I played a lot of sports growing up and through life.
Some favorites I would want my kids to train:
- Tennis
- Football
- Baseball
- Soccer
- Cross Country
- Triathlon
- Muay Thai
- BJJ
- Snowboarding
First one I'd cross off this list is baseball. All the others are legit.
Golf, Baseball, Basketball, Football, Wrestling, Boxing
Golf, tennis and one of baseball/basketball/football/soccer is crucial.
Country Club "sports": Golf, squash, tennis, rowing / sailing
Athletic sports: lacrosse, soccer
Discipline sports: jiu jitsu, wrestling
Somethings to keep them well rounded and active, without the CTE that I expect to have from college football. Also somethings they can do into old age.
Agree with this, and would add in swimming also if schedule allows. I used to hate it as a kid and I still suck at it, but a great workout that I want to get back into.
My father had me playing tennis 3x a week starting at age 3, and 6x a week at age 5.
It is a good sport and I would like my children to play it as well, but it certainly shouldn't be the only one. I did not dabble in team sports until I was 14ish and by then I had developed a "lone wolf" mentality having always been on a team of one.
Ideally I'd like to see my future kids play tennis and row, but I'd be alright as long as they do a team sport as well as a "one-on-one" sport.
Don't have kids yet either but agree on that balance, 1x individual sport and 1x team sport
I'd probably look to get my kid involved in ~2-3 tops of different types:
One Martial Art (Tae Kwon Do, Boxing, Karate)
One Racket Sport (Tennis, Badminton, Squash)
One Ball Sport (Soccer, Basketball)
and One Instrument (probably Piano, maybe guitar)
I think really, starting them out in these and seeing what they gravitate to or enjoy over the longer run (for 5+ years) is the ideal. Rather they do 5 yeras in Martial arts and than 1 year in 3 things and have them fizzle out.
Soccer and Football or rugby and football. Get them kicking. Man become great at it. Become a personality get a scholarship and get into the NFL as a kicker. Make a couple mil but you can last 20years with way less wear and tear
Adding in Swimming...because you don't want them to drown.
I would say baseball for the hand eye coordination. Tennis for the cardio, and its easy to play
Soccer/rugby because it provides a good cardio base
BJJ or Wrestling
Pretty much all sports are good.
swimming is underrated. Amazing workout. Forces you to wake up early to make it to practice. Creates discipline.
What you said is what i hated the most about the sport, lol. But made it to scholarship D1 athlete
Baseball because it is fun, team oriented and there is a low probability of a serious injury.
Just whatever they’re into. The sport isn’t important. Learning how to operate in a team environment, work hard for long term success, and having fun are the objective.
always breaking balls this one
Hockey. Others if they want, but hockey without question.
My nephew plays pro hockey in Europe.
Golf, Tennis, Skiing
All good lists. I would add fencing as I have not seen it mentioned yet and it’s great fun. Kids love playing with swords.
Didn’t personally gravitate to golf as a kid but would definitely give my kid the option.
Lacrosse & squash.... this is the way.
Patrick played 4 years of college squash iirc - my brother played squash also for Annapolis.
Golf, Basketball, Soccer, and Swimming. Also possibly Bobsleighing, but that’s mainly in Europe I think as a competitive sport.
I never got into swimming until I went through spec ops training and somehow was a natural. I had one 30min lesson at the YMCA before the military and he taught me everything. Got into triathlon races later in life and swimming was on point.
Haha... Its like that for some when trying new things
From the perspective of athletic development:
Gymnastics - Start as early as possible and have them go for as long as they enjoy it. Ideally until at least 10-12. Gymnastics develops their understanding of how their body moves better than anything else and results in a more fluid athleticism. Will also develop other foundational skills (power, rate of force development, core strength, etc.)
Soccer - Cardiovascular base, long speed, short area quickness and foot coordination.
Ages 10ish - 15ish should be used for them to try a bunch of different sports. Whatever they gravitate towards and maybe a parental suggestion or two. If they have natural ability in a given sport, it should be apparent pretty quickly (within the first month or two). Especially since they'll have a great athletic foundation from the gymnastics and soccer.
I love this reasoning and I’ve enrolled my son in gymnastics camp when he was 6 years old because he’s pretty strong/muscular and always trying to do handstands. I’m a bit afraid of the “gymnastics stunts your growth” fear (most of the good ones are shorter so I wonder if that’s selection bias or there’s some science to it). There’s is nothing like being strong like a gymnast.
He’s also playing soccer.
I asked an ex collegiate judo guy what is a good body type for judo and he said compact. I think that fits my son’s frame. I’m worried but I’m not worried about CTE from being slammed. Not as concerned because I played football from Pop Warner through high school, and the trade off in character building and social status was beneficial. Back when I was playing, hitting people with your helmet was pretty much the way to be physical. Now I think it’s gotten better.
I’ve never seen a basketball player and wrestler combination who was good at both.
The vast majority of elite gymnastics being smaller framed is selection bias, as you mention. A taller person requires more airtime to complete a flip or twist than a shorter person and most (if not all) increase in power from being larger and having more muscle, is offset by the heavier bodyweight.
However, there might be some small concern for growth stunting at the margin, specifically for super elite female gymnasts. No idea why this is the case but it seems like there is some connection between being an elite female gymnast and starting your period later than normal. The prevailing thought is that the extreme training and low body fat causes this. No idea if any of this is real or not but anything that messes with normal hormonal function in teens is something worth looking out for. In any case, this is well outside the scope of this thread and if it happens, you're likely dealing with at least a collegiate level athlete who will have the resources to help.
Obviously Baseball.
Big salaries, minimal injury risk, long career lengths.
Next.
Extremely unlikely to ever get into the MLB. Next.
Any practical martial art like boxing, MMA, Sanda, or Muay Tai is a must. I don't even care if they hate it; they're still doing it, and they'll thank me when they're adults. This world is far too dangerous to walk around, not knowing how to throw a punch or take a punch. You don't want your kids to be scared of confrontation. It can be too late by the time the cops get there. It's pretty easy to tell when someone has never been punched in the face.
Also, the body language and confidence you develop when you know how to fight can prevent most potential confrontations. Most predators want easy targets, and they can tell who is going to be more of a problem than they're worth. It's an essential skill.
I sometimes see people walking around who are so fragile and unaware of their environment that you know they would just crumble in fear if someone got aggressive with them in the street. It's only by the grace of God that they've gotten this far in life walking around NYC or wherever, and they haven't bumped into the wrong person at the wrong time, some people aren't so lucky every day. I wouldn't want my kids to feel helpless when they leave my house or start a family of their own who look to them for protection.
That confidence also translates into every aspect of life, like getting girls, getting respect from other males or people in the office, having the confidence to handle tough situations, and also the discipline you gain from learning martial arts.
Edit: All this goes for my daughters as well. However, they need to know that all the training in the world isn't going to change the fact that the average man, or even boy, will always be physically stronger than them, and their best defense is being smart enough to avoid situations they shouldn't be in, getting space, running, and screaming. That goes for boys, too. Having common sense and avoiding dangerous situations and environments can go a long way. Running and drawing attention by yelling or screaming for help always beats a fight for your life if you can do it. You learn to respect the dangers of violence more when you've been exposed to it.
Yeah pretty much agree to all of this.
A lot of this is just genetics. No amount of MMA training is going to help your 5'9 Indian son with a small ribcage/clavicles and average wingspan look "intimidating". On the other hand, a 6'6 280lb WASP guy with a developed browridge and jaw with 24" bidelt, 9" wrists, 78" wingspan who has never stepped foot in a MMA gym will deter 99.99% of violent criminals, except for maybe the occasional drunk "tough guy" who has something to prove
There are weight classes for a reason, but his chances would be good considering that less than 1% of the population is 6'6", and even less than that are out here hunting for 5'9" men to prey on. Add the fact that the average American man is 5'9", and the average height of the WASP American man is also around 5'9"; his chances are even better.
I'm not sure why you had to throw race in there, and I'm not Indian, but arguing such extremes and rare occurrences isn't saying much; people get struck by lightning, too, so why bother walking out of the house, right?
Yeah, Steven Adams (look him up on the Houston Rockets roster) doesn't need to learn how to fight to have the body language that says, "I'm not the one to fuck with," but for the average 5'9" man in a world with other average 5'9" men then yeah, learning how to fight would help them project an aura that says, "I'm not the one to fuck with, try again." And even men who can easily fuck someone up will respect a man if they can and will defend themselves before they respect someone who can't and won't.
Being the strongest in a room isn't necessary; just don't be the weakest. Khabib "5'10", Conor "5'7", Mayweather 5'8", and Adin Ross 5'7" are in a room, who is getting fucked with first? And if you're ever in a situation where Goliath wants to fuck you up, then, like I said, run, yell, and decrease the chances that you're ever in a situation where that can happen.
Those situations are even rarer than you think. Those big bullies don't even run the compound or cellblock they're locked up in when they get locked up, and there aren't any guns. They're usually the first to get taken out when they try to be Billy badass. It's usually the 5'9" guy you wouldn't expect. Killers come in all shapes and sizes, and victims come in all shapes and sizes as well.
Yeah, is the combination. Smart to identify dangerous situations, quickly decide to de escalate, avoid, run/hide/get others involved or ultimately fight. And when confronted to the last, that at the very least the can do something. Also to understand that, as soon as a weapon is present, the odds at a fight gets materially skewed.
