Kids vs. Adults: The Biggest Difference I've Noticed as a Teacher

As a former teacher who has worked with everyone from preschoolers to middle-aged adults, I've noticed one major difference between teaching kids and teaching adults.

Kids typically aren't afraid to fail, while adults take it personally.

Now, of course, that's a blanket statement and it doesn't apply to everyone. But in my experience teaching physical activity, kids often treat failure like a challenge. They try over and over again, fully confident they'll get it on the next attempt. And they typically do, because they just won't give up.

Adults, on the other hand, beat themselves up. I hear things like "I'm too fat, too uncoordinated, too weak, too inflexible" when the reality is, the movements you're learning just take practice.

I'm not going to pretend those things don't affect your training. This is a bodyweight sport, so yes, carrying more weight makes some things harder and possibly take longer to achieve. But I've seen larger bodies do plenty of things I can't do. And coordination matters when learning a sequence, but coordination is just muscle memory, and muscle memory is built through repetition. Inflexible? Weak? Those things can be trained too and they will improve as you take classes.

If you've never trained before, you're a blank canvas. Some students discover abilities they didn't even know they had. Sometimes they will have natural flexibility in their legs or back that they never had a reason to notice before. But maybe you don't have any innate talents and you feel discouraged. That's valid. I'm very tight in my upper body and that is discouraging sometimes. But it really does make achieving things even more satisfying when you get there.

And just remember, we are always our own worst critics. You are not terrible, you're not hopeless, you're just NEW. And that's fine. Enjoy that process, as cliche as it sounds. Looking back on all you've achieved will be so fun even a year from now.