used.

Especially if that becomes a habit. And yes, I think this has a lot to do with personality, which can be visible in the very young. The kid who is a runner and pushes the limits as a toddler, as opposed to the one who sticks by their mom's side without much need to tell him to do so, is probably going to be the kid who goes on to take risks, both good and bad that may lead him/her to lead a very successful life regardless of how much god-given aptitude they naturally possess. Being a gunner can take you a long way in this life.

Hard work and drive can take you a long way in this life, but hard work, drive, and natural, God-given talent can take you much farther, and make for a beautiful life.  
[/quote]

Motivation, grit, a willingness to work hard, etc. are different, though, from aggressiveness.  The latter is about having the natural desire to get in the middle of a scrum and be the one who comes out with the ball, for example.  A child can be very motivated, gritty, and hard working without being aggressive.  My DD is a figure skater who would be at the rink every single afternoon practicing until every move was perfect if I let her, but she is not aggressive at all.  She hated soccer.

Grit and a good work ethic are somewhat innate, but less so than aggressiveness.  At age 7 I do think it starts to become clear if your kid is aggressive, and if they're not, I don't think they will be at age 12.  And -- good news -- if they're not, there are still so many sports they can excel at.  But, they will need a strong work ethic to do well in any sport.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics