need to feel better about my unathleticism/absent mindedness

Post Reply New Topic

im 17 and im a guy who can hardley throw a ball right. every time every year in gym class im placed in the opposite part of the gym to work on my throwing/coordination skills so i look and feel retarded. ive never been on a sports team in my life. i dont understand the rules of most sports cause i dont watch them. ive been thinking more and more about this lately. i feel lower than low. how cant i understand or plat this stuff that every other guy in the country understands. to be a true guy you gotta play and follow sports. im really skinny & i feel i dont deserve to be a man. im also joinin the army in a few months and im worried i wont get through basic, cause i get nervous and cant focus. not to mention everyone in army is a jock, which really sucks.im supposed to be a soldier but yet im unathletic. all this crap is killin my self esteem, i wish i would have played when i was younger. help me feel better

if you're too uncoordinated to throw a ball, try something else. do you have a bike? start biking, get good, start racing. find something you enjoy and try to get good at it. you obviously aren't enjoying ball sports. i'm mediocre at best when it comes to ball sports. i did ok at soccer but that's because i was very aggressive and could take out much bigger people, my ball handling sucked. i was good at dodgeball but that's about the only one i was good at.

how tall are you and how much do you weigh?

as for the army, trust me, not everyone in there is a jock. you have to do lots of physical exercise so eventually you get thin, bulk up, whatever, but a lot of people going in are fat, skinny, normal but unathletic. they need soldiers right now so they aren't quite as strict on the physical requirements for entry, they'll take you in and make you get into shape during basic.

so my advice would be to forget about the ball sports. you didn't play them young so you'll never be as good as those who started young, and you're having lots of difficulty with them. find something in track and field, some kind of water or winter sport, whatever, just find some sport you think is interesting and get into it. maybe start lifting weights if you think you're too skinny, just do it right and don't hurt yourself. bottom line is that you're not hopeless, i've seen some people make amazing changes... hell I'VE made amazing changes over the last few years. in grade 12 i was fat, then i started rowing. i bulked up a bit, lost some weight, lost more weight, i've lost 40lbs since then and now i'm very fit and in great shape. just keep at it and you'll do fine.

thanks for posting the comment. i ride my bike 7 miles everyday no joke, and i like to swim laps at the high school pool. i also used to ski. i want to do cross country this year or wrestling, but i cant because all the sports at my school are pay-to-play.

that's too bad. are there any clubs around your city? here we've got rowing clubs, canoe clubs (but don't go to those... damn paddlers ), bike clubs, etc. they'll cost money too but they're something you should look into.

7 miles on a bike isn't bad but if you want to do competitive sports you'll have to devote time to training, and that'll require more than 7 miles. for example, i do at least 10 miles of rowing every day, which is a lot slower than biking so it takes longer. when i'm training on my bike during the off season i do anywhere from 18-50+ miles. during the summer i spend 2-4hrs a day training, 1.5-3 in the fall, and about the same in the off season, although it's weights and cardio machines rather than rowing on the water.

you don't have to do this, i didn't start at that, but if you want to improve your athletic ability you're going to have to devote time to training. if you know what sport you'd like to get into i can help suggest some training methods. i'm no expert but i know enough to give you a good enough starting plan.

If you are already biking and swimming, you could add in some running and start training for triathlons on your own.
This won't cost you much at the beginning. But, if you get better at it and you start competing, you'll need to invest in quality gear and may want to join a club at one point. Triathlons could keep you busy for a while (years) as you can start with short speed TRIs and move on all the way to the iron man, which could be a long time goal...

Whatever you decide to do to stay in shape, choose something you enjoy. I suck at ball games and everything that requires such coordination, but I am not bad at endurance sports. So I chose to forget about soccer and softball, to concentrate on things like martial arts, TRIs and yoga.

You have to know your limits and what you like. Don't force yourself to practice sports you don't like or you'll quit and end up sitting on a couch watching TV instead of having fun exercising.

I've ever been able to throw a ball or play any team sports worth a damn. Give me a bow and arrow or firearm and there won't be many who can come close to what I can do. I can easily do 50 miles on a bike if I have the time. Add some weight training to your routine. That will really make a big difference.

I was never good at school sports, but I was a strong swimmer, could ride a bike and liked to walk. I was never a fast runner, but I have a lot of endurance when it comes to walking.