Anonymous wrote:I am not athletic. I have a low muscle 10 year old that have been doing soccer and swimming for a few years, and he just starts tennis and basketball these few weeks. He is not good at any sports, so it is solely for recreational and exercise levels. I notice that his tennis skills have improved a lot between first and second session. During that week, he also does indoor soccer, swimming and indoor basketball. Are all these 4 sports have anything in common using certain muscles that enhance his tennis skills? In long term, I want him to only pick 2 sports in the fall because it is painful to manage all these at same time. I will consider his interests as well. Which sports are good for low muscle tone kids? He has never tried gymnastics or martial arts because he is scared that he is not capable to do these.

We will introduce him to skiing/snowboarding next winter the first time with lessons. Will learning ice skating help with that?

Swimmers kick more than soccer players. IMO Basketball is best all around. Swimming gets all the muscle groups, but people are so poorly adapted to water it doesn't develop posture or major muscle groups very well. Also, the motions are in a fairly restricted range (once you start to get into it, you see they really aren't using that many muscle groups in their shoulders.). Still fun though, we do swimming and basketball but not organized swimming. My DD's soccer coach recommended tennis, great for reflexes I gather they go together well, I don't have much experience with tennis. Basketball and tennis go well together, tennis and basketball are great for lateral speed. Lateral speed is what differentiates basketball from soccer or track. Basketball+tennis or Basketball+soccer, but kids won't want to do indoor soccer when they start playing basketball, it's just too dangerous and physical. Hip checking on the boards without hockey pads. It just isn't as much fun as outdoors on soft grass with lots of space. Indoor basketball is much more civilized. Short kids don't care if they will do well at soccer, they aren't going to get clobbered from Monday into Tuesday playing basketball, and tall kids don't have to dive on hard carpet to save balls. Win Win Basketball is physical, just doesn't involve hard cleats and high-speed contact or high-speed balls. IMO the only detractor are those insanely nice spring days where you can be playing outside, instead of inside, but then summer rolls around and no wants to play soccer in July.

Anonymous wrote:All these sports sounds like a lot for any 10 year old let alone one with low muscle tone. Why so many things at the same time? Don’t kids with low muscle tone get tired more quickly? I don’t think doing a bunch of sports is going to fix that.

Does your child work with a pediatric physical therapist? I would think someone like that is going to have better advice than random parents. If core strength is an issue I don’t think doing a bunch of sports is an automatic fix. Core strengthening requires learning how to be aware of which muscles you are using when, and doing specific exercises. You can do all sorts of sports and even be pretty good at them all the while not engaging your core muscles properly. PT is great for teaching awareness and exercises that can be done at home.

As a parent of multiple low tone children, not all low tone kids need to work with a PT. Many can simply get strong enough for daily functioning by doing sports. The ones which work whole body strength (swim, gymnastics, martial arts) are especially good.

All these sports sounds like a lot for any 10 year old let alone one with low muscle tone. Why so many things at the same time? Don’t kids with low muscle tone get tired more quickly? I don’t think doing a bunch of sports is going to fix that.

Does your child work with a pediatric physical therapist? I would think someone like that is going to have better advice than random parents. If core strength is an issue I don’t think doing a bunch of sports is an automatic fix. Core strengthening requires learning how to be aware of which muscles you are using when, and doing specific exercises. You can do all sorts of sports and even be pretty good at them all the while not engaging your core muscles properly. PT is great for teaching awareness and exercises that can be done at home.

If you find the right instructor, martial arts can be great for kids with low tone! Especially martial arts like tae kwon do that don't involve sparring, where kids can focus on improving at their own pace.

Arlington Gymnastics offers adapted classes, but my experience with them many years ago was also one of having instructors who understood what low tone was and were willing to make adjustments within regular classes as well. As long as you talk to the program director and your child's instructor so they're aware, they were generally very happy to work to give kids a positive experience, no matter the skill level or limitations.

I am not athletic. I have a low muscle 10 year old that have been doing soccer and swimming for a few years, and he just starts tennis and basketball these few weeks. He is not good at any sports, so it is solely for recreational and exercise levels. I notice that his tennis skills have improved a lot between first and second session. During that week, he also does indoor soccer, swimming and indoor basketball. Are all these 4 sports have anything in common using certain muscles that enhance his tennis skills? In long term, I want him to only pick 2 sports in the fall because it is painful to manage all these at same time. I will consider his interests as well. Which sports are good for low muscle tone kids? He has never tried gymnastics or martial arts because he is scared that he is not capable to do these.

We will introduce him to skiing/snowboarding next winter the first time with lessons. Will learning ice skating help with that?