Are some people just rubbish at sports, no matter how hard they try?

[OnTheRoll]

I have never been good at team sports, even in school PE like netball. Now an adult, trying to master tennis and it's just not happening. It's been a few years, I am a member of a local tennis club, have group coaching, try to play 1-2 times a week, used to have individual lessons. I am improving but, after all this time, money and sweat, still very much a beginner which is so frustrating.

I just don't seem to make my body play it the right way. The psychological block of remembering that I was never good at sports surely isn't helping either.

Interestingly, at the same time, I am very fit, I run, I do resistance training, I train with weights - so no reason really not to see good results in actual sports.

I am wondering if some people are just not cut for it. I am not giving up but I am really losing hope and just tired of feeling rubbish on the court most of the time.

I'm the same. I'm useless at tennis despite having lots of lessons. I am fit though. I run regularly and have run a marathon in a reasonable time. I do a variety of (online) fitness classes.

Everybody probably has something they are alright at but people without some degree of natural talent will never be amazing at whatever sport regardless of how hard they try.

Your post makes no sense. "Sports" is not one single activity. You say yourself you are fit, run, do resistance training.

You are just bad at tennis. You can improve with a lot of practice, but of course some people are better or worst than other in anything.

Some are better at dancing, others at running, horse riding.

No one is rubbish "at sports" because it covers so many activity, it's impossible to be bad at everything if you haven't got a physical problem

I do think natural coordination does just come to some people more naturally and not others. I'm massively unfit and couldn't run far at all, but have always been good at swimming, tennis, squash etc it just comes naturally. Others are really fit and run miles but can't seem to get the coordination/spacial awareness needed for Racquet/team sports.
I saw it with DS as he grew up through his sports, he was never the fastest or the strongest, but was always one of the best on his teams as he had an amazing ability to read the game, predict where the ball would land and coordinate his movements to receive and pass the ball really accurately. You can learn it to an extent through hard work, but an element of nature will always give an advantage to some.

Yes, I am rubbish at sports. I cannot seem to co-ordinate my body in any sensible way. At school people would say "you're tall, you'd be good at netball" - yep but I can't throw accurately and can't catch. I can't skip with a rope, can't ride a bike - and I did hurdles like a Belgian shotputter until the PE teacher banned me before I broke something. Tennis was hopeless, don't think I ever managed to connect racket with ball. Same with rounders.

I guess by sports I mean something where you don't simply train yourself as a single participant of an activity - but where you play with others. I know I am very good at individual activities.

I am not aiming to be amazing at tennis, I just want to be able to play it without missing silly shots which I have practiced many times over during coaching. But even an intermediate level seems to be escaping me.

Yes. I dreaded sports atcschool.and was always picked last. Turned outvI had hip dysplasia diagnosed in myv30s. It really ruined my confidence as a child. I am rubbish at directions too, not sure if that is related.

I was always picked last for school teams too. I can't connect a bat/racket with a ball either.

However, I can run quite fast, I am not bad for my age and usually finish in the top 10% of ladies at parkrun.

We can all find something we are good or at least better at.

It might be that tennis isn't the right sport for you, have you tried other racket sports like badminton or squash? I love sport, especially team sports but there's a couple that I am absolutely hopeless at, so I think you just haven't found the right one.

I spent my entire school life being told that I was bad at sports, because most of these activities involved throwing, hitting, catching and kicking balls. I was brilliant at running - which I didn't discover until after I left school. Wasted opportunity 😔.

I am very clumsy when it comes to sports, missing coordination somewhere. At school i got bullied a lot because of this. And I started to believe that I couldn’t do any sports.

But 25 years ago I started running and from all the sports i’ve tried, this one suits me best. I won’t win any prizes with it, so I can’t say i am really “good at it” ….but I really enjoy it and i do get better in it every time. And at least it doesn’t look very clumsy, nobody is laughing at me, i’m not doing anything stupid. Just running is doable.

I spent a lot of time in school PE being told I was just not trying hard enough, and if I tried harder I'd be able to do it. I don't think that was the case.

My mum is rubbish at sports, but I am very sporty and good at lots of different activities. Whilst my sister is very academic but cant use a PC. We all have our plus and minuses which makes us unique. If everyone was good at something there would be no need to go watch sports, go to a gallery to see paintings or a concert to see a band.

Why are you defining “sport” as ball sports like netball and tennis?

some people might not have the hand/eye coordination for hitting/throwing/catching a ball, but that doesn’t translate to also being shit at sports like running, swimming, dancing etc.

my ds was failing PE at school- couldn’t catch a rugby ball or kick a football. However he was a junior elite swimmer making some nationally ranked times.

it’s finding what you enjoy. Generally if you enjoy it you’ll practice and get good, or if you’re naturally good at it you’ll enjoy it more.

Im terrible at judging distance, which I think has a big impact on being bad at a lot of ball-based sports!

Maybe so - I just always really wanted to learn to play it. Somehow, of all sports, it was tennis that has drawn me. Hence the continued effort. Plus I live in the area where if it's not tennis, then golf, cycling or horse riding😂So tennis is the most accessible of organised sports - and I would love to have it under my belt as something in which I can participate in a group of friends, colleagues, etc.

Running, swimming, dancing are individual activities. By sport I meant something what you can do with others. I do know that you can run with others but I meant games - with rules, interaction, teams. Not just being fit, strong and fast on my own.

I think that if we accept that some people have a natural aptitude for something - such as Ben Stokes hitting a cricket ball or Micheal Phelps for moving through water - then we should accept the opposite can also be true. That some people have no natural ability to hit a ball or run fast. Practice and training might help but you’ll never get very far without that innate ability in the first place.

I know what ypu mean. I am also really rubbish. I think some people just have better hand/eye coordination and faster reaction times than others which translates into most team or racquet sports.

If you have poor coordination and / or slow reaction times you're going to struggle to do well at those sports no matter how fit you are.

People who have fast reaction times and good coordination don't understand that such things are not universal and assume you're just not trying hard enough.

I have yet to find a sport I'm any good at. I can't run, throw, hit, catch or move rhythmically. My reaction times are also shit. For a few years I did a martial art, which I really enjoyed. But I had to go to four times as many training sessions as my peers just to stay at a compatible but not quite as good level to them.

I've never been diagnosed as dyspraxic, but I wouldn't entirely be surprised as I can get myself in a mess taking off a coat or hanging a bag on my shoulder.

I have always been hopeless at any sport involving a moving ball - netball lacrosse tennis etc.

Sports that have no ball like swimming skiing ice skating are fine. I'm not great but not embarrassingly bad.

Unfortunately most team sports seem to involve a moving ball.

So maybe try the horse riding? Or there are plenty of groups for cycling and running where you can get the social aspect of sports too.

OP, are you’re left-eyed? If so, that could be your difficulty and I don’t think it’s the sort of thing that practice really helps with. You might be fine with football, rugby or other sports that don’t involve racquets.

Yep, a combination of introversion, low confidence and low self esteem meaning I was useless at team sports and dreadful hand to eye coordination meaning I am just as hopeless at individual sports.

I don't know what left-eyed means, but I was going to ask if an eye test is required. I had a 'lazy eye', still do, and I couldn't hit a ball to save may life. I think there is help when 'looking', though.e.g where you look when you are aiming the ball. Is there anything on utube that might help?

Not left-eyed, no.

So many are writing about hand-to-eye coordination and it rings true - but then I was good at clay shooting so assumed mine must be OK.