My Boy is Slow

8 years old and he he is getting beat by just about everyone. What can he do at that age? He loves sports but this will limit him for sure.

Let him grow up. When he gets beat by almost everyone at age 18, then worry.

TNT

^^What he said. Let your kid grow up.

dont be that A Hole dad who pushes sports on his kid… Hes 8 years old for crying out loud. Be a supportive dad

At 8 years old it shouldnt matter if he is slower than other kids. Maybe speed isnt his thing… thats why there are different sports and different positions. Everyone is different.

some people arent just cut out to be track stars

Is he the fat kid? If so start feeding him better.
Is he weak? Get him stronger.
Just make sure things stay fun.

[quote]MattyG35 wrote:
Is he the fat kid? If so start feeding him better.
Is he weak? Get him stronger.
Just make sure things stay fun.[/quote]

Not fat at all, weak though.

NJ, don’t ignore the advice that was previously given by above posters…

Why not use game like activities to help train his running? There’s no reason your play with him can’t be a little directed.
Jumping games, short maximal effort sprinting and agility activities won’t hurt him, and can only make him stronger and faster.
Keep it fun and don’t clue him into the fact you’re training him for sprinting. At 8 i’m sure he can be kept happy for half an hour a day.
There’s a fair few articles on EFS about training kids this way.

make another one

Have him start throwing things also. I’m thinking of baseball but you could have a pocket QB too.

Take him to the park and get him to play on the jungle gym. Play with him on the monkey bars and just be supportive. Kids all grow and age differently.

[quote]Navin Johnson wrote:

[quote]MattyG35 wrote:
Is he the fat kid? If so start feeding him better.
Is he weak? Get him stronger.
Just make sure things stay fun.[/quote]

Not fat at all, weak though.[/quote]

HGH…

Just saying

make sure he gets 8-9 hours of sleep…

Squats and Milk…

I used to be the same, when I was 8 I couldn’t out run anyone. But I was kicking ass by 12 and I’m now about to turn 22 in a few months and no one I went to school with can say they have 1/10th of the strength, speed or power I do. You would be better of fining a sport he loves, or better yet a martial art he loves, which will keep him practising for years.

Just so you know the kind of things I did: I started martial arts at 12; I started weight lifting (the dumb kind) when I was 15 to support martial arts and I started proper weights about 2 years ago (when I found T-Nation).

[quote]SkinnyFatWhitey wrote:
Squats and Milk…[/quote]

young + milk + sleep + squat/sprinting = growth cocktail :smiley:

[quote]lickyourelbow wrote:
I used to be the same, when I was 8 I couldn’t out run anyone. But I was kicking ass by 12 and I’m now about to turn 22 in a few months and no one I went to school with can say they have 1/10th of the strength, speed or power I do…[/quote]

^^ that’s a lie and is almost impossible. Unless every single person in your school is paralyzed from the neck down then you can’t possibly be 10 times stronger, faster and more powerful than every one of them… Impossible

Navin Johnson - Some of these people posting obviously dont have kids so ignore them. Their opinions don’t count.

You dont have to be that “AHOLE” dad to make your kid better at anything. You can find creative ways to help improve your kid in any part of life.

I love how the 3 clueless posters above said “let your kid grow up and let him be a kid, no pressure”. Wtf does that mean?

Lets apply that to school and see how great that philosophy turns out. “Well my kid keeps failing his classes and bringing home Fs but he is a kid, i am going to just let him grow up and be a kid”. Yeah that makes no sense what so ever.

Physical wellness/fitness may not be as important as school and learning but it is still an important factor in life. If you are concerned about your kid then do something about it. It is hard to get kids at that age to take interest in physical fitness so you have to think of creative ways to keep them at it.

I would suggest starting a “Family fun, test or day” maybe a few days a week. Where you and your son both do the exact same things. At that age he should idolize you and want to do what you are doing. So lead by example. Run some quick sprints or squats/pushups in the morning. have him compete against times or reps or against you. You will know what his limits are but by keeping it fun you can push him to be better and later he will thank you for it.

You arent going to make him the fastest kid in school overnight but what you can do is instill good physical fitness values in him and with the small changes listed above, he will be light years ahead of other kids when or IF he wants to play sports in school.

I definitely agree that some dad’s overly push their sons into athletics. But, I assure you Archie Manning never treated Eli, Peyton, or (enter third son’s name here) as ‘just kids’ when it came to athletics and homework. I think you should take him and watch you lift weights, do sprints, train, or whatever. You are his hero, he will want to follow your lead. When he starts to run with you, or asks you if he can lift weights too,(or whatever else he might do) sit him down and talk to him about the commitment and rewards of training.

Taking him to the field or gym and standing on the sideline with a whistle while he does endless sprints and squats, isnt going to help him much, IMO. I think he will enjoy it more if you treat him like a training partner.

Just my 2 cents. Im not a dad, just a 17 year old kid.

[quote]mokaloka99 wrote:
Navin Johnson - Some of these people posting obviously dont have kids so ignore them. Their opinions don’t count.

You dont have to be that “AHOLE” dad to make your kid better at anything. You can find creative ways to help improve your kid in any part of life.

I love how the 3 clueless posters above said “let your kid grow up and let him be a kid, no pressure”. Wtf does that mean?

Lets apply that to school and see how great that philosophy turns out. “Well my kid keeps failing his classes and bringing home Fs but he is a kid, i am going to just let him grow up and be a kid”. Yeah that makes no sense what so ever.

Physical wellness/fitness may not be as important as school and learning but it is still an important factor in life. If you are concerned about your kid then do something about it. It is hard to get kids at that age to take interest in physical fitness so you have to think of creative ways to keep them at it.

I would suggest starting a “Family fun, test or day” maybe a few days a week. Where you and your son both do the exact same things. At that age he should idolize you and want to do what you are doing. So lead by example. Run some quick sprints or squats/pushups in the morning. have him compete against times or reps or against you. You will know what his limits are but by keeping it fun you can push him to be better and later he will thank you for it.

You arent going to make him the fastest kid in school overnight but what you can do is instill good physical fitness values in him and with the small changes listed above, he will be light years ahead of other kids when or IF he wants to play sports in school.[/quote]

You obviously don’t have kids or a clue to the post. He is concerned about the speed of his 8 yr. old and how that will limit him in future sports. Family fit test day is stupid. As is this poster.

He’s 8. WTF. Yes, you can increase speed at some level, but you can’t make a turtle a rabbit. The poster above who said speed is not everything hit it on the head. It ain’t! Many sports and many positions do not require speed as a main factor. In fact, in most sports, I’d take quickness and smarts over speed.

How about you let the kid mature while still letting him partake in the sports of his choice.
How about not worrying about what he can’t do and focusing on what he can. How about saying nice job instead of showing your disappointment in him. After all, he can only work with what DNA he was given.