Outdoor games have come a long way since classic golf was the norm, branching out into variations like disc golf that are more accessible to players who don’t have access to clubs and courses. In this article we’ll cover the now-popular alternative to the classic sport, as well as five other games you can play with friends, with no memberships required. Beyond the fun of competition, these are all sports that allow us to actively enjoy nature.
About Disc Golf
Disc golf combines the challenge of gradually advancing toward a goal found in regular golf, except it is played with discs. The discs are essentially the same as what we call frisbees–why some refer to the game as frisbee golf–except they are weighted for different purposes rather than a simple back and forth. The naming conventions follow the same ideas as golf, where the lighter discs made to fly farther are considered ‘drivers’; heavier discs, used for controlled throws that require accuracy, are ‘putters’. There are variations of each that fill the same roles as mid-range golf clubs with weights somewhere between the heavy putters and the light drivers. A disc golfer will usually only require one of each–a driver, a mid-range, and a putter–to enjoy a match, though pros may have more to handle specific situations.
The goal in disc golf can be any object the players designate as a ‘target’, be it a tree or a circle on the ground, while real courses will use disc golf baskets. These are elevated baskets usually made of metal, which have deflection mechanisms that stop the disc from ricocheting once it hits the goal. A metal chain hanging from a ring at the top of the basket’s pole is the norm. A disc thrown accurately will hit the chain and fall into the basket rather than bouncing off, else the game would have too many near-misses.
Scoring is of course up to the players depending on what each agrees is fair and fun. Generally, players will follow the rules of the course. It is the same scoring system of regular golf, where the idea is get your disc into the basket in as many shots under ‘par’ as possible. The courses will vary as well, where short courses have a par of 3, and longer courses or those with hazards may have a par of 5.
Health Benefits of Playing Disc Golf
Here comes a more essential part of disc golf. It is one of the activities that can bring you a wide range of physical and psychological benefits. In other words, you will improve your overall health entertainingly. We will highlight the essential advantages that will probably convince you to start playing it as soon as possible.
1. Improves the Health of Your Heart
We are not going to talk here about official statistics. You probably know many people that have different heart issues. People often forget how essential for their life it is to take care of their heart. They are not physically active and do not play any type of sport. Despite that, their eating habits usually focus on unhealthy food that does not require long and challenging preparation.
Disc golf requires physical activity. Because of that, you will manage to improve your heart as well as blood flow through your organism. As we said, it is one of the sports that are accessible to everyone. Because of that, spending around 1 hour every day playing disc golf can be beneficial a lot.
2. Good Way to Lose Weight
Overweight is another problem that people around the world commonly have. Eating only one meal over the day is not a solution for weight-loss. Instead of that, you should find a way to burn off the unnecessary calories. If that is the problem you have, it is recommendable that you play disc golf three times a week for at least one hour. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should continue consuming the same type and amount of food. Eating habits require changes as well.
3. Good Night Sleep
Sleeping pills have become the most popular solution for insomnia. However, is that the only solution people have? Instead of that, you should focus on natural options. First of all, you need to reschedule your day. There is no place for late dinners and coffees. Despite that, don’t start thinking about the problems that bother you. They often do not allow us to sleep properly. In the end, find a way to get tired. One of the options you have is disc golf as well.
Only two full rounds of disc golf are going to be enough to make you feel tired. You won’t have enough strength to think about everyday stressful moments. Each time when you play disc golf, the body of your temperature goes up. After you finish with an activity, your body gets colder which automatically makes you feel sleepy.
4. Boost of Immune System
Advanced technology is excellent for many reasons, but not everything around it is perfect. You must not spend the entire day inside the house in front of your smartphone. Instead of that, go outside and get some fresh air. We are sure that disc golf can be a good inspiration for something like that. Despite fresh air, you will also get vitamin D from the Sun. It is one of the vitamins that are essential for the immune system of every person.
Five Other Outdoor Sports That Challenge Accuracy
The following are five other sports similar to disc golf, which require accuracy to win:
- Archery, or target shooting, is one of the oldest forms of accuracy competition. It is the classic bow-and-arrow mechanics that challenge strength, hand-eye coordination, and steadiness to varying degrees. As it has always been, the goal of archery target shooting is to come as close to the center of a circular target–the “bullseye”–as possible, with the challenge increasing as the target is farther away.
Everything seems to be simple, but if try to hit the target for the first time, and also try to understand the terminology of archery, you can find archery terms glossary here, then this sport game will not seem very simple. - Football Darts (soccer darts) is an extension of the game of darts, which itself is a variation of archery. Instead of the sharpened projectiles thrown in regular darts, participants use small footballs with flight appendages to strike their targets. The footballs will be covered in velcro, as are the targets, so it is simple to see where the person scored by observing where the ball sticks.
Source: pinterest.com - Horseshoes is another classic game, where the goal is to toss a u-shaped object with enough accuracy that it lands encircling a small pole in the ground. Like football darts, this is a game that can be played casually at parties or competitively.
- Gorodki can be considered a combination of horseshoes and bowling. Like horseshoes, the projectile is tosses, except it is a small bat; like bowling, the goal is to knock down pins called gorodki, which can be arranged in various patterns to increase difficulty.
- Washer pitching combines elements of horseshoes and disc golf. The goal is to toss washers–thin two-inch discs thrown like small frisbees–into a hole, which is usually a pipe inside a box. The game is the same as American variation called ‘cornhole’, except with washers instead of small bean bags.
