I’d like to (and need to) exercise, but going to the gym and running on a machine totally fails to motivate me or interest me. The only thing that gets me interested enough to run around and sweat is playing a sport (e.g. basketball, soccer, etc)
However, I suck at sports. That was OK when we were kids, since all the kids in my neighborhood played together regardless of talent, but among adults the people meeting to play basketball, volleyball, etc are usually very good at it.
It would be good if there were groups of adults who were not that great at playing these sports, who got together to enjoy playing the sport and exercising without having to compete with people who are really good at it.
Do such groups exist?
If not, would join a local such group if it existed?
Kickball. At least from watching them play it seems as though everyone is having a great time and there are all levels of skill. There’s a league in Seattle - just google underdog kickball - so maybe there are others elsewhere.
I used to see a group playing ultimate frisbee in front of the Hatch Shell in Boston; they seemed to take it pretty casually and there’s plenty of running around. You might look for a group wherever you are.
Or curling, if there’s a local club. I just started and there are leagues from very casual to very competitive. Perhaps not the level of workout you’re looking for, but the sweeping does get the blood going a bit.
I agree with the OP - sports for people definitely do suck at sports. God, those sports for people - they throw like girls, and they’re slow too. (Sports for animals, though, are pretty good at sports.)
Gosh, absolutely. They’re all over the place, if you’re in a city of significant size.
Around here they actually have hockey leagues for adults who’ve never played hockey before. There are softball leagues where some people can’t really play softball at all.
Don’t know how you feel about cycling? If you find a group to cycle with it can be very social (you pair off into 2s and can chat along the way), plus generally do a coffee/meal after the ride is over. I’m not into competitive sports, but find group cycling both challenging (encouraging you to keep up) and supportive (allowing you to ride at the rear etc if you are struggling).
Odd that you’re all recommending sports for someone who already says they suck at sports.
If you don’t like, or just plain suck at sports, you don’t want anything to do with a ball or teams. Find something that is physical but doesn’t involve those things. Your hand-eye coordination might suck, so stay away from things that place demands on that.
The earlier recommendation for rock climbing was a good one. You can make a sport out of fitness by doing something like CrossFit, provided you’ve got a good CF trainer in your area; they’re not all equal. Horseback riding, hiking, gymnastics, trail running, archery, martial arts are all things I do or have done that are very active and physically demanding that are not sports.
I personally hate team sports even though I don’t actually suck badly at them. I never played much outside of casual games with friends at school, or during PE, so I’m not great at most of them, but I’m not a klutz either. Simply never cared for them.
I sucked at sports, mostly due to a genetic physical restriction (genuinely, not just making it up to justify my crapness ). I have two recommendations, one of which is probably unwelcome.
The first is a social work team. I’ve played basketball, indoor cricket, and volleyball with teams of people who similarly sucked. The social leagues catered for us. Mixed men/women teams are especially useful for that. They still increased my fitness level, which was a good thing.
More controversial - running. You compete against no-one but yourself. I went from someone who could not run 400m (440 yards) without getting a stitch and being exhausted, to running a couple of Marathons. Not for everyone, but it takes away the competitive element if you let it. No-one cares if you run 5K (a bit over 3 miles) in 15 minutes or 45 minutes, unless they are jerks.
Paddling is a good way to work out your upper torso and arms. And a day’s paddle certainly is a nice way to relax. Of course you can do anything from an easy paddle on a lake to working your way down a twisty stream to mild whitewater to fun/scary as hell whitewater. A decent boat and gear don’t cost that much and if you search for used stuff can be had even cheaper. And once you have it, the only real cost you generally have is the drive to the paddling spot.
Muggles can play Quidditch now, too (on non-flying brooms). You’d have to look whether there’s a team near you.
There are some sports like Korf-ball (didn’t try it) specially designed to be fair and give both tall and short, fit and unfit players the same chance.
Did you try facebook or similar to find like-minded people? Anything can be fun as long as nobody takes it seriously, whether it’s frisbee or Calvinball.
My friend joined a rowing team for exercise, and I don’t know him to be particularly good at sports. Seems like it would take a little practice to get the techniques down but in the end anyone can do it.
Instead of playing, have you considered refereeing? Plenty of running around to get you fit, and participating to maintain your interest, but you don’t actually demonstrate your lack of ability in the actual sport.
). I have two recommendations, one of which is probably unwelcome.