Agree with your point on the girls and average man, but would like to think that BJJ and Judo may help to diminish that advantage by bringing the fight to the floor.
But yeah, in general, being well trained, fit, fast and strong gives an edge above average. Body language and confidence adds up. Smarts reigns.
I didn't mention Judo, Wrestling, or BJJ as practical because you don't really want to be rolling around the floor in a real-world scenario. It works great in a controlled environment like an octagon with a ref and rules or even a schoolyard fight where teachers will break it up fast, but you don't really want to be tied up with someone on the street, rolling around on concrete where their friends can kick you in the head from behind, pull you off of someone, or even bite you so you loosen your grip. It's better than nothing, though. They're also great martial arts for smaller and weaker people to even the odds against bigger and stronger opponents. Unfortunately, the real world isn't fair, and there aren't any rules in a street fight where you're fighting for your life. It's better to stay on your feet if you can.
In many cases, a woman is better off walking around with a man who looks like he can handle himself than trying Judo or BJJ. It is better than nothing, though. It will save her life in the right situations.
A few years of wrestling, boxing, BJJ, Muay Thai and other striking/grappling, then off to Dagestan as soon as I legally can send him
Dude have you seen Tubi TV has a 24/7 UFC channel it’s MMA all day crazy and free.
Thanks, I didn't know Tubi had stuff like this. I thought it was just old movies and shows and Tubi originals.
Alpine Ski Racing - fun, way to get outside in cold months, awesome to be good at later in life, world full of high rollers at least as much and potentially more than golf.
I used to do snowboard boardercross racing at the regional and national levels.
Rowed in college so I’d go with rowing. Learned infinitely more on the water than I did in the classroom. Loved my experience and think it teaches you to work hard, work with others, and succeed.
Found the Harvard grad.
University of Rhode Island lmao
Same with me, I think its a great balance of personal motivation and teamwork for kids to learn
Tennis, boxing, soccer
Send 2-3 years Dagestan and forget bratha
Golf, Tennis, Soccer, Baseball, Lacrosse. Good mixture of team sports for childhood and individual sports that you can grow with - it’s a sad feeling when you aren’t going to the sporting goods store anymore to buy new cleats.
Bro I used to love walking into sporting goods stores as a kid.
Best feeling of all time. Especially just when team sports started in middle school and then into high school. Also to buy jerseys for my favorite teams. You can’t replicate that as you get older.
Probably something team oriented and can play socially like basketball or lax. I’m fine if they get rough ibut not cause brain damage like football.
Winter sports
Just some advice for anyone who did not do martial arts but wants their kids to get in, very important to find the right gym / coach. Need a gym that actually pushes hard - cardio boxing is not powerful, BJJ with no hard rolling is not going to teach toughness and ability to think fast, muay thai with no clinch and no fight team is not developing the full skillset. The goal of martial arts is to teach power, agression, and control.
Gyms with competitive teams and coaches experienced in developing winners are much more likely to make you / your kids into winners. It's a more obscure / specialized industry than your typical school sports.
Completely agree. Training to compete and competing is forging through fire. Also, good BJJ and Muay Thai gyms are sometimes expensive, but you’re receiving instructions from UFC fighters - experts in the field.
My contrarian investor mind says, college male cheerleaders are quietly “getting all the good stuff.” Despite pop culture making fun of the male cheerleaders in movies and comedy skits, they are around some of the hottest girls on campus and get to be on the field/court of some of the coolest venues in all of sports. Not to mention scholarships and elevated social standing.
Male gymnastics is probably a good preparation.
My boys play tennis because it is both a team sport and a very individual sport that many people are able to play throughout their lives, on any continent, in all kinds of places. It's year round, indoors as necessary, great outdoors, and found seemingly everywhere. Skiing also - very social, but also really relaxing and fun as an individual, and can do this for decades. You can travel to so many beautiful places to ski, too. All the team sports are awesome, sure, I do have friends who are well into their 50s and still play on soccer leagues and ice hockey. But definitely not as realistic to keep up with once you're out of school. Much easier to have a pickup tennis game with a friend than find a whole team to play soccer with. Every kid must learn to swim. Well. Not optional. I've come to see that you have to make sure they can ski at least a blue trail on your watch. Golf is a great idea, too - my sons have zero interest.
Swimming, golf, and lacrosse
Sport: Rowing (Crew), Golf, Polo, Sailing, Skiing, Tennis
Cultural: Cricket, Fencing, Competitive Aviation
College Admission/Varsity: Rowing
Fighting/Discipline: (One of Maui Thai, Arnis (Philippines), Budo (Japan), Kung Fu (in China))
They don't have to play them all, but be good at them, builds character, intellectual ability, and aura.
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