7 Steps to find a new sport for adults who struggle to get back into the game

Is there a Time Limit on Living ‘The Good Life’ through Sports? 

When you’re young the world is a series of never ending opportunities, especially the vast world of sports.

There are so many sports to try, skills to learn, levels to aspire towards, and dreams of making it big. But as you approach adulthood the opportunities narrow sharply. All of a sudden there aren’t the leagues and teams available to you, unless you keep reaching that elusive ‘next level’ of competition.

Is it inevitable that once you enter adulthood you need to give up on playing sports in the way that made you love them as a kid? 

What Happens when you retire from a sport you loved to play? 

You can keep playing sports but it’s not the same because you don’t have the aspirational element of competition driving you.

It’s the same thing that happens to the professional athletes when they finally hang them up. They know that they can keep playing the sport, but it’s the the daily routines and identities that are wrapped up in playing that need to be discarded. It will NEVER be the same in that sport again. 

The same thing happens to millions of us on a smaller scale when we finally play our last game, we just don’t have the fanfare and profile of the world’s biggest athletes. 

How can you get it back?

There is a way to recover that feeling of love that drove your desire to play sports and it starts with a recognition of the loss that happens when you stop playing the sports you love.

One you recognize the loss you need to identify what you miss about moving your body in that particular sport. Afterall that’s the reason you loved that sport in the first place. There was something deeply important about the movements needed to beat your opponent, the clock, or even yourself.

But that’s not all that’s required.

You also had opportunity. There were competitions to sign up for and levels to reach. That aspirational desire of wanting to improve found a home in an activity that provided you places to aim towards reaching.

You need both love of motion and the opportunity to improve over time. 

Here are 7 steps to get you back into a sport that you will LOVE to do and that provides you the OPPORTUNITY to aspire towards greatness. I’ll use my own experiences to help illustrate how this works.

Step 1: Pick a sport that you love to play

This is the sport you used to play but now can’t to the same degree.

For me that was Ice Hockey. It’s too dangerous to play as an adult at a high competitive level. You can keep playing but not aspirationally.

Step 2: List all the positive virtues you associate with that sport

These are the character traits that someone who excels in the sport needs to possess

The prime virtues of hockey relate to resilience in the face of adversity and a sense of dynamic action through speed: toughness, grit, determination, agility, balance, grace, aggression, power. It’s a sport that blends aggression with beauty. 

Step 3: List all the ways your body feels when you play that sport

These are the physical motions you make to perform well in the sport.

In ice hockey skating is a feeling of freedom and ease. Fluid grace and dynamic balance make you feel alive through speed and the cold air hitting your face. But it’s also physically punishing and demanding; meaning those who play must make peace with pain and push forward.

Step 4: Make a list of other sports that share the same virtues 

These are other sports that allow you to showcase the same virtues through different types of movement patterns

Endurance sports require the resilience related virtues that hockey demands. Instead of contact aimed at our opponent you must overcome a physical and mental beating you put onto yourself. Aggression and power can be found in lifting sports like powerlifting and strongman competitions. 

Step 5: Make a list of other sports that share similar movement patterns 

These are complimentary motions that offer a similar sensation.

Because contact is a main reason I stopped playing hockey other sports that aren’t contact sports are my focus here. In terms of power and resilience endurance sports immediately come to mind. Grace and fluid motion are seen in sports like tennis and gold. 

Step 6: Find the convergences and try each one 

These are the activities that show up in Step 4 and Step 5.

Endurance sports stick out in my list. They offer both the virtue and movement related feelings I want in a sport. Contemplative sports like golf also fit the bill but tilt more towards managing emotions opposed to harnessing physical energy in a dynamic action.  

Step 7: Go and experiment with each sport and find the one that now speaks to you

When it came to endurance the journey started with sports like running, cycling, and swimming but ended when I found trail running! That combines all the elements of motion I crave but also allows me to generate the virtues I wish to embody. Even though I could barely run 2km before needing to stop the first time I went on the trails I knew immediately this was the sport for me.

Trail running has given me the opportunity to challenge myself to run faster, run farther, and sign up for competitions (like running a 50km race) I never dreamed possible.

TAKE AWAY

It may take some time but don’t let a few false stops halt your creativity and willingness to try something new.

Eventually you WILL find something that satisfies your love of motion while developing the virtues you aspire towards. If you’re younger look to sports that push you physically the same way sports did in your youth. If you’re older look to sports that allow you to compete in an aspiring way while maintaining good health.

The important thing is that you don’t GIVE UP on having athletic dreams that matter deeply to your life’s meaning and purpose.

Getting back into a proper relationship with competition and sports is a powerful way to unlock the consistency that’s been so elusive to find with physical health. I work through activities like this with my coaching clients to help them connect the deep elements inside themselves to new adventures and ways of moving their bodies. If you’d like some additional help working through these 7 steps, book a free call with me to explore finding a new sport together