[Other Sport] Returning to a sport or hobby after a long break

[jakarta]

I got back in to motorcycling after a 20 year lay off due to having and brining up my daughter. I was super rusty so I bought a 125 to start off with. Once I gained a bit of confidence I replaced it with a Kawasaki z400.

It may sound a bit dramatic but going back to riding a motorbike, taking me out of my comfort zone, has saved my life.

As a women who turns 50 this year the past few years have been soul destroying, the pre-menapause feels like a death-eater sucking out every part of you that made you happy and confident and that feeling every thing that was good and exciting was in the past made me not want to wake up in the morning.

Riding a motorbike makes me feel alive again, even after a 30 minuite ride, I am buzzing the whole day. Now I am looking forward to the spring and summer so I can get out on my bike.

Sorry for mentioning girlie issues on a football forum

Lovely post, my racing was on 4 wheels, never had the balls to do it on 2 although had road bikes for over 40 years.

Went to the TT which confirmed my decision was correct!

Still nowt like a good ride out on a decent road (A272 is good but the Cat & Fiddle is supreme).

 

[Berty23]

I've been swimming long distances on and off for 20 years (I'm late 40s) but wanted to do other sports as I was getting bored with the same thing.

I've been helping the 5th Team out in the cricket from time to time (i've posted before I'm just up the road from you at the Wardens). I was keeper for one game and couldn't get down the stairs for about a week and despite going to the nets once a week this is to help teach the kids so getting decent runs off half decent bowling has proved impossible even in Cotswold Hills Div 7. I simply haven't the time to re-invest in technique. I was also constently picking up niggles, the last one being pulling up on a run to the boundary as something in my arse went.

I've also started Racket ball and am currently injured. My left knee has just popped and I can barely put pressure on it. That one is my good one.

I'm almost resigned that its swimming and golf and that's it. Anything outside of those 2 and i'm injured straight away. My mind might be 21 but my knees are in their 60's.

I am a member at kenilworth. Let me know if you fancy a knock!

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Hi Jurgen!

 

[GM98]

Hockey

This weekend I played my first hockey match outfield for 19 years and I am only 42 years old. Two days later I can hardly move, it is actually agony. When I was younger I was pretty good at hockey and cricket playing at a very decent level in both but then a back injury when I was in my early 20s led to me being told I would not run again let alone play those two sports. Overtime I have worked on core strength etc and managed to run a bit and do some other exercise. I have also coached kids in both sports since I had kids and promised I would come out of retirement in both to play with them if the chance arose.

My lad is 13 and good at both sports and this weekend he made his debut for our men’s fifths so I bought some shin pads, dug out my gum shield and got to it. In the second minute I took a short corner to my gut and have a fine bruise and collapsed with cramp at the end. Today it is agony. But I loved every minute. I have to take it relatively easy to protect my body but that is hard when you are really competitive. As soon as he progresses up through the teams I will quit again because it bugs me I will never be as good as I was.

Has anyone else given up a sport or hobby for a significant amount of time and then taken it up again and why? Are you going to stick at it? Or did you try it and then realise why you quit? If a sport, how much worse were you than before? I still had my limited skills and good passing but my fitness and speed is a complete shambles.

This sounds like Danny and Josh, if it is you played really well

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I am a member at kenilworth. Let me know if you fancy a knock!

I'll take you up on that. When I can walk properly again that is.

 

[Berty23]

This sounds like Danny and Josh, if it is you played really well

It isn’t. I am midlands based. I like the review though so will pretend in my mind.

The chap who runs the over 40s asked me if I would play for them next season but they are seriously good so I don’t think I will even consider that. Risky getting too competitive as an injury now could damage golf.

 

[ozzygull]

Lovely post, my racing was on 4 wheels, never had the balls to do it on 2 although had road bikes for over 40 years.

Went to the TT which confirmed my decision was correct!

Still nowt like a good ride out on a decent road (A272 is good but the Cat & Fiddle is supreme).

The people who ride the TT must have part of their brain connections missing, it is insane

I have a Airbb booked for June in Llwyngwril Wales. Me and my husband are taking our bikes there for a weeks riding. I can't wait.

I have asked my husband for some decent wet weather riding gear for my birthday. Even though it is booked in June I think I may need them

 

[mikeyjh]

I've been swimming long distances on and off for 20 years

You should have mentioned it

 

[Berty23]

I got back in to motorcycling after a 20 year lay off due to having and brining up my daughter. I was super rusty so I bought a 125 to start off with. Once I gained a bit of confidence I replaced it with a Kawasaki z400.

