How to help your child be better at sports

The best thing to do is to avoid all organized and formal sports until AT LEAST age 10. 12 even. Seriously, let your kid be a kid without competition when they are little. Take them to the park, play with them, play catch, tag, hide and seek, etc. You spending time with them in active play is the best thing for them both physically & emotionally.

Spike Li wrote:

The best thing to do is to avoid all organized and formal sports until AT LEAST age 10. 12 even. Seriously, let your kid be a kid without competition when they are little. Take them to the park, play with them, play catch, tag, hide and seek, etc. You spending time with them in active play is the best thing for them both physically & emotionally.

False, imo.

10 or 12? At LEAST? Get real.

Play tag with mommy or daddy????

I guess you're trolling (and probably the OP too).

Failure to practice a sport until 10 or 12 ensures in most cases you will never play it. Period.

HS sports are very competitive and unless you have a solid youth background in a given sport(s), you ain't playing. Thats a fact. Except no cut sports like XC maybe. Sure, odd kids are gifted but most need to get on-board early.

HS's around here have 1500-2500 kids. Chances of making the basketball team are nil to start with. Now, dont practice until you're 12. Play tag with mommy. LMAO

I am not trolling. It is a serious question. What can you do to help a child develop coordination and physical confidence. Even when she plays with other kids in non-structured activities, she is clearly physically behind the other kids.

Are there any activities that are more effective in increasing those skills? I want to help her not be the kid who is always last to be picked or always physically behind the other kids.

Been coaching youth sports for 20 years. Have your child participate in a variety of sports as soon as she's willing. There's a huge carryover benefit to playing multiple sports. In other words, the time she spends playing soccer will enable her to pick up lacrosse, basketball, field hockey, etc. much faster. I've found generally the best players at any sport in high school tended to be the ones that were multi sport athletes in their elementary and middle school years.

Have your kid run 10-15 miles a week with you. I run with my 7 year old and weve done a few 5ks together. My daughter thinks she's the fastest kid in the world because adults are always telling her how fast she is and it's great for her confidence, but honestly, she seems to be on the slow side amongst her peers. (running wise)

My nephew was premature as well, and while he is still very small for his grade, he is probably the top basketball player in his class. I think that's the case for a few reasons:

1-he loves the sport

2-he is naturally very competitive.

Because of those two things, he practiced a lot and he cared whether he was good or not. Perhaps your child doesn't care that much about sports. Try an art class, or something. Not everyone needs to play sports even if it makes them a major dork (kidding).

Another option is to consider holding her back a grade.

I think the all comers all age track meets or the local 5K s that have a kids fun run are great for someone like her.

There are kids of all abilities and levels that run these things. And some just walk it.

She can blend in and have fun and probably not finish way back.

Running the 100 is good at this age. You can only finish so far back.

No need to practice for these events except for going outside and running while you play.

Sorry, I don't actually think you are trolling...

Maybe some tumbling or gymnastics or trampoline classes or training? It seems to me, engaging in activities that address gross motor skills and strength would be better than, for example, joining a baseball team (or T-ball at that age).

Dont put the cart before the horse I guess is my suggestion. Especially if she is already short on coordination and strength.

Might also consider swimming. Most kids are very weak in their upper body and I have seen swim team participation transform kids, in one summer, from being unable to swim a length to looking like they are cut from granite.

zatopek wrote:

I have a six year old daughter who was born severely premature an is physically developmentally behind other six year olds. She is a smart, personable kid but her lack of coordination is hurting her socially. Is there any way to accelerate or help her with basic abilities like running etc.?

The most important thing to ensure is that she is doing something she enjoys and is having fun doing it.

Organized competitive sports is not the answer in her case. If she is developmentally behind (physically not mentally) she is going to become very frustrated and disenchanted when she is unable to keep up wit the other children.

As a previous post mentioned simple things like playing tag or catching a ball develop coordination, are enjoyable and non competitive.

Dad if you are an athletic type you need to back off now rather than push your child to do something you want her to do. Sports is about having fun and developing friendships if she is not having either then she is not doing it for herself she is doing it for YOU.

