How to Learn a New Sport When You Feel Afraid
How far and how high are you willing to go to face your fears? Photo credit: Jeffery Thomas Ball
Have you ever watched a sport and thought, I’d love to try that, but I feel afraid? Maybe it feels too technical, too scary, or too intimidating to try on your own.
Living in Alaska, I’m surrounded by endless opportunities for outdoor adventure. I’ve set my sights on learning how to wild ice skate this winter. The idea of gliding across natural ice feels exhilarating, but there’s one thing holding me back: the fear of falling and getting hurt.
Fear is a fascinating and complex emotion—with the power to either propel us forward or hold us back. As a kid, I loved roller skating and occasionally ventured onto the ice rink at the mall during the winter. Back then, fear wasn’t even a consideration. If I fell, I simply brushed it off and kept going. So why does stepping out of our comfort zones feel so much harder as adults?
I spoke to three athletes about overcoming their fears when learning new sports, to gain insight. Here’s what they shared.
Hai Thai (He/Him)
Photo credit: Nicolas Ortega
Hai, 37, is a highliner and rock climber from Vietnam, now living in the Maryland/DC area. When confronting his anxiety in highlining, Hai takes a scientific approach to the fear that often comes in three forms when learning a new sport: cerebral, visceral, and functional fear.
This is what I learned: When faced with fear, our brain sends signals to the body, flooding us with adrenaline —the fight-or-flight reaction that warns us we might injure ourselves. Then, there is functional fear, the worry that the systems you’ve built might fail.
Highlining is particularly daunting because of the exposure. Once you leave the cliff face behind, you are walking on a narrow piece of webbing suspended in midair — like a tightrope, but more dynamic. For many, it can take some getting used to, and fear is a familiar presence.
Hai explained, “You’re fully exposed to 360 degrees around you—above and below. It forces you to confront that primal fear of heights.”
It also teaches you to manage your fear over time. He believes this is especially true in the beginning when you don’t have anyone to guide you on how to handle the fear.
Hai created his methods to handle fear by drawing inspiration from other disciplines, including techniques from parkour, meditation, sports psychology, and other strategies. They became the tools he relied on to confront and cope with the intense fear he experienced.
However, after 13 years, his perspective has changed. Looking back, Hai believes the community kept him in the sport over the years — not the adrenaline rush. He also has a deep appreciation for the technical aspects, such as rigging or installing highlines.
One important aspect of learning a sport is finding community. Seeking out like-minded people is key to successfully overcoming the fear we face. if you are interested in stepping out of your comfort zone, grab a friend or acquaintance to go with you. And continue to build your community as you go.
Be sure to keep up with Hai’s highlining adventures on Instagram and TikTok.
Shawn Brokemond
Photo Credit: Shawn Brokemond
Shawn, 53, resides in Mill Valley, California. She is a fitness trainer and adventure coach, who teaches mountain biking to children and adults. Shawn has been involved in sports her entire life, to include playing team sports in college. When asked about facing fear, Shawn first talked about how she’s dealt with frustration that comes with the learning process.
After all, learning new technical skills means overcoming out fear of making mistakes (in front of others)!
When her frustration builds up, she pauses to assess the situation and to give herself time to relax. She realizes learning takes time, gives herself a pep talk, and continues to practice until she is proficient. She admits she’s a bit competitive and it’s a factor in her success in learning a new sport.
Shawn learned how to BASE jump in her 30s—overcoming a fear of heights in a high-risk sport where mistakes can prove fatal. When she first started, she remembers standing on a cliff for 30 minutes, battling this fear before finally jumping. “Every time I step up to the edge,” said Shawn. “I feel nervous—it’s always terrifying.”
Shawn says the fear never goes away entirely, and that’s a good thing. Standing on the edge of a cliff, her heart flutters and she can feel the nervous tension, knowing she’s willingly choosing to fall. While others may walk up to the edge and take in the view without hesitation, she is shaking, trying to steady her nerves.
However, falling is a different sensation. The moment her feet leave the cliff she takes the jump, everything changes. The feeling of exhilaration takes over, then a calm. This sense of freedom for her makes it all worth it.
