Was there ever a sport you tried you weren’t good at?

[Another Fan]

I did wrestling camp one week at college when I was in middle school.  I thought being a husky kid I would have an advantage.  But the kids then in that weight class all were older than me and pretty fit.  My weight put me in a class of kids older than me at the time.  

 

It did not go well.  

[Simon]

I've been pretty solid at every sport I've ever tried, even wrestling guys with 50 lbs on me.

But for some reason, I cannot hit a baseball worth a damn. Opposite field singles followed by stolen bases was pretty much the best I could do. 🤷‍♂️

[US Egg]

All of them. I have high standards.

[BillsPride12]

Would have to be basketball for me.  Growing up in the Jordan Bulls heyday I was really into basketball as a kid.  When my Dad put up a hoop in our driveway used to love spending time shooting around outside and playing with my friends. Even played in an after school basketball intramural league in 5th grade.  Now up until that point nothing really stood out, I feel like I was on par with everybody else but I can remember when high school came around and people started developing some skills I was severely behind.  But after playing around as a kid it was something I stopped playing anyways so maybe I just didn't develop any true basketball skills but I can remember being embarrassed playing pick up games during gym class in high school lol.

[Royale with Cheese]

2 hours ago, Another Fan said:

I did wrestling camp one week at college when I was in middle school.  I thought being a husky kid I would have an advantage.  But the kids then in that weight class all were older than me and pretty fit.  My weight put me in a class of kids older than me at the time.  

 

It did not go well.  

 

It doesn't sound like you weren't good at wrestling, it just seems your were out of shape.  

 

I've seen a lot of people not good at wrestling and it was more than just being out of shape.

 

To answer the question, I'm not good at golf.  I was a baseball guy for most of my life and my swing is for that.  I slice everything off of the tee because I open my hips up like a baseball player.

[Another Fan]

48 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

Would have to be basketball for me.  Growing up in the Jordan Bulls heyday I was really into basketball as a kid.  When my Dad put up a hoop in our driveway used to love spending time shooting around outside and playing with my friends. Even played in an after school basketball intramural league in 5th grade.  Now up until that point nothing really stood out, I feel like I was on par with everybody else but I can remember when high school came around and people started developing some skills I was severely behind.  But after playing around as a kid it was something I stopped playing anyways so maybe I just didn't develop any true basketball skills but I can remember being embarrassed playing pick up games during gym class in high school lol.

Similar story.  I was always very good at shooting (especially foul shots) but kinda awkward everywhere else playing.  By the time I hit high school it wasn’t happening.

 

But anyway an 8th grade graduation party I went too was really one of the last times playing pick up ball.  By high school no one I knew was interested that didn’t play it competitively 

[Logic]

I used to live on the island of St John in the US Virgin Islands.

They have a flag football league there, but it might as well be a pro league for them. It's super competitive, filled with some of the biggest and fastest dudes I've ever seen. Tons of fans show up to watch the games on the field in the middle of town. Players regularly get injured because of how rough and competitive it is, even though it's FLAG football. 

I've always loved playing backyard football with my friends. I'll play any time, anywhere, for any length of time. So...somehow I got talked in to trying out for a team.

I showed up, along with a bunch of other tryouts, and they put everyone through basic workouts. The VERY FIRST DRILL was just trying to run a routes against a defender, get open, and catch the ball. I could hardly even get off the press the first couple of times, and if I did, there was zero separation gained from the people covering me. I felt like Keon Coleman on quaaludes. The massive gulf between my level of athleticism and theirs was a shock to the system.

It was such a startling, ego-shattering clash of what one's vision of himself athletically is, vs what it REALLY is when placed side-by-side with actual athletes. It was awful. I could see the writing on the wall pretty quickly. In between drills, I grabbed my gear and quietly left the field and went to a bar and got drunk.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

21 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

It doesn't sound like you weren't good at wrestling, it just seems your were out of shape.  

 

I've seen a lot of people not good at wrestling and it was more than just being out of shape.

 

To answer the question, I'm not good at golf.  I was a baseball guy for most of my life and my swing is for that.  I slice everything off of the tee because I open my hips up like a baseball player.

Here’s some free golf advice. i have noticed the main problem former baseball players have with playing golf is they grip the golf club too tightly, and they swing with too much tension in their forearms arms. Relax those arms and your grip, and I bet you the slicing works its way out.

[f0neguy]

I was pretty good at most sports but couldn’t skate worth a 💩.  Now I’m just old and I play for fun.

[Simon]

27 minutes ago, Logic said:

I used to live on the island of St John in the US Virgin Islands.

They have a flag football league there, but it might as well be a pro league for them. It's super competitive, filled with some of the biggest and fastest dudes I've ever seen. Tons of fans show up to watch the games on the field in the middle of town. Players regularly get injured because of how rough and competitive it is, even though it's FLAG football. 

I've always loved playing backyard football with my friends. I'll play any time, anywhere, for any length of time. So...somehow I got talked in to trying out for a team.

I showed up, along with a bunch of other tryouts, and they put everyone through basic workouts. The VERY FIRST DRILL was just trying to run a routes against a defender, get open, and catch the ball. I could hardly even get off the press the first couple of times, and if I did, there was zero separation gained from the people covering me. I felt like Keon Coleman on quaaludes. The massive gulf between my level of athleticism and theirs was a shock to the system.

