I'm loving reading that there are other klutzes out there who love to move.

I flunked ball bouncing in kindergarten (a test they did to check coordination), and have the report card to prove it. In my defense, my parents were non-athletes and didn't even watch sports so I didn't understand the concept of bouncing a ball.

In middle school (early 1970's) my best friend was a jock and dragged me along to every sports tryout. Because I was the tallest girl in the school (heck, except for 2 boys I was the tallest student in the school), I kept making the teams and the coaches kept trying to develop my "talent" when all I was trying to do was not fall down too often on volleyball and basketball courts.

Today, my activities are those that can be enjoyed without concentrating too much or too much fun to care that I'm doing it completely wrong (like the Zumba class).

Rock on my klutzy athlete friends! I'm so happy to know there are others like me out there...

I am totally a klutz. My mom has always said I am less than graceful. :) I have bruises and bumps all over myself. Two days ago I clocked myself in the right thigh with a dumbbell and have a nice bruise there today.

I hated PE in school. I used to get doctor's notes to get out of it. My PE teacher used to make me do the bare minimum to pass and then let me sit and read on the bleachers. It was safer for all of us - I hit kids in the face with volleyballs, tripped myself and others on jumpropes, whacked my teacher with a medicine ball, the list goes on and on... I used to rollerskate outside while reading, my mom would punish me by sending me outside to play. :dizzy:

I hated hated hated exercise.

Now I have a pretty solid home gym in my garage with treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike, weight bag, yoga mats, squat rack, weight bench, dumbbells, a barbell with 250 pounds of weight, and most recently a bosu. I'm running a 10k tomorrow and planning a half marathon in March. I'm a totally different person now.

It's funny, I do things that require high manual dexterity, skill and steadiness. But when I'm not doing those things, I'm tripping on flat floors, running into walls, and knocking things over. :shrug:

That is so funny and so sad. I cant believe they had ball bouncing on your report card.

I love reading the responses here. But maybe I should have just asked how many discovered an inner jock they never knew they had, since a lot of us are admitting they're still klutzy.

Half of me thinks that we're all being too self-deprecating. A lot of people here have accomplished amazing things that they may take for granted.

But it's true: I am also a klutz. In yoga and Pilates class, I've discovered that I have very poor balance. Partly from having a very bad left foot, with an arthritic joint in the big toe & plantar fasciitis from overcompensating for the arthritis while running. This makes me not trust that foot. And half of balance, I'm discovering, is mental rather than physical. Bt whatever my problem is, I am always experiencing that moment when the whole class rises up & stands on one foot, like a flock of flamingos, or gracefully put one foot out & touch the floor before them with the tips of their toes, like testing the temperature of the ocean on the beach --except for me. I start teetering, wave my arms & fall over. Every time. I can only stand on one foot while wearing a supportive sneaker & with no one watching. Having no witnesses seems important.

But in all other ways, I am doing so much better physically than I did at age 17 that it's hard to believe I am the same person.

I used to wish for a magic weight-loss pill, which would enable me to become thinner instantly, overnight, without watching what I ate or exercising. Well, I still wish there was such a thing. But I recognize that, had I resorted to that, I wouldn't have discovered that over time, with daily exercise, I could become (oh my God ...) athletic. If I hadn't been trying to lose weight & become healthier, I would never have managed that achievement. And that would have been a crying shame.