Individual Sports

There are certain sports, such as golf, bowling, and tennis that, for the most part,
are considered individual sports, which are sports played alone without teammates.
Yes, there are exceptions, such as the Ryder Cup in golf, in which two teams from
either side of the Atlantic Ocean compete, but often the competition is for an
individual trophy. A sample of the thousands of individual sports includes.

Triple jump, also called hop, step, and jump, event in athletics (track and field) in which an
athlete makes a horizontal jump
for distance incorporating three
distinct, continuous movements—
a hop, in which the athlete takes
off and lands on the same foot; a
step, landing on the other foot;
and a jump, landing in any
manner, usually with both feet
together. If a jumper touches
ground with a wrong leg, the
jump is disallowed. Other rules
are similar to those of the long
jump.

The origins of the triple jump are

obscure, but it may be related to
the ancient children’s
game hopscotch. It has been a modern Olympic event since the first Games in 1896; at those
Games two hops were used, but one hop was used at the Olympics thereafter. (The standing
triple jump was contested only in the 1900 and 1904 Olympics.)

Weight throw, sport of throwing a weight for distance or height. Men have long matched
strength and skill at hurling
objects. The roth cleas, or
wheel feat, reputedly was a
major test of the ancient
Tailteann Games in Ireland.
The competition consisted of
various methods of
throwing: from shoulder or
side, with one or two hands,
and with or without a run.
The implements used varied
widely in weight and
conformation. Early in the
20th century, records were
listed for throwing weights of 14, 28, 35, and 56 pounds (6.3, 12.7, 15.9, and 25.4 kg) for both
distance and height. Weight throwing is distinct from the shot put and the discus throw and from
the present-day hammer throw.

In 1904 and 1920, 56-pound weight-throwing contests for distance were included as an athletics
event in the Olympic Games. Étienne Desmarteau (Canada) won the 1904 competition with a
throw of 10.46 metres (34 feet 4 inches), and Pat MacDonald (United States) won in 1920 with
a heave of 11.26 metres (36.93 feet). In 1914 P. Donovan (United States) set a world record for
throwing the 56-pound weight for height with a distance of 5.17 metres (16.96 feet). By the
second half of the 20th century, there no longer was any international competition in weight
throwing, and performances did not receive world-record listing by the International Association
of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world governing body of track and field.

Hammer throw, sport

in athletics (track and field) in
which a hammer is hurled for
distance, using two hands within a
throwing circle.

The sport developed centuries ago

in the British Isles. Legends trace it
to the Tailteann Games held in
Ireland about 2000 BCE, when the
Celtic hero Cú Chulainn gripped a
chariot wheel by its axle, whirled it
around his head, and threw it
farther than did any other
individual. Wheel hurling was later
replaced by throwing a boulder
attached to the end of a wooden
handle. Forms of hammer throwing were practiced among the ancient Teutonic tribes at religious
festivals honouring the god Thor, and sledgehammer throwing was practiced in 15th- and 16th-
century Scotland and England.

Decathlon, athletic competition lasting two consecutive days in

which contestants take part in 10 track-and-field events. It was
introduced as a three-day event at the Olympic Games in 1912.
Decathlon events are: (first day) 100-metre dash, running long
(broad) jump, shot put, high jump, and 400-metre run; (second
day) 110-metre hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw,
and 1,500-metre run. Competitors are scored for their
performance in each event according to a table established by
the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

The table has been changed periodically to keep pace with

improvements in world records. The first one was used from
1912 to 1936, while the decathlon was still a three-day event; a
second from 1936 to 1950 (with minor revisions in 1952); and a
third from 1952 to 1964. All emphasized excellent
performances in the individual events. A fourth table in use
from 1964 to 1985 and a fifth introduced in 1985 favoured the
athlete who could score evenly in all 10 events.
Dual Sports
Dual sports is a type of sports that are played by two people playing against each
other. This is similar to team sports, which refers to sports where two groups play
against each other, only that its a 1V1 (one versus one) competition.

