I am going to offer a different perspective on this. I am a 35 year old father of two (7 and 5 year old girls -- almost, they age up in June) and husband. I grew up in a family of 4 kids. My dad ran track and cross-country in high school and my mom was never into physical activity. My dad also worked crazy hours to put food on the table and never encouraged any of us to do sports. We all played baseball as kids and all 4 of us went on to play hockey. The three boys all played ice hockey and our sister played field hockey. We were all just "Okay" at the sport. Better than 95% of humans but never able to get to the pointy end of things. But why?
I honestly think it was due to a lack of direction and a lack of a push from our parents to really be great at something. We all learned how to "work hard" from mom and dad, but never how to achieve at a seriously top-notch athletic level. I look at a lot of the friends we grew up with whos parents pushed them in sports and the results that came from it. We lived in a nice area around Pittsburgh where a lot of ex-pro NHLers, NFLers, MLBers would raise their families. The absolute level of outside coach, training, and push from their those kids parents (and subsequently everyone else around them to keep up) was impressive. I also want to point out that not everyone had the genetic gifts to be good at sports. I truly saw how much consistency and hard work matter when it comes to athletic performance. I have been able to use those two things to become a "pretty okay" triathlete as an adult.
My kids are also pretty good at "going hard" when I ask them to. Its mostly on the bike or running that they really push when asked. My oldest loves to race other kids but does tend to quit when she gets behind, my younger one really just likes to participate and sometimes cheats to try and "win". My oldest is still afraid of swimming and the water, my younger one is happy to loaf around the swimming pool for hours with floaties on. I will certainly be pushing them in health and athletics.
Here's my point:
Ironman Lake Placid 2021| 70.3 Worlds St. George 2021
I honestly think it was due to a lack of direction and a lack of a push from our parents to really be great at something. We all learned how to "work hard" from mom and dad, but never how to achieve at a seriously top-notch athletic level. I look at a lot of the friends we grew up with whos parents pushed them in sports and the results that came from it. We lived in a nice area around Pittsburgh where a lot of ex-pro NHLers, NFLers, MLBers would raise their families. The absolute level of outside coach, training, and push from their those kids parents (and subsequently everyone else around them to keep up) was impressive. I also want to point out that not everyone had the genetic gifts to be good at sports. I truly saw how much consistency and hard work matter when it comes to athletic performance. I have been able to use those two things to become a "pretty okay" triathlete as an adult.
My kids are also pretty good at "going hard" when I ask them to. Its mostly on the bike or running that they really push when asked. My oldest loves to race other kids but does tend to quit when she gets behind, my younger one really just likes to participate and sometimes cheats to try and "win". My oldest is still afraid of swimming and the water, my younger one is happy to loaf around the swimming pool for hours with floaties on. I will certainly be pushing them in health and athletics.
Here's my point:
- I wish my mom and dad had pushed me harder in sports (all they ever did was drop us off and leave it to the coaches)
- I wish my mom and dad provided some sort of guidance in sports (again, all left to the coaches)
- I wish my mom and dad had instilled healthier lifestyle habits when I was a child (we now drive these healthier changes in our parents)
- DO NOT BE AFRAID YOU ARE PUSHING YOUR KID TOO HARD
Ironman Lake Placid 2021| 70.3 Worlds St. George 2021
Last edited by:
MatthewLigman: May 28, 20 9:33