Physical acitvity experiences - Essay Example

It is important for humans to engage in physical activity as early as possible because it is how we can each reach our end goal as human beings. My own physical experience from my childhood that clearly demonstrates this principle of Hoffman could be traced back into my childhood. Ever since I was a child, I yearned to be able to crawl, to walk, and to run so I can eventually play with other kids. With doing simple physical activities such as crawling, walking, or running, I was able to not only fully develop my ability to crawl, walk, and run but also equipped me to be prepared for what my teenage years had in store for me.

It was during my teenage years that I started to see the inclinations I had as an individual. With this said, another of Hoffman’s points out that our ability to move is innate but with practice, we can gain control over our physical movements which is the ingredient for excellence (Hoffman,2009, p.71). Relating it to the physical experience I had during my teenage years, I remembered wanting to be drafted in our school’s basketball team despite my lanky body and average height. However, despite these limitations, I strived to go beyond what’s possible by practicing basketball every after class, even if it entails playing on my own.

This daily physical activity became a habit of mine that worked wonders. Eventually I developed the skill for basketball that got me drafted after my third attempt for try outs. This is indeed a clear demonstration of Hoffman’s principle of the importance of practice not only physically but also to develop a mental ability to control our physical movements to achieve an end goal. Another of Hoffman’s principle relating to the importance of physical experience would be the factors that influence the performance of a person which includes societal and environmental factors, pertaining to one’s family, friends, and internal/external circumstances that directly affects one’s motivation to do things (Hoffman,2009, p.72). Majority of the activities we do are either motivated by opportunities and encouragement or diminished by barriers.

Relating this principle of Hoffman to my own physical planned experience I had back in college, would be the time when I wanted to sacrifice one school year of being a regular student, just to be able to finally move up to my goal of playing basketball professionally which required players to do at least 8 hours of practice per day - an obviously unfeasible goal for a regular college student. Though my parents were supportive with my daily practice after school, they were not agreeable to totally skipping a year of school to become a professional basketball player & our funds also did not allow my dream to be realized.

With this said, my planned physical experience which is to be the best at playing basketball was greatly affected by the encouragement, motivation, and financial support that was available to me. Indeed, we are all given in-born and developed abilities to learn through perception and cognition, putting it into good use through the ability to do complex physical activities directed to a certain goal. Though this ability of ours to perform