History Main / AthleticallyChallenged

* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura:'' Shutaro Mendo and his rival Tobimaro Mizunokoji are both estblished to be absolutely terrible baseball players. Shutaro accepts this and largely ignores it, considering it to be irrelevant given that he's handsome, stunningly wealthy, charming, intelligent, a top student, and adored by his female peers. Tobimaro, on the other hand, obsesses over it, and spends his time in the remote wilderness, training vainly to try and improve his baseball skills, emerging only once a year to challenge Shutaro to a duel. But he's so ''bad'' at training (and hunting, and managing supplies) that the only way he's improved is by learning how to ''[[ExtremeOmnivore eat baseballs]]''. [[DetrimentalDetermination His fixation on this clearly unsalvageable goal has earned him the scorn of his rival, his underlings, and his family.]] The only area where Tobimaro is better than Shutaro is that he's [[DamnedByFaintPraise marginally better at team leadership]]: when they fight a duel in Tobimaro's introductory story, Tobimaro hires an All-Star Team to play for him... an All-Star ''Little League'' Team. Shutaro, on the other hand, fields a team of goons who've spent the year learning how to recognize the various tools on sight... and not even an hour on the basic rules of the game or how to play. Consequently, Tobimaro's team is the more competent of the two.

* ''[[Film/Zapped2014 Zapped]]'' (2014): Zoey has to get the junior varsity dance team to improve, or the AlphaBitch Taylor will continue to exclude them from routines and boss them around. Let's just say.. getting them to learn a routine won't be easy. They don't even know how to stretch.

* In generally any sports game where you can create characters or edit stats of any existing real-life player, their attributes can be edited to the minimum number to make them the worst players on their respective teams.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Shokuhou is terribly out of shape due to skipping P.E. constantly with her powers as the most powerful telepath in Academy City. She struggles to keep pace with a lightly jogging Misaka, wheezing and panting from even light physical exertion.

* ''Film/GrandmothersFarm2'': At the start of the movie, we see Ramsi playing soccer with a bunch of people. He's given a free penalty kick (because he brought the ball they're using)... and misses the goal by a mile.

You have some characters who are athletically gifted. People who have what it takes to become professional sports players. Or those who are good and just like to show off. The ones who their friends envy. Or you might just have one who isn't as talented as the former two groups, but has enough skill to keep the game competitive. And then you have these characters. Ones who can't play a sport to save their life.

These are the ones who go up to bat in a game of baseball and get struck out quicker than their eyes can blink. The ones who miss the hoops in basketball so badly, the ball falls right into the crowd hitting someone in the face or even in their food. Or if they're playing gridiron football, they can be expected to fumble the ball for the other team or get tackled by a bunch of players just as quickly. The reasons why they're not so good at sports can vary. They might lack the awareness or coordination needed to play effectively, or they just might not have what it takes to play sports well. And these lack of attributes will lead to a lot of embarrassment should they take part in even simply a friendly game. If by any chance they are on a sports team, they will most certainly be TheBenchwarmer. Or if playing a game with friends and everyone has to pick their teammates, they can expect to be PickedLast, because the character is so bad, the team leaders dread having that person on the team and choose their people who are more skilled until they inevitably get the short end of the stick. Sometimes if they are involved in the team in any shape or fashion, they will likely end up as the LoserTeamMascot.

** While implied to be partly due to her age, Chiyo isn't the best athlete. She comes dead last in footraces, and she can only swim ten meters on her own. The only person who does worse than her is Osaka.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'': Of all the girls in the main cast, Osaka is the worst when it comes to sports. Among other things, she can't pass a volleyball and spikes it sideways when attempting to serve, she claims to struggle with floating in water, and she consistently loses every foot race she partakes in, even when competing against Chiyo, a 10-year-old. Much of this is rooted in her [[TheKlutz overall poor motor control]] and lack of flexibility.

Sometimes, those who are bad at sports simply accept their limitations and just find something else they are good at. Other times, those who lack athletic prowess will find a way to suddenly get good. Or at least find a trick that might make them good in one thing to help them win the game. It might be with the help of a mentor (especially a former professional athlete) or they might stumble upon some mystical powers to make them good all of a sudden. Either way, the character will suddenly find success, which may lead their team to the BigGame. There might be some struggles along the way with the player losing their abilities or even the OpposingSportsTeam catching on the the player and focusing on them as part of the team's strategy. And more often than not, the player will ending up making a move on [[DownToTheLastPlay the last play to help their team win it all.]] They just might have to ask to PutMeInCoach

* ''Manga/DontToyWithMeMissNagatoro'': Naoto is very good at art, but as his social akwardness suggests, he isn't good at sports. Nagatoro makes a point to help him get in shape, because it's "embarrassing" that his underclassmen are fitter than him.

