Home » Partners & Parents » Parents of Athletes » Graceful athletes

Graceful athletes

© Sue Poremba

The waiting room smells of sweat. My husband compares it to a wrestling gym, with the close quarters, many bodies, and the stench of hard work. A moment later, the swell of giggles fills the space and the dancers from the studios move from the changing room to the waiting room to greet their parents.

My daughter is a ballerina, a delicate name for the best-conditioned group of athletes I've ever met. I mentioned that to a friend of mine once, someone who was an athlete as a child and now actively involved in his son's teams.

"Get out of here," said my friend. "Dancers aren't athletes."

Why, I had asked.

"Because they don't play a sport."

The great irony here is that many coaches recommend that their athletes take dance lessons to develop grace and agility and balance. My father the football coach told me that dance takes away the awkwardness many athletes have. I saw that immediately with my daughter. Although she is not a ball-playing or competitive athlete, she moves confidently when she plays in a pick-up game in the back yard. Playing basketball in our driveway, I was amazed to see her hit basket after basket with pinpoint ability as she instructed her brother, "Know how mom says it is all in the legs? Watch me," and with her powerful legs she'd build momentum through her body and into the arms that were trained to perform with a fluid motion. Swish.

Dancers are, in fact, closet athletes. Well, maybe they aren't all in the closet, but the majority of dancers I know giggle when I mention their athletic ability. Their bodies, however, are perfectly tuned instruments. Not only do they have powerful legs, but strong backs and neck muscles, sturdy ankles, and fluid arm movement. It probably doesn't hurt that dancers know how to spin their head separately from the rest of their body. Imagine a center fielder chasing down a fly ball and being able to whip his body around like a dancer.

What many dancers know and many purer athletes do not is that performance boils down to how well you can control your body. What made Ozzie Smith a great shortstop was his fluid motion and grace as he fielded a ball. Shaquille O'Neill, however, could be a much better basketball player if he added some grace to his play. When he's on the court, his arms, his legs, his head, and his mind all seem to work disjointedly. He can slam dunk because he's tall. He can't hit free throws because his body doesn't work in concert.

The copyright of the article Graceful athletes in Parents of Athletes is owned by . Permission to republish Graceful athletes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.