Contemplate the word “retiree”. What does that conjure up? Creaky joints? Doddering from spot to spot? Perpetually looking for car keys? Cruise ship groupie? Physician groupie? Fading into the walls?
“Retiree” probably doesn’t immediately evoke Mona, an 83-year-old tennis player who hits the courts three times a week. Competitive to the core, Mona is famous for her fiery cross-court that sends her opponents (young enough to be her daughters) diving sideways to return.
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Nor does “retiree” suggest Benson, an affable 70-year-old who claims to have golfed every week of his life since he was a boy. Benson has added pickleball to his sports repertoire and now travels to resorts with his 70-year-old wife to compete in that new game.
Upended retirement
What’s this about? Where are their recliners and casino freebies?
Throughout their lives, Baby Boomers have upended one field after another: higher education, marriage, careers, housing, child-rearing, culture…and now, retirement.
Mona, Benson, and all the ADAP participants exemplify the new, upended retirement.
The Age-defying Athletes Project (ADAP) chronicles the stories of real men and women who play sports in later life. The first phase of this Project was interviews with seventy 50-89-year-olds who engage in tennis, golf, pickleball, softball, and squash. They also swim and participate in marathons and triathlons.
As inspiring, not retiring, individuals, ADAP interviewees echo some concepts from Ken Dychtwald and Robert Morison in their book What Retirees Want.
What Retirees Want found that now that they have entered retirement, Baby Boomers all over the world intend to spend it differently than did their parents. “I want to keep growing and trying new things. I don’t want to be as old as my parents were when they were this age,” one retiree told Dychtwald and Morison.
Being a 70 that’s the new 50 is reflected in what retirees want to do with their leisure time.
Dychtwald and Morison discovered that Staying healthy/improving health topped the list of retiree leisure priorities, with 83% of respondents selecting it. Relaxing (72%), family connections (58%), fun (57%), and friendships/social connections (56%) rounded out the top five priorities.
Hmmm, sound familiar? Those are the F4 of sports: fun, fitness, friendship, family.
Let’s look at how a couple more ADAP respondents exemplify this new inspiring, not retiring model of retirement.
Health
One of the oldest ADAP respondents, Belinda, age 86, plays tennis regularly. “My doctor says she cannot believe how old I am and what I am doing. [I have] better thinking, better health, social activity. Hand-eye coordination has improved.”
Sometimes the sport itself is motivation for remaining in good health. Aquamarine, a sparkling 77-year-old golfer, notes that she wants to “keep playing as long as I can. Just want to enjoy the sport and stay healthy. Play through my senior years. You don’t have to be the best golfer, just get out there and play.”
An east coast pickleball player connects the dots of medical advances, greater longevity, and sports. “As medicine gets better,” she states, “people live longer and healthier. It’s nice that some sport [pickleball] has come along that keeps them moving and socially interacting. Old people can actually do it. Some players not terribly mobile looking, but they do well. Couple of players in 80s as well as teenagers.”
Mental health
We all know people who dwindle mentally as they age. Sports can offer a benefit there, too.
Nate, a 73-year-old tennis player values the game for “Mental relaxation. Mentally very relaxing to keep score. I don’t care who wins or loses (much!) but the process of keeping score helps me focus on the game.”
He continues that it’s “Great cardio – I play doubles with a lot of movement. [The game] enhances flexibility.”
It’s a good thing Nate plays an aerobic game, because he adds, “I hate working out, because I tend to start thinking about all the things I should be doing.”
Having a daily routine is important for Felicity’s psyche. The 76-year-old tennis player notes, “It’s important to do something daily. There are also the mental benefits for retired people of having a life plan and somewhere to go every day.”
Additionally, tennis has provided Felicity with friendships and exercise.
Family
Family connections in retirement resonate with Regina, a 59-year-old golfer. “I'm an empty nester and married to my second husband,” she explains. “We needed something to do together in retirement. We wanted an activity to share as well as something that enabled us to meet people, gain a social life.”
And have they ever gained a social life. “It’s taken on a life of its own. We take trips together. It’s social life with people who enjoy things you do.”
Regina shares a frequently-cited discovery with many other ADAP participants. “I discovered that I’m more competitive than I previously realized. First year [of golf], I didn’t care about winning and a woman had to remind me that you need to complete a score card.”
What a difference time makes. She continues: “Now, I’ve won some games and I’m in it to win it.”
Annie Wilkins
Throughout history, of course, there have been mature adults who didn’t really “retire,” but went on to do something inspiring.
In 1954, 63-year-old Maine farmer Annie Wilkins rode a horse all the way to California. Her dog came along for the whole trip, too. This astonishing achievement is told in Elizabeth Letts’ The Ride of Her Life, the true Story of a Woman, her Horse, and their Last-chance Journey Across America.
Inspiring, not retiring. That’s Annie and the rest of our ADAP geezers. Irrespective of age, gender, athletic resume, sport, skill level, and more, these notable individuals deserve trophies for their grit.
WIIFY?
What’s in It for You?
Does your retirement differ from that of your parents?
Thinking back to the quote from the Dychtwald and Morison book about “not being as old as my parents were at this age,” have you scoped out a retirement that fits you, not them?
Your parents were no doubt wonderful individuals, but when they retired, things were – as the saying goes – different.
Mine certainly were sedentary in a busy sort of way, with the occasional foray to the casino and the much-loved bus trips to scenic and historic destinations.
But my head hurts if I try to envision my Mom pulling on a skort before a tennis match, or my Father swimming laps three times a week.
Of course, you don’t have to play sports in order to design your own retirement. But you should create something that is uniquely yours and that satisfies some of the criteria Dychtwald and Morison mention: health, socialization, family, fun, and relaxation…
What are you doing to keep yourself healthy?
If you are reading this, you are probably quite healthy. (You certainly have plenty of stamina to make it this far.)
Don’t take it for granted. Health needs practice, too.
Practice can be modest, like taking a walk at the same time each day, rain or shine. Or a health practice could be gathering for a weekly ping-pong game with friends. But health practice should become habitual in order to lay down the positives that both mind and body need.
And, as this site believes wholeheartedly, there’s no substitute for endorphins.
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