** Scotty Smalls is this at the beginning of the film, since he had no father to teach him to play baseball and is more academically inclined. The other sandlot kids laugh and gape at his inability to either throw or catch a baseball, and his stepfather's attempt to teach him ends with him getting a black eye. However, once Benny takes the time to show him a proper throw and gives him the confidence to catch by aiming his hit directly at Scotty's glove, he seems to keep up fine with the others. However, it still takes until partway through the summer for him to get his first home run (which ''happens'' to be with his stepfather's Babe Ruth-signed ball), though he previously got a successful hit against the little league team.

* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': Artemis may be a genius, but he is completely lacking when it comes to athletic ability. He gets winded easily and is skinny, weak of muscle, and lacking in full body coordination. In later books, he will sometimes lament his lack of fitness while being forced to partake in an action scene.

* ''Series/FullHouse'': The episode "Air Jesse" has Jesse taking part in a charity basketball game. But he gets in over his head as he has neither the ability or knowledge on how to play basketball. It's only when Creator/KareemAbdulJabbar, who's serving as a celebrity referee in the game, that shows Jesse to pick a sweet spot (i.e. a spot on the court where he can constantly make baskets) that he finally finds success.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Fabian's the stereotypically unathletic nerd, known for being unable to even play hopscotch correctly. This results in him being stuck as the LoserTeamMascot during the interhouse dodgeball tournament and being mocked in general for his lack of muscle. He does have bursts of strength, which also means he's the won who ''[[PutMeInCoach wins]]'' the dodgeball tournament and can occasionally hold his own in a fight... but this doesn't mean he's given any credit for that, nor that it ever actually sticks the next time he needs to rely on physical strength and athleticism.

* In generally any sports game where you can create characters or edit stats of any existing real life player, their attributes can be edited to the minimum number to make them the worst players on their respective teams.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': The episode "A Leela of Her Own" has Leela becoming the first blernsball pitcher. But her poor depth perception means she can't aim properly and leads her to becoming the worst blernsball player of all time. She even manages to beat out Hank Aaron XXIV for that title (even though he still holds the title of worst football player of all time).
* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Bobby, who can't play sports to save his life, in stark contrast to his father, Hank, who was a star football running back in high school. The pilot episode has Bobby on the softball team and gets a black eye because he wasn't watching where the ball was going. Another episode has Bobby on the football team and Hank tries to talk the coach into NOT playing Bobby. Another one has Bobby on the track team and the coach using Bobby's lack of athletic abilities to motivate the rest of the team, much to Hank's chagrin.

* Tyler in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' dresses up in a track suit and is very enthusiastic about sports, but is abysmal at them. His audition tape involved him attempting to impress with his athletic prowess, but just managed to get himself hurt in every try.
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** Charlie Brown's baseball team is pretty terrible, either for lack of skill or lack of dedication. Charlie Brown himself is a terrible pitcher who often gets knocked off the mound, while right-fielder Lucy misses every ball that comes her way, shortstop Snoopy tends to fall asleep, Lucy the outfielder either runs from the ball so it doesn't hit her or just stands their looking at it as it lands next to her, and catcher Schroeder cannot throw, which he hides by finding excuses to walk the ball back. However, Charlie Brown seems to be the number one reason for his team's lack of victory, as when he gets sick and misses the game it results in his team winning.

** Charlie Brown's baseball team is pretty terrible, either for lack of skill or lack of dedication. Charlie Brown himself is a terrible pitcher who often gets knocked off the mound, while right-fielder Lucy misses every ball that comes her way, shortstop Snoopy tends to fall asleep, and catcher Schroeder cannot throw, which he hides by finding excuses to walk the ball back.

