Gymnastics and ADHD

We thought long and hard about putting DD into sports.  I had never really been into sports as a kid, but DD had (and still has) so much energy, that it really seemed like a better outlet than say, jumping on the couch all day.  DH (who also has ADHD) played several sports badly as a kid, then graduated to recreational cycling and softball as an adult.

DH  made the comment that he spent a lot of time in the baseball outfield getting yelled at for things he had no idea about, but that he does much better as a pitcher in softball, because its harder not to pay attention.  At any rate, I thought it probably would be the same for DD.  She loves to pick flowers and she'd probably do more of that than catching fly balls.  So, softball was out.

Then, we thought about martial arts, but we don't have a YMCA around here, so you have to go to a private dojo.   I know a lot of people with ADHD love Tae Kwon Do.   More expensive than our wallet could afford.

So, we settled on gymnastics.  DD has the build of Mary Lou Retton, so we thought, maybe it would work out for her.  Well, after two seasons of gymnastics, we can definitely say a few things:

•  If you pick a sport for your ADHD child, pick something that you're pretty sure they'll love.  Because if they're motivated, they'll try hard to pay attention.
• Individual sports are nice because they let you progress at your own rate, and they give you baby steps to making progress, which is just what works for kids with ADHD.  However, especially in the pre-competition stages, you have to be consistently involved if you want to make friends.  
• Reminding your child of a few points of etiquette before each lesson helps.  Ok, maybe just one at a time.  We are working on things like:  stay with your class, listen to the teacher, and watch the other students when it isn't your turn.
• Group lessons are difficult, but they can be done if the groups are small and the atmosphere is quiet.  We noticed that DD absolutely could not cope at swim lessons (all the splashing was just too much distraction), but gymnastics worked out ok on most days for her because the number of the students in the gym was fairly small (maybe 12 at the most).

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