4 ms·

I have never played a sport outside of gym class. When I went to local sports meetups, I mostly found people practicing the sports they played in high school or

I have never played a sport outside of gym class. When I went to local sports meetups, I mostly found people practicing the sports they played in high school or college. I sucked by comparison, and it showed.

circlefavshape 3y ago
So what if you suck? Doing something you're bad at can be liberating
- iggldiggl 3y ago
  It depends on the circumstances. First of all, if you suck too much, it might not be fun for yourself even under the best of circumstances. Secondly, yeah, if it's just for fun and especially if you're not the only who "sucks", it can be fine and as you say "liberating" and everybody's still having a good time. (Also, at least personally it feels easier to just relax and accept that you somewhat suck at that sport and still have some fun anyway if you're with a group of people you already know, which of course doesn't really work if you're going to a sports meetup to meet new people in the first place…) However if you're the only one who comparatively really sucks and maybe on top everybody else is treating things a little more competitively, it possibly starts feeling a little bit too much like gym classes at school, where you always got selected as one of the last ones into a team because everybody knew you weren't really the sporty type and consequently wouldn't really improve any team's chances of winning…
dtauzell 3y ago
Look for a kickball league ... they seem to be more designed for non-athletes.
anthomtb 3y ago
> and stick with it I think this is the key here. You're going to be the FNG (<expletive> New Guy) for a while. So choose your sport and level wisely. Most leagues that I have come across have at least two, if not three or four, levels. Where, say, the "A" level is for folks that played in high school, maybe even college, while the "C" level is going to be accommodating to someone who is just picking up the sport as an adult. And really, sucking at the sport could be advantageous in terms of socializing. "Hey, anyone want to run some skill drills next Wednesday evening? We'll meet at <local park> at 6:00 PM, practice for an hour, and if anyone's up for it we can go to <pub next door> afterwards." Yeah, you might only get one or two takers if most of the folks have kids but that's just part of adult socializing.
- legerdemain 3y ago
  I mean stuff like pickup soccer or basketball that happens in parks and at gyms. I don't think we have much in terms of league sports around here, except maybe employment-based leagues (like Google, Meta, and Microsoft fielding softball teams).

circlefavshape 3y ago

So what if you suck? Doing something you're bad at can be liberating

iggldiggl 3y ago
It depends on the circumstances. First of all, if you suck too much, it might not be fun for yourself even under the best of circumstances. Secondly, yeah, if it's just for fun and especially if you're not the only who "sucks", it can be fine and as you say "liberating" and everybody's still having a good time. (Also, at least personally it feels easier to just relax and accept that you somewhat suck at that sport and still have some fun anyway if you're with a group of people you already know, which of course doesn't really work if you're going to a sports meetup to meet new people in the first place…) However if you're the only one who comparatively really sucks and maybe on top everybody else is treating things a little more competitively, it possibly starts feeling a little bit too much like gym classes at school, where you always got selected as one of the last ones into a team because everybody knew you weren't really the sporty type and consequently wouldn't really improve any team's chances of winning…

dtauzell 3y ago

Look for a kickball league ... they seem to be more designed for non-athletes.

anthomtb 3y ago

> and stick with it I think this is the key here. You're going to be the FNG (<expletive> New Guy) for a while. So choose your sport and level wisely. Most leagues that I have come across have at least two, if not three or four, levels. Where, say, the "A" level is for folks that played in high school, maybe even college, while the "C" level is going to be accommodating to someone who is just picking up the sport as an adult. And really, sucking at the sport could be advantageous in terms of socializing. "Hey, anyone want to run some skill drills next Wednesday evening? We'll meet at <local park> at 6:00 PM, practice for an hour, and if anyone's up for it we can go to <pub next door> afterwards." Yeah, you might only get one or two takers if most of the folks have kids but that's just part of adult socializing.

legerdemain 3y ago
I mean stuff like pickup soccer or basketball that happens in parks and at gyms. I don't think we have much in terms of league sports around here, except maybe employment-based leagues (like Google, Meta, and Microsoft fielding softball teams).