Tips for finding hand/feet holds outdoors. I feel like I'm blind.

I've been climbing for a few weeks and I don't feel like I've improved much. One of my biggest issues is actually finding the holds when I'm climbing. Everything looks so easy when I'm on the ground but I climb the holes I saw disappear.

Yesterday we tried out a new route and I was stuck at the start. Someone came up and physically placed my feet in holes I couldn't even see and pointed to exactly where I could put my hands and it all worked, I started going up. They magically appeared. Wtf.

Why am I so blind to all the holds when I start climbing? 

Any tips for actually seeing holds once you're on the wall and actually remembering the holds you saw on the ground?

My climbing area is mainly limestone with lots of pockets, just not any I can find on my own once I start climbing. Very frustrating.

Ps: there are no indoor gyms in my area.

You will get better with time and practice.

hand holds are white with chalk, foot holds are black from rubber

You may also be looking for something different than what actually works well. I did a lot more edging than smearing when I started out, so placing the tip or edge by my big toe down on the tinniest features. To me that feels more secure than a larger surface area that slopes or is super smooth. I look for/feel for sharp edges. They may not be visible from on the wall but you get a feel for them by noticing a less smooth bump. I don’t know if this is helpful or makes sense but I recognized them for their sharpness rather than any sort of surface area or size.

Less seeing, more feeling.

I've personally found that outdoor climbing isn't anymore difficult than at my gym in terms of the actual holds and moves, but finding the holds is definitely a lot more difficult when they aren't neon colored. Holds around where I live also don't always have a metic ton of chalk on them, so it's not always helpful to just "look for the chalk".

Basically, just take your time and put your hands and feet on different features to just try them; you aren't limited to what is "set" outside; "rainbow" the shit out of the route. If it's within arms reach and keeps you within arms reach of the bolt/gear line, it's fair game.

The best teacher is experience, so just get out as much as you can and check off everything you can do, even if it is "only" a 5.6 or 5.7. Just get a feel for the rock and you'll be able to pick stuff out easier as you do.

Find your feet and the rest will follow. 

Footwork is paramount

Some crags have hidden beta that’s way harder if you don’t already know the route. We have a local wall to me called brick wall. Looks like a bunch a bricks. Like 10% of them are actually usable as hands. Really fucking annoying finding holds if you didn’t pre-mark them on a rappel or don’t already know which ones are good. 

Maybe you’re getting tunnel vision due to gripping out on stuff that’s too hard.  Try to find some easier stuff, then time and practice.

Good question! Finding feet on pockety rock is hard, no matter the grade! This can also be true on climbs with horizontal cracks, like at the Gunks or Boven.

Some tips:

• When it's time to move your feet, sink down onto straight arms and bend your knees. Try to get your hips away from the wall if you can (this is easier on big handholds). Doing this will get your head away from the rock and thus give you a better field of vision for those hidden pockets. Sometimes you can hang from one arm and lean side to side and out from the wall, too. Even feel around with your free hand.
• Notice where the footholds are as you climb. the good jugs you grab with your hands are going to be your feet; you just have to find them from above! I often try to notice features of the rock that point me to the footholds--i.e. "this little discolored patch is right above the good foot"; "the good foot is right below where the crack zigzags"; "put your toe just below the pointy thing". Then when you've moved up, you can use those landmarks to guide your foot. It's very satisfying to stick your foot into a perfect, invisible foothold.
• As mentioned above, notice chalk and rubber marks. On popular climbs, big chalk smears lead to feet. And footholds get blackened from shoe rubber. Once you learn to look for the marks, footholds get easier to find. Note: some people use tick marks of chalk to mark footholds. this is an acceptable practice while you are actively working a route but it is poor form to leave tick marks behind when you're done. It's a service to the community to brush away your tick marks (and anyone else's!) when you're done with a route. And learning to use natural landmarks will serve you better in the long run anyway.

Take a breath and commit to the best available, it's not a race.

If you are coming from gym climbing, I would step back on the grades and climb a ton of easy stuff. It all helps.

I had the same problem when I started climbing outdoors. For hands, look for chalk, or feel around blindly if you must. For feet, literally everything that is not a sheer wall works. Look for even the tiniest bump or hole that is a different angle from the rest of the wall, put your toe on it, and push. If literally nothing exists, you can smear the wall. But most likely there is something, just smaller and less obvious than what you are used to.

Tincture of Time. You are looking for what you can think (conceive) of using, not what is actually there and can be used.

When I first started many routes were clearly "hold-less". Until you have stood on something similar you can't conceive of that edge or pocket as being a foot hold so its "invisible".

Came back to them later and they were covered in possibilities.

Yea I agree with climbing a couple grades lower and really getting to know the rock. You kinda learn how it likes to break and spotting jugs/useable holds gets easier from different vantage points.

Do you have shoes where you can toe jam in the pockets? I know some shoes have pointy toes (Miura lace ups for example, known to kill the big toe but I love 'em) you may find pockets better with vs. shoes that smear well and don't have that same last. I think it's common to be stuck at the start until you try it a few times and get the sequence down. It's super hard to onsight when you're new to it or new to the area. You could also mark them with a little dash of chalk IF you clean it after/make sure you have enough water to clean off the chalk when you're done.

If you are at Rifle, you look down and anywhere you can see your reflection is a suitable foothold. Careful though, if the sun hits one of them just right you might actually become blind.