DofE Bronze Physical Element if not sporty

[WhenDoISleep]

DS1 is doing his Bronze DofE. He has the volunteer/skill/expedition elements sorted, but is struggling with the physical. Most of the other boys in his school are using weekend sports clubs (football, rugby) for the physical element, but he is not at all sporty and has never done weekend clubs, etc. He has swimming lessons once a week, but is the level below pre-club so only does 0.5 hour rather than the 1 hour per week needed.

He intended to do walking, but when I spoke to him, he admitted he doesn’t think he is going to be motivated enough to do that consistently each week for the 3 months required. I was concerned about the physical element when he signed up as he is struggling with his weight and motivation to be more active. I would much prefer he did something structured, a class or course, but neither of us knows what the best option is.

Does/did anyone have an unsporty DC in a similar position and what did they do for the physical element?

This isn't for you to sort out! Why can he not commit to walking or swimming or 0-5k or anything at all for one hour a week? If he doesn't want to do it, then he won't pass obviously, but is it really that onerous?

What about a martial art of some kind? Am not sure whether it would count as a skill or sport, but might be worth checking.

My son wasn't especially sporty as such (as in not keen on football eg) but he likes fitness so we got him membership at the local gym and signed him up to a couple of PT sessions so that he could have his progress monitored and he loves it now and goes most days. He also now goes running a lot. A Fitbit helps a lot as they can track their progress.

This isn't for you to sort out
I don't think this is a helpful comment. Obviously he'll be doing all the work but clearly he just needs a little bit of advice.

Why not look for a recreational club doing an individual sport such as climbing or archery. Climbing walls quite often run a recreational teenagers club and it is common to use it for D of E. Less archery clubs around but if you have a local one I bet they’d love to host him.

Do you have space and funds for equipment he could use at home? I’m not sporty but loved using a rowing machine pre health issues, as could listen to music, watch TV, and not be around scary gym people. Can monitor workout duration if evidence is needed, too.

My daughter did archery. After the first course though we had to buy her kit which was just under £400. Then covid hit and the centre shut down! But it requires limited physical activity and is on the list.

It doesn't have to be traditional sport. What about trampolining (my very unsporty boy enjoys bouncing around with zero style or skill)? Or something like dance, yoga etc. Cycling? Or just add an extra half an hour free swimming to his swimming lesson. My 14 year old is doing street dance for her D of E physical.

running? park run?

something completely new?

Judo? Karate?

table tennis?

lifesaving skills at the swimming pool? does that count?

My daughter did table tennis, she quite enjoyed it and she is not sporty at all.

This isn’t very helpful really. He is just 14 and has asked for help so I thought I would ask MN for ideas, as the hive mind is great at throwing out unusual options that we might not have thought of. He is of course thinking about what he could do himself as well.

My DD is about to do this and she’ll be doing climbing at an indoor climbing centre. They log the hours in a book thingy (can’t recall the name). Very reasonably priced and actually very good for you!

My son had quite a long walk to school and used a tracking app to prove how far he had walked over a 3 month period- he isn't sporty either.

Is it worth remembering it doesn't have to be 1 hour a week either, it has to average 1 hour a week - so if there's something he wants to do in smaller chunks (2 x 30 minute swims a week) or that requires more organising (2 x 2hr hikes per month) they should be acceptable alternatives.

Thanks for all the suggestions, there are some options we hadn’t thought of. Physical activity and his weight are big issues currently, so I don’t want to see him fail because of this element.

Climbing would have been ideal (he actually passed his NICAS Level 2 pre-Covid) and I’d love for him to get back into it, but the next set of lessons at our local centre doesn’t start until after Easter and he is coming off a broken arm so might not be able to take the strain of climbing to add to the issues he has as well.

I was going to suggest climbing. If he like walking and d of e it's a good choice and most climbing walls have some kind of structured class.

I didn’t realise this, I will take a closer look at the requirements. I have been very hands off until this point, other than reminding him to sign up in the first place and paying the fee.

If he wants to do walking but is concerned about motivation, could you sign him up for one of those virtual walking challenges (where you track your mileage and get a certificate / medal saying you've walked the length of the great wall of China or whatever) ? They send reminders and encouragement to motivate you to continue and complete, and aren't terribly expensive.

Or if he wants a purpose rather than just walking for the sake of it, he could look at Geocaching - if there are a decent number in your area he could plan out a load of hour-ish long routes with a few caches to find on each. www.geocaching.com/play/search

This is how I found yoga. I was never sporty at school and hated team games.

A teacher suggested yoga and I thought why not.

I've been practicing now on and off for 20+ years.

It's also worth remembering that any fitness gained now will help with the expedition section.

Martial arts? Yoga/pilates? Couch 2 5K???

There are also loads of suggestions on the DoE
Website, if you haven't already had a browse round that.

Climbing wall is going to be tough if he's big (you said struggling with weight, apols if I misunderstood that). Play to the big person's strengths: shotput, javelin, discus?

One of mine took up horse riding. The other did judo.

I was very unsporty and did croquet for my bronze D of E. Played for a few years at the club but dropped it when I went to university.

Now in my 40s I went to the local croquet club's open day last year, remembered how much I enjoyed it and have taken it up again!

Croquet has an uncalled-for image problem but is actually intellectually interesting while needing to develop the physical skills to make the balls go where you actually intend. The clubs were very friendly and welcoming.

Mines doing shooting and loves it. Turns out he is quite good at it too 😉

My non-sporty daughter did body pump. You can do from age 14. She did it at our private gym but there are classes at local leisure centres. She enjoyed it.