What kind of sportsman are you?

[HowlingGale]

When I take up a new sport I seem to take to it really quickly. I show a lot of early promise them plateau for ages (sometimes months, sometimes years).

Then from nowhere there's a burst for a period of time where I get much better, then another plateau for ages. The cycle then continues.

In my case it's never a gradual improvement. I studied sports science with some psychology a number of years ago but I've no idea if there's a term for what goes on in my noggin. At least I'm not a diddy when I start something I suppose.

What's your usual route to sporting magnificence?

 

[Tashyboy]

Luck, I am a bit passionate about the game though and tend to show my emotions, especially when playing well 😁👍

 

[Spear-Chucker]

Not a classic sportsman at all. Never been remotely any good at anything apart from golf (and that's an ever developing process - I was certainly no childhood prodigy) so this is a good but difficult question to answer. Tried many sports and will continue to enjoy all sorts of stuff as long as my health and time allows but I've no expectations of grandeur. My golf game has developed consistently and has been a gradual improvement since I was a kid.

Took me a long, long time to learn how to learn, if that makes sense and I needed these skills to get significantly better. Possibly easier or just plain natural for others, I'm genuinely interested to know.

 

[Snelly]

Pretty good all-rounder. Decent at golf, football, squash and a fair shot. And I tend to pick things up quickly, getting to a reasonable standard quite fast - Padel Tennis being a recent example. A mate and I have played less than a year and won a minor tournament together before Christmas.

I learn quickly, mostly by trying to mimic what excellent players of a given sport do. I am also quite obsessive and when I get into a sport, I work really hard to become good in a relatively short space of time.

My son is the same at 12 years old. Excellent rugby player, footballer and cricketer. He also has trials for Yorkshire Squash coming up in June and I think he will beat me at squash in the next two years. He learns in a similar way, copying the best people around him, and is similarly focused on being good as fast as possible.

 

[louise_a]

Enthusiastic probably describes me the best, I used to have a go at everything but only played for the school at badminton and table tennis. Could have been reasonable at cricket if I had had any encouragement/coaching.
Golf is really the only sport that I consider myself to be decent at.

 

[GreiginFife]

Football the only sport I invested any time in other than golf and played to a reasonable level (Junior) but like many things, life and work got in the way so I played less competitive and more just games of 5s and 7s with mates but still one of the better players in the group.
Knee injuries put paid so went to just golf and not great at it but good enough to keep me coming back.

The ability to get better when you plateau only comes from keeping practicing what you are trying yo achieve IMO, there is no magic formula once you hit that level.

 

[GreiginFife]

Duplicate

 

[Tarkus1212]

More enthusiastic than anything else. I always loved playing sport and was pretty good at cricket as a schoolboy, if I'd gone to the right school I think I'd have reached a reasonable standard. I was rubbish at football but I loved playing it and I was good at rugby due to my size. Without lessons I'd never have made single figures at golf.

 

[Hobbit]

For me its what sort of sportsman was I. I think lazy is pretty accurate, unless I become really passionate about it. Most sports were to county level, inc setting some records in 200m and 400m in athletics. Strangely enough, they typify my commitment. I trained very hard at the 200 and 400.

Golf; during one club championship one of my friends asked my wife how I was doing. His usual lazy self was the reply. He roasted me, and I went on to birdie 6 of the last 10 holes.

I take life at a stroll, and enjoy the flowers along the way. If its about putting food on the table, I'll take it seriously.

 

[GB72]

I tend to pick a sport up fairly quickly but I am not one for practising or training and so never really get much further. Rugby was my sport for most of my life, was a pretty decent prop, loved playing matches, hated training. Same with golf, learned to hit a ball to an OK standard but hate practicing so will never get much better.

My little nephew is the real sportsman in the family. He is good at rugby, football and golf and plays county level cricket and local level under 14 cricket despite only being 11. He has never watched kids TV or played with toys, always has the sport on the telly and plays or trains in one sport or another pretty much 7 days a week.

 

[Piece]

Ball sports i picked up very well. Wasn't bad at football in my youth, but not being coached properly i wish i had known then what i know now. Probably thought i was better than I actually was! Similar with golf...i took up in late mid 20s, after flurting with it when i was 16. Again i wish i had learnt the proper basics when younger. The one sport i could have done very well was cricket, but i thought i was worse than i actually was. The other main ballsports such as tennis, squash i was ok at at best. I did fancy i would be a very good baseball player...great arm, long throw, good catcher, able to hit a long ball....guess i will never know having never played a proper game!!

Good thing is that my boys will be coached the right way and let them decide what they want to do.

 

[Rooter]

Loved rugby and tried my hardest to be the best i could, played southern county league level so not bad. Was naturally much better at cricket but i just didn't enjoy it! Played southern county level again, best score of 153NO, kept wicket, couldn't bowl for toffee due to a weird shoulder from rugby. If i love a sport, i will try my best to be the best. But i think these days, with no time at all, anything is a hobby at best. I dont take much seriously these days!

 

[stokie_93]

As a young teen I balanced football, rugby, cricket and then later golf.

By far my best talent was cricket - I was a great all rounder and player in u'16/17 matches when I was 14.
I had to make a choice out of that or football and stupidly I chose football because of the amount I enjoyed it. I'm a decent footballer but haven't got half the talent for it as I did for cricket.

Golf I was put in to with a bunch of close friends, our local club was a five minute walk and my summer holidays were spent there.
I got good by the sheer amount I played rather than hard work, if you do something enough then you normally become good at it.
Got down to 8 without any lessons and then again stupidly dropped my level of commitment to it.

Slowly getting back in to it and onwards and upwards from here!!!

 

[Deleted member 18645]

Analytical. Moneyball was made for me! Used the same approach when I played baseball as I do now for golf. Use natural skills, take lessons from experts, analyse and improve from there and use whatever statistical information possible to give myself the best possible chance to score well. Boring yes, successful, fairly!

 

[Imurg]

Although I played both for school, I never had the required fitness for football and rugby.
Cricket was my sport and I got quite good quite quickly, bearing in mind I didn't really start playing seriously until I was 14.
By 16 I was playing in the village 2nd team and came in with bowling figures of 7-31 in my first game..
88 or 83 no were my best batting scores, 10-23 my best bowling.
A bit of an all-rounder....
Knees went so a more sedate game was required, hence golf.
Spent a winter on the range, got first handicap of 15 and was down to 8 within a couple of years(1995) and I've been in single figures ever since.
I always picked up sports pretty quickly - but only up to a Club/Village level.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Have done well at most sports I have taken up and seem to pick them up quickly

Always play it to enjoy myself

Don't ever care about stats - just play it for the sport

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Played a few sports, and got to an OK standard at a couple. However I'm not naturally gifted and so every success I had was as a result of having to work hard and practice a lot. Always admired (through gritted teeth) those that simply decide to try something new and have a natural aptitude to it