From boomers to zoomers: which sports are popular across generations?

Boomers, millennials, zoomers – these words have been heard more and more often lately. While the problem of mutual understanding between fathers and children has been known for a long time, the difference between specific generations is relatively recent. And it concerns all spheres of life, including sports.

What kind of sports do boomers prefer?

Boomers in American sociology called people born in 1945-1961, that is, in the period of the postwar baby boom, hence – baby boomer or just boomer. These people are now at least in their 60s. Modern youth has expanded the meaning of the word “boomer”, and now it is anyone over 30 years old who instructs and generalizes.

Among the older generation it was universally accepted almost from the first grade to give children to all sorts of sports clubs. It was considered the norm and even the duty of parents to physically develop their child. The direction of sports was not so important – wrestling, boxing, swimming, hockey, soccer and other sports that are still popular today.

The boomer generation wasn’t intimidated by the fact that the coach made them work for rejection either. The children of the generation of the 60’s didn’t even have the opportunity to slack off because hard work and endurance were fostered in them from childhood.

No wonder that many grandparents have discharges in various sports, which they received in childhood, and their physical capabilities are very high even at an advanced age. To date, they are most enthusiastic about Nordic walking, physical therapy and running.

What sports do millennials do?

Millennials or Generation Y are the generation of people born between 1980 and 2000, following the baby boomers. What sets them apart is the extensive influence of digital technology on all areas of human life.

The ’80s generation had a changed worldview. Magazines with pictures of beautiful athlete bodies began to appear on newsstands and became the goal of all Generation Y men. Movies and TV shows of the time began to popularize steroids, and millennials blindly believed that such supplements would help them achieve a beefed-up figure faster.

Everyone went and continues to go to fitness gyms, where they perform strength training, wanting to quickly become the owner of relief abs and pumped-up leg muscles. Aerobics, gymnastics, and yoga are popular among women. Their perception of the body is mostly in the slimness and tightness, and these sports are very helpful.

What sports are suitable for the Zoomers?

Generation Z is a generation of people born roughly from the second half of the 1990s through the first half of the 2010s. Zoomers are adept at new technologies from childhood, value self-respect, always stand up for themselves, and have less fear of authority figures.

Generation Z is directly related to the pinnacle of information technology. When the smartphone occupies more than half of your time, entertainment is somehow related to it. That’s why traditional sports often compete with cyber sports disciplines – and lose. If millennials were trying to achieve Schwarzenegger’s form and replicate Bruce Lee’s stunts, now teenagers are creating cyber teams and actively preparing for competitions.

The trend of accepting oneself and one’s body and choosing an activity depending on one’s desires and body’s capabilities is also a characteristic trait of the Zoomers. They prefer quiet sports such as golf, horseback riding, sport shooting, billiards and even chess. Most Zoomers are introverts, but there are still some fans of team sports. Volleyball, basketball, and soccer are timeless classics for the previous two generations, and certainly for the Zoomers.