UKC

I went bouldering at fort purbrook today and honestly I was scared so much I actually couldn't even try to get to the next holds because I was scared of falling. Even on some really easy problems which I could do, I just freaked out and came back down.
I'm not sure why this happened though although I suspect it may be as the only place I have bouldered before is Calshot and it seems much lower there.

I don't normally get so scared... *sigh*
Could somebody give me tips on how to overcome this? Because I enjoyed bouldering when I went with my club and it is something I'd like to do more

In reply to mayhematic: Practice jumping off from low heights onto the mat, you have to absorb more of the impact with your knees/body when outside as a bouldering mat isn't as soft as an indoor walls matting.

In reply to peewee2008: Thankyou I will try that and yes I was aware of that. I havn't been outside yet... I don't feel as though I'm ready.

In reply to mayhematic:

Its all part of the 'headgame'. Outdoors on real rock can feel a fair bit more sketchy than indoors, plus I guess its something you settle into more as you get more experience on the real stuff!
Plus, as you mentioned some stuff can get pretty highball, and its fairly natural to have the odd day of deciding to bail! I've had days when i've backed off problems i've repeated loads of times before, mainly just because my head wasn't in it that day.

As another person suggested, get down a local climbing centre and practice/learn how to fall. May sound bizarre, but it can help. Also do you have a bouldering pad & anyone Spotting for you? Having a pad in the right place can give you a big chunk of confidence, and a spotter that knows their role can be priceless.

In reply to Steve nevers:

as well as the above advice, one thing I found was that I had to train my brain to realise that although it felt high because my eyes were at 7-8feet off the ground, my feet were really around 1 foot of the ground! I used to find it more difficult bouldering than climbing (I'm still most tense on the first few moves!) until I got my head to accept that.

In reply to mayhematic: Create a low traverse (preferably in the features room - the middle panels have positive hand holds and you would be standing on the large flakes) on big holds then slowly increase the height.

Fort Purbrook is a great place to increase your bouldering strength.