I'm Bad at Sports: Please Be Nice About It!

I have never been particularly athletic. To quote every gym teacher I’ve ever had, I’m “gifted in other ways.” This lack of athletic ability causes a lot of frustration and embarrassment. Being the first to bow out of any physical event is awkward and doesn’t do good things for your self-esteem. It’s recently come to my attention that people who are good at sports don’t really know how to talk to those of us who struggle. It’s not that they’re trying to be mean, it’s just that what they say doesn’t always come across well. Thus, I give you a few things to keep in mind when talking to the less athletically-gifted during physical events.

-        Tone of voice: The tone in which you say anything matters, both on and off the field/court/track/etc. You can say the kindest thing, but if your tone isn’t just right, it tends to come across as condescending. Make sure you use the same tone with the less talented as you do with the talented.

-        “Thanks for making me look good!”: Please never say this. Listen, we know we make you look like an Olympian when we play against you. We might even make fun of ourselves while playing. But that doesn’t mean you get to make this kind of joke at our expense! All it does is solidify the idea that we’re doing a terrible job and make us feel bad about ourselves.

-        Giving advice: Here’s the thing, most of us know what we’re doing wrong. So, advice like “keep your eye on the ball” or “hold the racket a little lower” isn’t super helpful. Most of the time, we have a solid intellectual understanding of what’s happening, we just don’t know how to get our bodies to do the right thing. Giving advice is good, but giving the same advice over and over is not helping anybody.

We all have to go through PE just like we all have to survive math. For a lot of us, it’s really hard. Not everything comes naturally. Learning to speak kindly and in a helpful way to those that struggle with things that seem easy to you is important. Please heed my advice, and be as kind as possible.

Lacey Stecker is a sophomore

communication major from

Noblesville, Ind.