|
What is the best sport for my child?
|
Sports for children aged 5 to 11 may be divided into four categories according to the physical effort the sport requires and into another four categories based on different psychological aspects.
The individual characteristics of your child and what he or she likes should quite naturally also be taken into account.
As far as physical effort is concerned, sports are subdivided into the following categories:
- Resistance sports such as swimming, cycling, running etc., characterised by repetitive movements where frequent breaks are recommended;
- Alternating sports, like football, basket ball, volley ball and tennis where phases of play and rest are alternated; these sport are characterised by many different movements;
- Sports requiring specific skills like Artistic Gymnastics, Martial Arts etc. that require great motor coordination;
- Power sports requiring muscular power and strength, which considering the reduced development of muscles at this age, are not really recommended above all at a competitive level.
|
In terms of the psychological aspects, the different sports may be categorised as follows:
- Individual contact-free sports like swimming, gymnastics, where the ability to perform technically difficult activities is very gratifying for children;
- Individual contact-sports like martial arts, that require a great concentration and play a fundamental role in the psychological growth of the child who develops self-control, security and self-confidence;
- Team contact-sports requiring technical or tactical skills where the scope of attaining a common goal helps to accept the different skills of others, the help they can provide and offer the experience of sharing success and failure;
- Team contact-free sports that teach children to play by collaborating and is ideal for non aggressive children to improve their skills in decisive situations.
Taking all this into account it is a good idea children to play more than one sport so as to better stimulate their physical and psychological potential. |
|
