Discouraged about group fitness/wall climbing

eimajb18

I'm a completely NON-competitive person by nature, and the only sports/exercise I've ever really enjoyed are non-competitve, individual ones where I can go at my own pace and do my own thing (hiking, running, walking, kayaking, tennis). However, I have wanted to learn to rock climb for forever, and I recently made an impromptu decision to sign up for a beginner's wall climbing class at my gym, which starts tomorrow.

I have absolutely NO experience with rock climbing, so I thought I would try to practice a bit before class started. The past 2 nights I've gone to the gym late at night to just get a feel for the wall and practice a little. I have specifically gone after 10 pm so as to avoid crowds, but both times this group of climbers has been there, and they have been downright rude to me for what I assume is just their annoyance that I'm using part of the same (large) wall that they are on. For example, last night when I freaked out (fairly discretely and quietly - I just yelled down to my sister that I was scared and felt like I was going to fall for about 15 seconds), 2 of them loudly made a comment about me being "an idiot, abusing the wall."

Although I still want to learn to climb, I have to admit, other people's attitudes about me using the wall are really discouraging. On top of that, after practicing, I can tell I'm not going to be a natural at wall climbing, and considering my gym has a lot of hardcore athletes, I have some anxiety about being the person in class that everyone is annoyed with because I'm not catching onto things quickly enough or because I'll be unable to climb or belay as quickly or as well as others.

I guess I'm just curious if anyone has had any experiences with rude or discouraging people in their group fitness classes and if anyone has any advice about how to keep a positive attitude and focus on learning and getting fit when you're the "least experienced and/or least "abled" person in class.

Thanks

BrianSharpe

There are idiots in every sport, fortunately they usually represent a tiny minority. You're doing this for you, don't let them get you down.

This is a beginners class you've signed up for. There may be a range of athletic abilities but I expect most of the others in your class are going to be in the same boat as you.

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

Don't give up. It sounds like you just happened to go when a group of jerks like to climb.

I've been to several rock climbing gyms (devoted solely to it), and while you will find these types, most people are helpful and enjoy seeing newbs.

The ones who get all elitist about the wall also tend to be the ones who judge you on what you eat, the shoes you climb in, the type of chalk you use, the climbing rig you're using, and whether rope climbing is less awesome than bouldering. In other words, they're going to judge you whether you're climbing or not, so just climb.

larsensue

I would tell them to **** off!!! its a place for everyone and if they don't like how I am trying to learn then don't look!
once you start the class it will get better and you won't have to be around those jerks anymore!

aerochic42

If you signed up for a beginners class, then the teacher is not likely to assume that you can or even know how to do any aspect of climbing a wall. a good teacher will walk you through it step by step in a non-competitve manner especially at the very beginning. Ignore the lunkhunds that were there, they were lumping you into the people that use any machine in the gym mostly as a towel rack ( claim it but don't use the tool) or those people that start an action with here hold my drink. You know those are never going to go well. Once you know the basics, you will gain more confidence

ttippie2000

Sounds like that guy may know his rock climbing, but he has much to learn about leading people. There is a bunch of data about the effects of positive coaching. The American Youth Soccer League conducted a survey of coaching methods across the United States with a sample size of about 70,000 people. Among their findings were that players responded better and performed better when coaches refrained from harsh pejorative statements and encouraged them and showed them how to play better. This tendency holds true from children under age five all the way to Olympic team members. Conversely, that same study found 70% of girls by age 14 are done with organized sports forever because the game has ceased to be fun for them.

I taught my children the basics of rock climbing by traversing across a rock pitch 1 foot off the ground. They could step down anytime they felt like it, and it removed any fear. At this point, they have both put more time into other sports, but they still like and do rock climbing for fun.