It was such a startling, ego-shattering clash of what one's vision of himself athletically is, vs what it REALLY is when placed side-by-side with actual athletes. It was awful. I could see the writing on the wall pretty quickly. In between drills, I grabbed my gear and quietly left the field and went to a bar and got drunk.

 

I've had the (mis?)fortune of starting in a competitive league both with and against several former NFL players.

I am 100% convinced that the vast majority of folks have no idea whatsoever of the true size of that gulf in athleticism between them and us.

The first time I realized that there were guys that weighed 100+ lbs more than me that I could not run down on my best day was unbelievably humbling. 

 

[Logic]

2 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

I've had the (mis?)fortune of starting in a competitive league both with and against several former NFL players.

I am 100% convinced that the vast majority of folks have no idea whatsoever of the true size of that gulf in athleticism between them and us.

The first time I realized that there were guys that weighed 100+ lbs more than me that I could not run down on my best day was unbelievably humbling. 

 

It always cracks me up when the topic of "how many passes do you think you could complete in an NFL game?" or something similar comes up. The level of delusion of most people who respond kills me.

We saw an actual non-QB NFL athlete, Kendall Hinton, have to fill in at QB during the COVID season. And how did he do? 1/9 for 13 yards, with 2 interceptions. And that's an NFL athlete! So when Antony D'Ambrosio from the Northtowns swears he could complete three passes in an NFL game, all I can do is laugh. We've seen things like the replacement players games from the 80s strike years, or even all-Spring League players get their shot in the NFL and get absolutely smoked.

I used to love the show "Pros Vs Joes" when it briefly aired, because it showed just how massive this gulf between average people and athletes really is. Most people have no idea.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

I was pretty good at most sports growing up.  Ended up focusing on lacrosse in 9th grade and playing in college, but I played football, baseball, some soccer when I was really young, and CYO basketball.  I was never very good at basketball.  I don’t know what it is, but I just couldn’t get the hang of it.  I stopped playing in like 7th or 8th grade bc it was just embarrassing.  😂 

[Steve O]

Was good at everything from baseball to soccer. But could never get the hang of swimming. Never passed intermediate swim in spite of growing up with a pool in my back yard. Spent a lot of time in the shallow end. 

[Simon]

31 minutes ago, Logic said:

It always cracks me up when the topic of "how many passes do you think you could complete in an NFL game?" or something similar comes up. The level of delusion of most people who respond kills me.

 

I have no doubt I could complete five passes.

Three are going to be jump balls to Calvin Johnson, two are going to be jet screens and I'm ultimately going to be taken off on a cart with a shredded hamstring after trying to run down a LB on my 23rd interception. 

 

21 minutes ago, Steve O said:

Was good at everything from baseball to soccer. But could never get the hang of swimming. Never passed intermediate swim in spite of growing up with a pool in my back yard. Spent a lot of time in the shallow end. 

 

Good call; forgot about swimming.

I'm 100% comfortable in the water; I own multiple kayaks, can ski, snorkel, etc but if I had to swim more than the width of the Allegheny there is a 50/50 chance I'm drowning. 

[Orlando Buffalo]

My sport I suck at is softball. I could hit a baseball fine but in softball I just popped it up almost every time. My mind said to it flat but my reaction was always to swing up through it. On the bright side 20 years ago I was playing in a coed league here in Orlando and while wearing my Bills hat I got to play vs Thurman Thomas, who could still run well then. 

[PastaJoe]

Back in the 60’s my parents made me play little league baseball on Kensington. I didn’t know what I was doing and there really wasn’t much teaching. Back then they just expected kids to know how to play, so we just had games. The only time I got on base was a walk.

[dpberr]

Gymnastics.

 

Reflecting, my parents were:

 

1. Thinking this is really a creative assassination attempt.
2. High.

[Southern McButterpants.]

Darts! (Not sure if it qualifies as a "sport") During the heyday of the 80's - 90's pub darts craze, i got seriously hooked. Bought a few sets of darts, had lots of different flights, my own bristle board, etc.  i spent hours, days, weeks, months (yes - probably invested a good 8 months in this)  in my parent's basement practicing. 

 

I got marginally better, but (like golf) was wildly inconsistent and could never rely on a shot going exactly were i aimed it.  Sigh . . . 

 

There's a nice pub a few towns over called the "British Bulldog." they have TONS of dartboards and even have league. I've stayed away....

[bills_fan]

I have always been an excellent athlete and could play just about anything at least competently.  But I could never get the hang of skating backwards in ice hockey.  I was just OK going forwards, but backwards...no chance.  Like...fall on my ass epic blooper.

[Toomstone.Part.Duex]

My buds and me played mainly basketball in summer and played in winter leagues at the Boys Club.  Our High School at the time was very good and we'd never make the team. So we'd always play in other leagues in the city.   My high school was always good at basketball.  Gerry McNamara went there years after I graduated.   We'd play football, racquetball, and some baseball.  But the one sport I could NOT get good at was Golf.  There was a summer I couldn't play basketball. (long story) so I tried golf.  I sucked and could not get better no matter how hard I tried.