It may sound a bit dramatic but going back to riding a motorbike, taking me out of my comfort zone, has saved my life.

As a women who turns 50 this year the past few years have been soul destroying, the pre-menapause feels like a death-eater sucking out every part of you that made you happy and confident and that feeling every thing that was good and exciting was in the past made me not want to wake up in the morning.

Riding a motorbike makes me feel alive again, even after a 30 minuite ride, I am buzzing the whole day. Now I am looking forward to the spring and summer so I can get out on my bike.

Sorry for mentioning girlie issues on a football forum

I love this. I took it quite hard when I quit with the injury and immediately tried coaching but it was not the same. The feeling of being part of a team, getting mocked at the end for mistakes or praise for good. Beer in the clubhouse afterwards etc. it is what makes sport great. Now my lad is playing in the same team with his mates. They have a soft drink and play darts in the club house. He has played mixed in what is called badgers until now which is under 16s to prepare them for adult hockey. But he is ready for men’s so moves up. I only mention this because he is great friends with loads of girls through hockey and has been a proper team mate with them too. It helps his confidence and social skills.

I simply can’t imagine life without sport and doing what we love.

Well done for getting back on the bike. Sounds amazing.

 

[Codner pharmaceuticals]

This weekend I played my first hockey match outfield for 19 years and I am only 42 years old.

Good work - I had to hang up my stick when we moved to the US. However, some yrs later and having got into watching ice hockey to fill the void of regular Amex trips, my daughter and I have decided that we want to play.

So I'm currently learning how to ice skate and have had multiple fractured dignity when falling over.

 

[Happy Exile]

Stopped playing football at 18, then answered a poster in a pub looking for people to make up the numbers for a team in a charity tournament when I was nearly 40, thinking that a lot of cycling and running would have kept me fit enough and...well...charity tournament should be light-hearted fun. Realised during the warm up (in my cheap football boots 2nd hand off ebay) that I'd forgotten how to kick a ball with any power or accuracy and was brutally unfit for running around on a full size grass pitch and was the oldest in the team by a good 15 years, with most of the others currently playing for their various universities or playing regularly with their mates. I was always the oldest on the pitch at any point and other teams included a bloke who'd been on Arsenal's books just a couple of years before, people who had played non-league to a decent standard etc.

I think each match was 2 halves of 15 minutes, with a 5 minute half time. By the end of the 2nd match I was broken but one match had been won, one drawn and I think I'd touched the ball twice in total, both headers defending corners. I begged to be allowed to rest the 3rd match, and was allowed a break while a guy heavily strapped up took my place, and somehow we got through to the semis. Came on as a sub in the semi, gave away a foul throw, got booked for a late tackle (I wasn't as fast as I remembered being, slid in, but he'd already gone 2 steps beyond where I thought he'd be so took him out instead of the ball) and was responsible for an absolute worldie by one of the opposition, who'd seen our goalkeeper off his line and breezed past me to do a Beckham-esque lob from half-way - the goalkeeper had clearly somehow thought I might put up some resistance and had been totally unprepared for the shot. That game went to penalties. As each penalty was scored down to 7th, 8th, it dawned on my I'd have to take one soon and I could see my team mates nervously realising the same. I scored (outside of the boot slice that went straight down the middle - I'd been aiming for the right of the goal, just inside the post), they scored, we scored again, they missed, and we were in the final. I came on as a sub in the 2nd half of the final too, when our side was already 4-0 down...I didn't touch the ball and we ended up losing 6-0.

Couldn't walk for about a week after.

Haven't played in the roughly 10 years since.

 

[dazzer6666]

Played tons of cricket (opening bowler, middle order bat) to a reasonable standard in my teens and 20s, like many drifted away from it when the kids were young and then somehow got roped into a work game after I hadn’t played for 25 years. Predictably, absolutely wrecked my shoulder (torn rotator cuff) and it’s never been right since. Played a handful of games every season for the last few years after a 25 year gap or so having got roped in at Junior’s club when the shite Saturday league teams were short (and had the occasional Sunday turn out for @HKFC’s crew which is a lot more fun). Can barely turn my arm over due to the shoulder, and the hand/eye coordination I had in my 20s (was never a technically good batsman - all the decent older guys that play tend to have been ‘correct’) has long gone, meaning I’m shite at both. I’m just about ok in the field for the standard I play at because I can still run a bit, but it’s very frustrating to be useless to the point I’m quite happy not bothering. Looking into umpiring courses now as it’s something I like doing.