“It’s such a strange contradiction,” Shawn says about her fear of heights and the freedom BASE jumping gives. “But after landing I look at where I came from and think, wow, I can’t believe I just did that.”
Shawn’s advice for anyone learning a new sport is to push through your fears. There are good things on the other side—even if your fears never go away completely. Fear isn’t always a bad thing; it keeps us disciplined and alert to danger; it reminds us to check and double check our gear, to be mindful of weather conditions and to speak up if something doesn’t feel right. Fear can save a life. But sometimes the hardest step is trying something new, even though we feel scared of making mistakes, of failure or of the unknown.
Follow Shawn on Instagram to see her journey in sports and the connection she has with her community as an adventure coach.
O'Shea Abney
O’Shea, 30, is a certified skydiver and BASE jumper, from Twin Falls, Idaho. He began skydiving in 2017 and BASE jumping in 2020. At the start of his journey, he worked toward getting his license, which required completing 25 skydives. O’Shea rented gear because purchasing my own wasn’t financially feasible. Fortunately, he found a setup where he was charged $25 per day, which allowed him to complete around 60 jumps before purchasing equipment.
Growing up, O’Shea dealt with uncertainty and fear in life, which fueled his adrenaline-seeking behavior. When he began to skydive, his biggest fear wasn’t heights. It was showing up for himself to face his self-limiting beliefs. Skydiving forced him to turn inward and confront his thoughts. This perspective reshaped his approach to life. Skydiving helped him focus on setting priorities and pursuing what truly mattered.
Today, BASE jumping has become more than a sport for O’Shea; it’s a mindset. He’s been leaping from planes, cliffs and bridges for seven years. He even started his own company, “Sky Level Mindset," to reflect the parallels between jumping into the unknown and embracing challenges in life.
O’Shea continues to feel like an outlier. “There are very few people of color in the skydiving community, and even fewer in BASE jumping,” he reflected about the sport. He is seeing a gradual increase but feels it’s still rare to encounter people who look like him. In his first year, he met zero other Black BASE jumpers. Overall, he’s come across fewer than 20 people of color in the sport. When he does encounter others, there’s a shared bond.
Adventure sports lead to fast friendships. It helps that the community attracts similar personalities. BASE jumping isn’t a widely celebrated activity—it’s something people take on after overcoming significant personal fears or challenges.
O’Shea’s advice for anyone interested in BASE jumping is to learn to skydive first. He also recommends finding a supportive community. Don’t face your fears alone; the right people will not only guide you through the sport but also help you apply those lessons to other areas of your life. Skydiving and BASE jumping have introduced him to people from all walks of life united by a shared passion.
He appreciates how the sports bring together such a diverse range of people, allowing for an incredible journey of self-discovery and connection. He continues to stay motivated by helping others break through barriers of entry.
You can keep up with O’Shea by following him on Instagram to learn more about how he’s helping his community conquer fear, one jump at a time.
Conclusion
One of the biggest takeaways from my conversations with these extremely talented athletes is that we all react to fear differently. Whether a fear of heights, a fear of falling, or self-doubt, I learned that fear can be debilitating and exhilarating at the same time, and that's okay. It’s not always something to overcome. Sometimes it alerts us to danger, keeps us focused, or leads to exciting new experiences.
Are you ready to embrace your fear? You don’t have to step off a cliff or jump from a bridge to get started. You don’t need expensive gear or classes. Start with your imagination. What new experience would you like to try this year? Are you ready to get back into a beginner’s mindset? Are you willing to make mistakes? Are you comfortable with failure? Remember: you don’t have to do it alone. Fear is easier to navigate with a supportive community and with friends who celebrate your progress.
As adults, we all have such busy lives and it can be difficult to make the time to try something new. This is especially true of learning things outside of our comfort zone. If you are thinking of learning a new sport, don’t let fear stop you. Take into consideration all of the risks and educate yourself in order to stay safe and prevent injuries.
Research the barriers of entry, list the pros and cons, and seek out a community with like-minded individuals. Visualize the goals you’ve set. Remember, failure is a part of success, and learning takes time, but you can conquer your fear by deciding you can do hard things!