Like others have said, keep her active by playing games such as tag. I like the tumbling/gymnastics and swimming suggestion as well as long as its just for fun. Ignore the doofus who suggested team sports at an early age. As she becomes more coordinated you can introduce more formal team sports IF that is something she is interested in doing.

Of course I don't care if she is a competitive athlete. I just want her to be able to keep up when she is playing with her friends, playing tag, jumping rope etc. She has been taking swimming classes for a few years which I am sure has helped but she is always the slowest runner in the group and lacks gross motor skills. Thank you for the advice.

Coordination can be gained from simple activities such as wall ball (by herself or with another).

Hand to eye, feet, movement etc are easily gained from something so simple. All she needs is a rubber ball and a wall.

rffdccwe wrote:

Failure to practice a sport until 10 or 12 ensures in most cases you will never play it. Period.

HS sports are very competitive and unless you have a solid youth background in a given sport(s), you ain't playing. Thats a fact. Except no cut sports like XC maybe. Sure, odd kids are gifted but most need to get on-board early.

HS's around here have 1500-2500 kids. Chances of making the basketball team are nil to start with. Now, dont practice until you're 12. Play tag with mommy. LMAO

I never said don't practice until you're 12, moran. I said don't play ORGANIZED COMPETITIVE sport until 10. You really are a douche.

My 8 year old shoots baskets, he plays ball, he plays football, he plays soccer, he PRACTICES all the time, dick weed. We just don't have him in a $1500 per season traveling circus scam called youth sports.

The OP's kid is 6 Yes, tag is appropriate at that age. And very beneficial to development. Traveling 100 miles for a stupid soccer tournament isn't. Most of the kids I teach who started playing competitive sports at an early age are done with them by 13. They HATE them. However, kids who start later, like AGE 10 or 12, develop a healthy love of sport.

You really should be looking for professional help from a pediatric occupational therapist. Early intervention is a big deal for kids that have physical developmental delays.

There should also be lots of non-sports physical activities that your kid can do that do not risk reinforcing feelings of physical inferiority. Dance, ice skating, rock climbing, parkour, yoga, etc, are all good ways to work on physical developmental delays without worry about being the slowest/weakest player on a team or always losing the match in an individual sport like tennis. In my area they even have capoeira for little kids.

Also be aware that age 5-7 can be a funny age for sports. Some kids take to it like a fish to water and others just are not ready for it. One of my kids is in kindergarten. He has really good eye/hand coordination and can run all day. But he just wants to mess around. Any attempt to get him to learn good technique swinging a bat lasts about three seconds before he says "but I want to do it the way I want to" and shuts down. Any attempt to work on soccer skills end up with me pitching the soccer ball to him so he can hit it with his little league bat. Point is that a lot of little kids just want to play and you need to be sure that sports come second to their desire to just play and have fun. Little kids need to just go out and play much more than they need to learn to keep their elbow up when they hold a baseball bat.

To be fair, you said: "AT LEAST age 10. 12 even."

I wont argue about "travel" leagues, they are a pox on humanity, sports should be played locally as much as possible. But they should be played, by age 10.

Spike Li wrote:

The best thing to do is to avoid all organized and formal sports until AT LEAST age 10. 12 even. Seriously, let your kid be a kid without competition when they are little. Take them to the park, play with them, play catch, tag, hide and seek, etc. You spending time with them in active play is the best thing for them both physically & emotionally.

good advice

Papa Marinovich might have a few tips for you.

rffdccwe wrote:

To be fair, you said: "AT LEAST age 10. 12 even."

I wont argue about "travel" leagues, they are a pox on humanity, sports should be played locally as much as possible. But they should be played, by age 10.

Playing the game doesn't require them to be in a league or on a team. My kids play the sport. They aren't on competitive teams. There is a big difference.

My beef is with competitive, formal teams. Kids should just be kids. They can play ball and develop skill without formal teams.

Precious Roy wrote:

You really should be looking for professional help from a pediatric occupational therapist. Early intervention is a big deal for kids that have physical developmental delays.

This is the only acceptable advice. A professional will be able to accurately assess the extent of the delays, what intervention(s) are appropriate, and what resources to seek out.

I have twins born at 26 weeks and have gone through what you're going through.