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You have some characters who are athletically-gifted. People who have what it takes to become professional sports players. Or those who are good and just like to show off. The ones who their friends envy. Or you might just have one who isn't as talented as the former two groups, but has enough skill to keep the game competitive. And then you have these characters. Ones who can't play a sport to save their life.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Common Ground", Rainbow Dash tries to help Quibble Pants connect with the daughter of his girlfriend by training him to more sporty. The attempt is a disaster; Quibble runs slower than a snail, can't kick a ball rolling slowly towards, or lift more than two books at a time.

* ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'': One sketch centers around Mio's inability to clear even a very low jump bar, and shows in flashback that she fails at ''every'' gym activity. This is a little strange because she's consistently shown to be a dynamo at barehanded martial arts.

* ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'': One sketch centers around Mio's inability to clear even a very low jump bar, and shows in flashback that she fails at ''every'' gym activity. This is a little strange because she's consistently shown to be dynamo at barehanded martial arts.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'': Of all the girls in the main cast, Osaka is the worst when it comes to sports. Among other things, she can't pass a volleyball and spikes it sideways when attempting to serve, she claims to struggle with floating in water, and she consistently loses every foot race she partakes in, even when competing against Chiyo, a ten-year-old. Much of this is rooted in her [[TheKlutz overall poor motor control]] and lack of flexibility.

* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': Artemis may be a genius, but he is completely lacking when it comes to athletic ability. He gets winded easily and is skinny, weak of muscle, and lacking in full body coordination. In later books, he will sometimes lament his lack of fitness while being forced to partake in an action scene.

** Scotty Smalls is this at the beginning of the film, since he had no father to teach him to play baseball and is more academically inclined. The other sandlot kids laugh and gape at his inability to either throw or catch a baseball, and his stepfather's attempt to teach him ends with him getting a black eye. However, Benny takes the time to show him a proper throw and gives him the confidence to catch by aiming his hit directly at Scotty's glove. Even after this, it takes until partway through the summer for him to get his first home run (which ''happens'' to be with his stepfather's Babe Ruth-signed ball), though he previously got a successful hit against the little league team.

* As a general rule, many superheroes such as [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Superman]], [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Batman]], [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Spider-Man]], among others, have the ability to excel in any sport, but pretend that they can't play as a way to maintain their secret identities.

** Charlie Brown's team is pretty terrible, either for lack of skill or lack of dedication. Charlie Brown himself is a terrible pitcher who often gets knocked off the mound, while right-fielder Lucy misses every ball that comes her way, shortstop Snoopy tends to fall asleep, and catcher Schroeder cannot throw, which he hides by finding excuses to walk the ball back.

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'': Steve Rogers was this prior to getting the Super Soldier serum and treatment. Barely able to do a single push-up, struggling to carry gear the other soldiers could easily handle, and always being dead last on runs. Interestingly, in the Golden Age comics published during World War Two, even ''after'' the treatment he pretended to be a soldier so incompetent and inept at everything that his Sergeant simply kept him assigned to garbage details, which gave him plenty of time to sneak off and fight the Axis as Captain America. However, a 1970's What If storyline revealed that ''of course'' his chain-of-command knew Steve Rogers was Captain America, which is why he got off with no punishment every time he was called out for being AWOL.
* ''Film/TheSandlot'': ZigZagged. Scotty Smalls is this at the beginning of the film, since he had no father to teach him to play baseball and is more academically inclined. The other sandlot kids laugh and gape at his inability to either throw or catch a baseball, and his stepfather's attempt to teach him ends with him getting a black eye. However, Benny takes the time to show him a proper throw and gives him the confidence to catch by aiming his hit directly at Scotty's glove. Even after this, it takes until partway through the summer for him to get his first home run (which ''happens'' to be with his stepfather's Babe Ruth-signed ball), though he previously got a successful hit against the little league team.

* ''Film/TheSandlot'': Scotty Smalls is this at the beginning of the film, since he had no father to teach him to play baseball and is more academically inclined. The other sandlot kids laugh and gape at his inability to either throw or catch a baseball, and his stepfather's attempt to teach him ends with him getting a black eye. However, Benny takes the time to show him a proper throw and gives him the confidence to catch by aiming his hit directly at Scotty's glove.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': Charlie Brown's [[TheGhost unseen]] idol Joe Shlabotnik is said to be a terrible baseball player. He has a .004 batting average, which means he gets on base once every 250 tries. This results in him being demoted to the minor leagues.

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!!Indexes: SportsTropes, CompetitionIndex, CharacterFlawIndex, Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease (Too Controversial)