If your child would like to play sports, but he or she is not yet sure what kind of sport, it is smart to delve a little further into all the children's sports that are available. Because that's a lot! Some sports suit your child well, other sports may not suit him or her less. Freerunning seems to suit one of our children and I would like to tell you more about the ins and outs of freerunning. Who knows, it might be something for your child?
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Because one of the children is always climbing, clambering and jumping, we decided on freerunning. Originally, this sport comes from France. There, young people thought together how they could go over obstacles instead of around them. The goal of freerunning is that you move as quickly and gracefully as possible over the obstacles you encounter. At first, the setup in the gym may remind you a bit of monkey cages from the past; several cupboards, thick mats and other obstacles have been set up.
A well-known film in which freerunning is performed by Sebastian Foucan is Casino Royal (a James Bond film). Thanks to this film, the freerunning sport quickly gained popularity and it is still growing, also in the Netherlands.
Practicing this sport will give you more confidence. You learn to push your limits both physically and mentally. What is related to this is that you gain more control over your body and build strength. Freerunning also means pushing off with one hand on a cupboard or wall and then jumping over it. That will give you muscles! It is an individual sport so you can train at your own level.
Building up this sport
We hear from the instructor that you will first practice on the trampoline. If a somersault is successful, you can practice in the large gym. A next step can be to freerun on sand, then on grass and finally on the asphalt / stone. Terms such as 'speed vault' and 'monkey' are flying around your ears. A speed vault turns out to be the exercise that you run to a wall and push off with one hand and then swing your legs over the wall. When it comes to a monkey, it means that you push off with both your hands and meanwhile swing your feet between them.
What are the benefits?
Exercise is of course healthy for children. Freerunning as a children's sport has the following advantages:
Adolescents in particular do not attend classes, but watch other freerunners on YouTube and try this out. This can increase the risk of injury. Think, for example, of jumping over a shopping cart and then snagging, or jumping over a large object without knowing the best way to put your hands down or land.
It is an individual sport, if your child benefits from a team sport in order to build more contacts and friendships, this can be a disadvantage.
Our child is wearing a football shirt and football shorts, it is recommended to wear comfortable and flexible clothes to make the smooth movements necessary for freerunning as easy as possible. On this site you can find brands of sportswear, which are known and used among freerunners.
You can also go here for fine sportswear.
Your child will wear sneakers in the gym and many gyms have a rule that the gym shoe does not have a black sole. This is to prevent streaks on the floor.
Tips:
Hint: the New Balance 373 is a shoe that is widely used and is judged very positively for freerunning
Depending on how often your child trains per week, 1 lesson per week is on average € 17.50 per month. The registration fee is €10 at most clubs
Our son could train three times a week, it depends a bit on the gym/club that offers freerunning but often more than once a week is possible. For example, it is not mandatory to train twice a week. That is of course nice if your child quickly runs out of energy and still has a lot of homework and other activities. Then it might be smart to limit to once a week.
No, not for children. It is possible to book workshops or a clinic for a children's party. In freerunning, therefore, there is no mandatory pick-up and return schedule to competitions throughout the country.
