[Daveman]

I’m not sure how much of this applies to other people on here. I know part of it has to do with me being a big and tall guy and not fitting the stereotype, but I’m curious to know if any of you have or had problems with coordination.

When I was in the seventh grade, I was the tallest kid in the school (about 6’1” at the time). I hated sports. I hated PE more than any other class. People expected me to be good at basketball and football and all that junk that I hated- and because I wasn’t- that made the teasing (or berating really) all that much worse. I remember my squad leader calling me “sorry” and “retarded” on a regular basis. I remember I snapped on him one day, but it did absolutely no good. I tried to talk to the gym coach about it, but he seemed more or less in agreement with the kids about me.

I joined the band when I was in the eighth grade to get out of gym. I became a percussionist. When I started high school, I became a bass drummer. I was still klutzy a lot. During my first football game of my freshman year of high school, I tripped over a 3-year-old child because I couldn’t see him over my drum. He was all right though. Everybody laughed (with me).

Years later, when I was going to a community college, I saw my former squad leader shooting pool in a game room at the school. It made me nervous. I started catching up with him. I started to play pool with him and some other people, and I was klutzy again. He laughed at me, and he told everybody in the room- “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

I’ve had sort of a sports phobia for years. It has kept me from exercising when I needed to, because I associated that with sports. I’m happy to say that I am exercising now, and I am sticking to a diet. I think I have already lost a significant amount of weight, because I can hardly hold my pants up. I guess that’s a good thing, but I may need to buy some more soon. It’s annoying and a little embarrassing to have to keep doing that.

 

[zwanglos]

I had sleep deficiencies as a child which led to being overweight, and also my right (but otherwise dominant) hand has damaged, short tendons, giving me a sort of 'claw hand' that doesn't extend past a certain point, making it almost impossible to do things like grip a football or basketball.

Talking about sports for more than a few minutes starts to frustrate me. I was of course bullied by everyone about my inabilities regarding sports, so these days I mentally link sports with poor treatment, and my (unfair) stereotype of athletic people is that they're all dumb, uncultured and poorly educated assholes. I've slowly gotten over that stereotype, but it took a very long time and I still sort of feel that way sometimes.

If we're to talk about how the environment molds the man, then my poor experience with sports is easily the prime factor for making me as introverted as I am.

Any exercise I do is solo exercise - running, practicing dance moves by myself, weight lifting, etc. Fuck the rules, fuck the team spirit, fuck the competitive spirit. I'm not out to prove my worth to anyone, just get my body moving.

 

[zwanglos]

It’s annoying and a little embarrassing to have to keep doing that.

I can assure you nobody cares as much as you think they do.

 

[curious0610]

Group sports aren't my thing. But exercise keeps me physically but also emotionally healthy, so I do a lot of solo sports like zwanglos - running, swimming, jump-roping, yoga... and I'm willing to try other solo sports once I got those down.

I don't like watching most sports and I dislike any type of conversations on stats/games. I've been at meetings and forced social gatherings, where people talk about stats for the first 30 minutes. The only part I enjoy about these conversations is that I sort of have an excuse to zone out for a few minutes.

I've always been a "lone ranger" throughout school, until I found some friends towards the later part of my high school years. I moved around a lot, and every place I lived in was a suburb where everyone grew up together, everyone's siblings grew up together, everyone's parents grew up together, etc. And for obvious reasons, I was the new kid that never belonged anywhere. If I sucked at something, I was looked down on. If I excelled at something, I was shunned because people were competitive and didn't like the idea of some stranger having the spotlight. I have "group phobia" haha... if that makes sense. Not just group sports, but any group of people, even the people in band. Everyone had someplace to belong to, some group that claimed them, except for me.

I actually joined a competitive sports team in junior high and high school. My family thought it would help me make some new friends. I hated it and the people in it. Everyone would talk about parties, fashion, MTV, drama, sex. And I never had friends in it. But, I made it through for about 6 years. It toughened me so that it didn't bother me to be in a huge crowd of people, and I could be alone without giving a damn about others. And it also gave me a lot of discipline, since the practices were intense. The races themselves were solo, too, so I didn't have to concern myself too much with mingling/working together.

And... I realize I've sort of gone on a tangent... but I guess the post kind of touches on a sensitive area for me. Growing up, I wasn't bullied... there were vague attempts to pick on me and some even said some pretty bad things to/about me, but since I'm sort of in my own world, it didn't faze me and people stopped before it got worse. In college, though, I was bullied by a sorority girl. Not the type of bullying guys are thinking about, but social bullying. It was a tough time for me.

 

[Resolution]

Sorority girls suck

Like curious said... I didn't get along too well with most sports guys because our minds were just in different places. Most of the things my team-mates talked about... Normally I couldn't relate.

But I did play team sports.

I was a football lineman... and I wouldn't say I got a ton of playing time, but I played an average of a quarter per game.

I used to recommend play modifications to the coach, and I loved the thrill of the physicality of the game. I get a similar thrill from doing Jiujitsu.

 

[raj]

i have been involved with quite a few sports and have excelled greatly at them. however, every sport i've been involved in has been an individual sport (track, swimming, wrestling) ... and none of them involved a "ball." i have absolutely no hand-eye coordination for catching or throwing or kicking. everything i do is learned (movement, motions, muscle memory) or felt (feeling for reactions in wrestling, sensing their next move)...

 

[Resolution]

I think INFjs are well suited for wrestling and other combat sports. Especially when we are in shape.

