How to Get Your Child Into Sports

In recent years, doctors have noted an alarming trend: modern children are becoming less trained and inactive. They do not favor physical education, preferring sedentary entertainment - watching TV programs, playing computer games. And, as a result, by the age of 14-15 they often acquire a whole bunch of diseases: myopia, scoliosis, heart failure, etc. According to experts, there is only one way out - the habit of doing physical education should be instilled in children from the first years of life. And this should be done first and foremost by the family.

Of course, all parents would like to see their children harmoniously developed, strong and agile, and most importantly, healthy. But how to achieve this? The main question that worries many: at what age should you start playing sports? Some coaches assure: in order to achieve high results, children should be sent to sections as early as possible, from the age of three or four. But this thesis is true only if we are talking about raising a professional athlete. However, the vast majority of children do not dream of champion laurels, but engage in physical education simply for the sake of health and their own pleasure. In this case, it is not at all necessary to take the baby to a professional trainer. According to experts, up to 6-7 years of age, it is enough for a healthy and active child to simply play in the yard with peers and engage in physical education under the guidance of their parents.

The example of adults at this age is very important. If they spend all their free time on the sofa watching TV, then children usually learn exactly this model of behavior and do not show interest in sports in the future. Therefore, get your whole family out to the stadium, pool or tennis courts more often. It is not at all necessary to stop at just one sport; change them depending on the season: swim in the summer, do athletics in indoor gyms in the fall, skiing and skating in the winter. It is important that the baby feels the joy of movement, gets used to moderate exercise, and physical education becomes natural, and most importantly, a pleasant part of his life.

Trying to introduce children to sports, adults often go too far and end up achieving the exact opposite result. Today I would like to dwell on the most typical mistakes of parents,” says sports psychologist Irina Nefedova. — Firstly, you should not enroll your child in a section or sports club as soon as he enters first grade. Indeed, in this case he will have to simultaneously adapt to two different teams, and this is a serious psychological burden. Therefore, the child gets tired, is capricious, and does not understand why the coach demands one thing, and the teacher demands another. As a result, a persistent aversion to physical education may appear.

It is much wiser to wait until the middle of the school year or until the end of the third quarter. As practice shows, it is at this time that first-graders fully adapt to new conditions; now they can look for a sports club. But it should be done correctly. When choosing a section, parents are often guided by their own tastes, and often by the degree of prestige of a particular sport. But it is difficult for younger schoolchildren to understand the arguments of adults that playing tennis or, for example, gymnastics is fashionable and promising. The main criterion for a child is: like it or not. And if training does not bring pleasure, then no arguments of reason will force him to go to them.

Therefore, first you should determine what type of physical activity your child is drawn to? Watch what he plays with his peers. Usually preferences are determined already in early childhood: one person likes to jump rope more, another runs the fastest, another likes chess, etc. It is much more difficult if the baby does not have clear preferences. In this case, the initiative should come from you. Visit several sports societies together and sit in on classes. Perhaps, seeing the east