Art Of Picking ADHD Friendly Sports that will match your child's personality

If you have been trying to figure out unsuccessfully ADHD Friendly Sports that would keep your child focused and happy, you are not alone! I found myself in this situation many times – enroll a kid into an activity, see him laying on the floor during a karate class or spending most of the class on the sidelines for misbehaving, get frustrated, pretend that you meant to leave the class early, and look for another activity.

Maybe not all ADHDers have this problem, but since the cause of the problem is attention deficit, both my inattentive kid and impulsive kid have a hard time being productive in their activities.

Are there ADHD Friendly Sports?

How about swimming? I bet you are well aware that Michael Phelps, an Olympic swimmer, has ADHD. At some point in his childhood, neither his mom or his teacher knew if he is capable of remaining focused or keeping still. Sounds familiar?

In fact, while some of the ADHD kids who can’t find real love in studying, they can see the great motivation in sports. As I recently found out – impulsive kids are excellent at individual sports. While the group sports require children to focus not only on their role in the game but also the positions and actions of the other players, individual sports like swimming and running are much better for the children with the symptoms that are not well controlled and tend to be great choices as ADHD Friendly Sports.

With the ability of ADHDer to macro focus on certain things, this just might be what a child needs once he finds the sport he likes. The key, of course, is to discover THAT sport.

According to the ADDitude Magazine swimming if a fun activity that simultaneously teaches children focus and discipline. While my son still often gets in trouble in a class for misbehaving, it is never for completing the tasks.

“Dysregulated” children with the symptoms of disruptive behavior and inattentiveness have a considerable amount of unused energy that is just waiting to come out. I also found that during the school year my ADHDer has problems sleeping and ends up tossing and turning for hours unless I have him participating in some extracurricular activities.

Swimming also has a relaxing, meditative quality. Many people experience a mildly reflective, relaxed feeling when they’re in or under water. I always considered swimming to be a great stress-reliever – this kind of activity stimulates the brain to release neurochemicals that make the body feel good. Both children and adults with ADHD can benefit from swimming as a way to release excess energy and improve concentration abilities.

All my kids look forward to their swimming classes: rain or shine! Besides that, while my kids master their backstrokes and butterflies, I have some time to kick back and observe. My daughter recently made the swim team and now puts in a whole hour of non-stop swimming. My older son’s impulsivity still gets him in trouble, but his progress in swimming is indisputable. The toddler, on the other hand, is rocking his independent classes – he can now swim a few feet on his own!