 

[raj]

I think INFjs are well suited for wrestling and other combat sports. Especially when we are in shape.

it is my LIFE! what makes you think that?

 

[Succeed]

To quote Lenore Thomson on this

Although Extraverted Sensation is the INJ’s inferior function, it should not be supposed that INJ’s are entirely in their heads or never leave their journals and computer terminals. They’re bona fide Perceivers, and their senses may be very keen. INJ’s follow sports, enjoy outdoor activities, take up Tai Chi, drive fast cars, cook gourmet meals, make art – all sorts of things that involve a sensory engagement with life.

That said, I'm still trying to figure out my type but everything is pointing in the direction of INFJ. I had my doubts about ISTP (same functions, different order) but I think my Fe is too strong. If I look at the way an INFJ looks at the world or an ISTP, I'd say I'm an INFJ. I have alot of N and J traits and I know quite alot of ISTP's, none of those guys share those.

I hate group sports.
I hate talking about sports statistics
I love Martial Arts and I've been doing them ever since I was a kid
I love board sports (also doing them since I was a kid)

I've had to switch from kickboxing/thai boxing to karate and I was immediatly above average. But with my years of other martial arts training I think its normal. My surfing has also improved a lot but this was a lengthy process... it took me YEARS to get the basics. After that, my other board sport experience kicked in and I made progress faster.

 

[spook]

Oh yeah, I was totally unco & sports phobic. I enjoy mini golf and going for random walks around my block ahah. I've been tubing, that was mad fun as well as wading in rock pools with infants... but otherwise I would rather do math and that's saying something. Sports is one of my least fave small talk topics, I really don't give a shit. I'd rather listen to trivial classroom gossip. At school it got so embarrassing around the tough guys that I started truenting and was told off when I got caught... they made up some excuse like we're supposed to be responsible for you, but wth am I supposed to do when you say participating was "compulsory"?? Fascists. Glad I'm out of there and can be as sedentary as I want now!! I still dance like a retard in the dark to my ipod when the whole house is asleep and occasionally bump into things + feel like my hip/leg/abs/whatever just got shot, or more precisely got a workout. See I'm not adverse to all Se things, sillies

 

[SarahWilliams]

i played soccer in high school. im not really a klutz either. im fairly short, and have short arms and legs. coordination probably is easier when there is less to coordinate?

i dont have anything else to add at the moment, but i love your avatar of a maltese! malteses are the best!

 

[Queen of Cups]

.

 

[nat2424]

Sorry if I'm answering incorrectly, but its late and I didnt feel like reading the whole thread

I have great eye-hand coordination, but I definitely throw like a girl... I'd say overall I'm pretty coordinated. I love Jiu Jitsu and kickboxing and am pretty good at it, though I definitely have some trouble remembering simple combinations, especially when my trainer puts me on the spot! Which is a lot!

 

[Daveman]

i played soccer in high school. im not really a klutz either. im fairly short, and have short arms and legs. coordination probably is easier when there is less to coordinate?

i dont have anything else to add at the moment, but i love your avatar of a maltese! malteses are the best!

Thanks, that's my dog Abby. She follows me around wherever I go.

She's a bichon frise- although she doesn't seem to be full-blooded.

I used to have a maltese.

 

[soul searcher]

I hated team sports with a passion. I was always picked near last (usually right before the overweight kids and the autistic kid) in gym class. It made me really insecure about my abilities. I married a jock, and sometimes he really gets on my nerves because sports are such a sore spot to me.

I was really good at track and feild though. I'm also a very good hiker, good endurence. I like solitary sports, to watch and to do, like snowboarding, skateboarding, swimming, figure skating, etc. I like doing Pilates, although some of the moves make me cry :blushed:. I really need to excercise more. People think I'm in shape because I'm thin. Not so.

 

[viva]

My best friend, who is an INFJ, is a varsity swimmer in college and has recently taken up running as well.

I feel like he's definitely not the norm in that regard, and that's the only area where we don't mesh-- I can't relate when he talks about athletic stuff, and he can't relate when I talk about art. He's definitely an INFJ, though.

 

[Resolution]

it is my LIFE! what makes you think that?

I don't know... but INFJs have a certain inane emotional undercurrent.

And me... i've always seen wrestling and sparring as almost an artistic thing... I use my creativity and my intensity to fight.

 

[LadyO.W.BernieBro]

I am a woman, about the size of a 7th grader and I could trip over a flat surface. I've fractured a few bones but haven't broken anything yet.

I ABHOR any kind of *sport*, as my coordination is shit and i am generally not a team player. My fine motor skills are pretty hilarious as well.

 

[ObsidianShadow1]

I love your signature, raj. I read it and I almost teared up for no reason.

 

[Linus]

I love sports with rackets. Tennis, badminton, etc. I have been told I have good, quick eye-hand coordination and aim. The only thing is that my arm is not strong, so my spikes are not so severe. But I can get the ball dive low enough that it is tricky for the opponent ^^ I also like to aim at the stomach or face. Also, when I throw a ball as hard as possible, it looks like a pass :crazy:
I hated team sports in grade school but maybe it is not because it is a team sport. I think it was just the way it was done.. Dribbling, moving a ball between my legs, it is so annoying! In comparison to tennis, tennis would require intense concentration.. maybe I prefer that kind of thing.

In my family it is the enfp/esfp siblings which are considered the most clumsy, the latter the most. It has become a thing between my mother and I even, at dinner in particular. We watch them to see when they spill, usually ladling soup out of a the pan, they have so much force and movement in their actions. I am too careful to make messes (I also do things slowly).