Question
I was wondering if you could suggest a sport/activity for my 10 year old son who is not athletic at all. He has been in karate for 5 years now and cannot progress in it any further. (He's reached his capability limit). He was premature and has extremely tight hamstrings. He's terrible at stretching them out because it's painful to him. P.T has not helped in years. I am taking him out of karate because he is so far behind his peers and simply hates it now. I want to continue to keep him active but there doesn't seem to be any sport out there that he can do well and feel good about himself doing it. Is there anything you can think of that will keep his little body in motion/shape and be fun and good for him without deflating his very vulnerable ego? Thanks for your help. You are inspirational in what you have overcome and I appreciate your input. Take care.

Answer
Almost every sport requires some use of his legs. However, depending on what he can tolerate I will give you a few suggestions. I think an individual sport where he can first compete against himself then others would be the way I'd go. All of these provide instruction for his age: golf, bowling, and swimming. If his hamstrings could tolerate it I would throw in skating and skiing. If he likes team sports and is able to run  even a little I would suggest lacrosse. If he has decent eye hand coordination he could play goalie. At his age it is about stopping the ball. I officiated a high school game some years ago wear the goalie had ADHD and CP, but wow could he play!!

I would hope you are talking to doctors about the hamstring problem. There may be something they could do. Please let me know what you come up with. Best of luck.