Professional athletes make their disciplines look easy as a walk in the park. What we don’t see, in turn, is the years they spent reaching their peak physical form to perform in a way that can be the basis of a career that puts them on the front page of magazines and among the most sought-after names in the Betway app.
But you don’t have to aim for a career in sports to pick up a sport – and you don’t have to spend your every waking hour practising it. There are many reasons to pick one up, with the most important ones being your health and the fun you have playing them. But for this, it’s important to choose the right sport.
Today, let’s take a look at some sports that are easy to pick up and barely require special equipment.
Badminton
Badminton is a great sport. It trains your reflexes, it is aerobic exercise (high-intensity exercise on par with running or swimming) and it will improve your stamina and agility, and motor coordination. And, needless to say, it is a fun thing to do on a summer day on a beach or – why not – indoors when the weather is bad.
For those who have only tried the “fun” version of badminton, it may come as a surprise that it is a bona fide sport – and an Olympic discipline, on top of it. China is currently the most successful badminton nation, with dozens of gold medals won in pretty much every edition of the Games.
Football tennis
Tennis with your feet? How crazy is that? Well, not that crazy, considering that it has been around for almost a century. The first official game of football tennis – futnet as it is also called – has been played by a football club in Prague, Czechia, with two or three players on each side of a net. The official rules of the game were codified in 1940 – that’s when the sport of football tennis was born.
Futnet is a sport that you can pick up at any time. Normally, it requires a field of a specific shape and size and a net in the middle – but you can simply draw a few lines in the sand and you’re ready to play. It can be played by two, four or six players – teams of one, two or three – and all you need for it is a ball, any ball.
Futnet is a great exercise that will strengthen your legs and lungs, improve your balance, precision, flexibility, and balance. Besides, it is a great activity even for those with lower physical strength because it relies more on technique than stamina.
Dancing
The last entry in our list may surprise you. Dancing as a sport? Well, it is practised professionally all over the globe, and some of its offshoots – including figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics, and, beginning with 2024, breakdancing – have even made it to the Olympics.
Dancing is an activity that can be done anywhere, with or without a partner, all you need is music – perhaps not even that if you are brave enough. As an exercise, it is a great choice – it moves your entire body, helps with balance and coordination, burns as many calories as jogging, and it’s also a lot of fun to do. And it doesn’t even matter if you don’t know the steps.
