CrossFit Athletic Group

"Regularly learn and play new sports" is the grand finale of World Class Fitness in 100 Words. Unfortunately for most kids it turns into "Regularly learn and play one sport." The earlier this begins, the more athletic growth is stunted.

Our 10 am kids did a little softball this morning for the warmup and cool down. The thing is, Rylee was the only one of the five that ever played softball. Madison and Makenna are basketball/soccer kids and Jessica and Dillon are soccer-only. Paris and Tea' came in early for the 11 am session and joined in as well - both are soccer/basketball kids. We warmed up before the workout with some fly ball practice which was... woof. Then Rylee threw some soft toss to the girls for the cool down. You can thank me in the form of Starbursts for getting Tea's sequence on camera.

If Tea' was a left-handed tennis player, this might have passed as a below average backhand. You can be assured I was laughing my butt off. But what is also not shown on film is the soccer cool down for the 11 am session when I tried to mimic Tea's move, tripped over the ball, and fell flat on my knees.

I can't tell you exactly why I think struggling to learn a sport you aren't good at is beneficial for your physical and mental development, but it's just one of those things I feel very strongly about. I believe our bodies are so complex and the movements in sports are so complex that trying to specifically train for something too much leaves major gaps in our fitness and also leads to mental burnout.

Go be incompetently bad at something for a change. It's actually kind of fun, and you will also see a lot of benefits in other areas as you slowly bring that skill up to competent.

Rylee, she's your responsibility now!