Most students don’t walk into physics hoping for a hard time. They show up ready to learn, take notes, do the homework, and try to make sense of the material. But sooner or later—sometimes as early as the first unit—many of them hit a wall. It doesn’t matter how long they stare at the page or how many times they re-read the chapter. Something just isn’t clicking.
If you’ve ever watched a student work themselves into frustration over a problem that seems impossible, you know the feeling. You want to help, but you’re not sure what exactly they’re missing. They seem smart. They’re putting in effort. So why does everything still feel confusing?
Let’s talk about the real reason so many students struggle in physics. Spoiler: it’s not what most people assume.
Why Physics Feels So Hard
Physics has a reputation that intimidates students before they even meet their first free-body diagram. For years they’ve heard things like “Only certain people are good at physics” or “You need a math brain to succeed.” When you hear those ideas long enough, you start to believe them. And once that belief settles in, it becomes easy to assume every challenge means you’re “just not built for physics.”
But here’s something students rarely hear: almost no one finds physics easy at first.
The trouble usually shows up when students realize that physics isn’t just about solving equations. It’s about understanding what those equations even mean. And that’s where the real gap begins.
It’s Not About Intelligence—It’s About Approach
Most students who struggle in physics aren’t struggling because they’re not smart enough. They’re struggling because they’ve been taught to approach the subject the wrong way.
Think about how many other subjects are learned: memorize the steps, follow the pattern, repeat until it sticks. That works fine in places where the problems look the same every time. But physics doesn’t play by those rules. Physics expects students to interpret what’s happening, break it apart, make connections, translate it into math, and only then start calculating.
If a student hasn’t been shown how to think through that process, of course they’ll feel lost. Imagine being handed a puzzle without ever seeing the picture on the box. You’d be stuck too.
This is where the hidden issue comes to the surface.
The Hidden Reason Students Get Stuck
The real roadblock most students face is simple: they never learned how to break a physics problem into steps that make sense.
That’s it. Not lack of talent. Not lack of effort. Not lack of intelligence.
Just lack of a clear approach.
Students often try to memorize formulas because formulas feel safe. They’re concrete. They look like something you can grab onto. But physics problems rarely announce which formula to use. And even when students know the right one, they often don’t understand why it’s right.
Here’s a common example: forces. A student might know Newton’s laws and be able to repeat them word-for-word. But then they see a problem about an object on a ramp, and suddenly everything they thought they understood disappears. They start scrambling for any equation that seems relevant, hoping something will match. It’s like trying keys at random in a lock.
The issue isn’t the ramp. The issue is that they haven’t learned how to think: What forces are acting here? Which directions matter? How do they relate to each other?
Once a student knows how to answer those questions, the math becomes far less intimidating. But until then, even simple problems feel impossible.
What Students Actually Need to Make Progress
Students don’t need more pages of practice questions. They don’t need longer review sheets or thicker textbooks. They need someone to slow down with them and show how a physics problem unfolds from the inside out.
This is where physics tutoring can make a real difference. Not because students need someone to hand them answers, but because they need someone to model the kind of thinking physics requires. When someone walks them through the reasoning behind the steps—not just the steps themselves—the entire subject starts to make sense.
Once a student sees physics as a process rather than a guessing game, their confidence changes almost overnight.
How You Know a Student Is Missing These Skills
Most students show the same signs when they’re struggling with the reasoning side of physics. A few of the most common:
They can repeat definitions but can’t use them.
Ask them what velocity is, and they’ll tell you. Ask them to find the velocity of an object in a real situation, and they freeze.
They fear problems that look “different.”
Even a tiny twist—a new angle, one extra step—can throw them completely off.
They rely on equations without understanding the physics.
They jump straight into plugging numbers without thinking about what those numbers represent. If the problem changes direction halfway through, they’re stuck.
They get overwhelmed before they even start.
You can see it on their face. The moment they read the question, they’re already convinced it’s too hard.
These aren’t signs of a student who can’t learn physics. They’re signs of a student who’s never been shown how to approach physics in the first place.
The Moment When Everything Starts to Click
One of the most encouraging things about teaching or supporting students in physics is watching the shift that happens once they pick up those missing skills. It’s almost like watching someone learn a new language. At first, everything sounds strange. Then suddenly, they recognize a pattern. Then they recognize another. And soon they’re piecing together meaning on their own.
The same thing happens in physics.
When a student learns to ask the right questions, draw the right diagram, or identify the important pieces of a situation, they start to feel in control. They stop relying on memory and start relying on understanding. And when understanding becomes their foundation, the subject feels far less intimidating.
It’s not uncommon to see a student go from panicked guessing to steady progress in just a few weeks. Sometimes it happens even faster. Once they see that physics isn’t a test of talent but a set of habits they can learn, they relax. And when they relax, they learn faster.
It’s a cycle that finally works in their favor.
Simple Steps Students Can Try Right Now
Here are a few strategies that help almost every student, especially those who tend to jump straight into the math:
Draw a diagram before doing anything else.
Even a messy sketch helps. Diagrams turn invisible ideas into something the eyes and brain can process.
Write down what you know.
Listing the givens forces clarity. It also keeps students from losing track of the information buried in the problem.
Identify what the problem is actually asking.
This step sounds obvious, but many students skip it. Saying the question out loud—“I’m trying to find the acceleration”—keeps the work focused.
Explain the physics in one sentence.
Something simple, like “The object speeds up because there’s a net force down the ramp.” That short sentence sets the stage for the math that comes after.
Look at the final answer and ask: Does this make sense?
If the number is huge, tiny, or negative when it shouldn’t be, that’s a sign that something needs checking.
These steps don’t magically solve every problem, but they give students a place to start. And for many students, having a starting point is half the battle.
Physics Isn’t the Enemy—The Approach Is
When students struggle in physics, it’s easy for them to think the subject is out to get them. But the truth is much simpler: they weren’t given the tools they needed to understand how physics works.
Once students learn the approach behind the subject, physics stops feeling like a maze and starts feeling like a puzzle—something they can figure out piece by piece. And when that shift happens, everything else follows. Their confidence grows. Their grades improve. And most importantly, they learn a way of thinking that stays with them long after the class is over.
So if a student is struggling, it’s not a sign that they’re “not good at physics.” It’s a sign that they’re on the verge of learning something powerful. They just need someone to show them how to think their way through it.
And once they have that, physics finally starts to make sense.