Badminton is a racquet sport played using

racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net.
Although it may be played with larger
teams, the most common forms of the
game are "singles" (with one player per
side) and "doubles" (with two players per
side). Badminton is often played as a
casual outdoor activity in a yard or on a
beach; formal games are played on a
rectangular indoor court. Points are scored
by striking the shuttlecock with the
racquet and landing it within the opposing
side's half of the court.
Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes over the net. Play ends once the
shuttlecock has struck the floor or if a fault has been called by the umpire, service judge, or (in
their absence) the opposing side.
The shuttlecock is a feathered or (in informal matches) plastic projectile which flies differently
from the balls used in many other sports. In particular, the feathers create much higher drag,
causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly. Shuttlecocks also have a high top speed
compared to the balls in other racquet sports. The flight of the shuttlecock gives the sport its
distinctive nature.
The game developed in British India from the earlier game of battledore and shuttlecock.
European play came to be dominated by Denmark but the game has become very popular in
Asia, with recent competitions dominated by China. Since 1992, badminton has been a Summer
Olympic sport with four events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and women's
doubles, with mixed doubles added four years later. At high levels of play, the sport demands
excellent fitness: players require aerobic stamina, agility, strength, speed, and precision. It is also
a technical sport, requiring good motor coordination and the development of sophisticated
racquet movements.

Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or
between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung
with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the
opponent's court. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the
opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball validly will
not gain a point, while the opposite player will.
 Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of
society and at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone
who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The
modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in
the late 19th century as lawn tennis. It had close connections
both to various field (lawn) games such as croquet and bowls
as well as to the older racket sport today called real tennis.
The rules of modern tennis have changed little since the
1890s. Two exceptions are that until 1961 the server had to
keep one foot on the ground at all times,and the adoption of
the tiebreak in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional
tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology
coupled with a point-challenge system, which allows a player
to contest the line call of a point, a system known as Hawk-
Eye.
Tennis is played by millions of recreational players and is also
a popular worldwide spectator sport. The four Grand Slam
tournaments (also referred to as the Majors) are especially
popular: the Australian Open played on hard courts, the
French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on
grass courts, and the US Open also played on hard courts.

Chess is a board game played between two players. It is sometimes called Western chess or
international chess to distinguish it from related games such as xiangqi and shogi. The current
form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after
evolving from chaturanga, a similar but much older game of Indian origin. Today, chess is one of
the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide.
Chess is an abstract
strategy game and involves
no hidden information. It is
played on a square
chessboard with 64 squares
arranged in an eight-by-
eight grid. At the start,
each player (one
controlling the white
pieces, the other
controlling the black
pieces) controls sixteen
pieces: one king, one
queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. The object of the game is to
checkmate the opponent's king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in "check") and
there is no way for it to escape. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw.
Organized chess arose in the 19th century. Chess competition today is governed internationally
by FIDE (International Chess Federation). The first universally recognized World Chess
Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886; Magnus Carlsen is the current World
Champion. A huge body of chess theory has developed since the game's inception. Aspects of art
are found in chess composition, and chess in its turn influenced Western culture and art and has
connections with other fields such as mathematics, computer science, and psychology.
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players
hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small
solid rackets. The game takes place on a
hard table divided by a net. Except for the
initial serve, the rules are generally as
follows: players must allow a ball played
toward them to bounce once on their side
of the table and must return it so that it
bounces on the opposite side at least once.
A point is scored when a player fails to
return the ball within the rules. Play is fast
and demands quick reactions. Spinning the
ball alters its trajectory and limits an
opponent's options, giving the hitter a great
advantage.
Table tennis is governed by the worldwide organization International Table Tennis Federation
(ITTF), founded in 1926. ITTF currently includes 226 member associations. The table tennis
official rules are specified in the ITTF handbook. Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since
1988, with several event categories. From 1988 until 2004, these were men's singles, women's
singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. Since 2008, a team event has been played instead
of the doubles.
Team Sports
A team sport includes any sport where individuals are organized into opposing
teams which compete to win. Team members act together towards a shared
objective. This can be done in a number of ways such as outscoring the opposing
team. Team members set goals, make decisions, communicate, manage conflict,
and solve problems in a supportive, trusting atmosphere in order to accomplish
their objectives. Examples are basketball, volleyball, rugby, water polo, handball,
lacrosse, cricket, baseball, and the various forms of association football, doubles
tennis, and hockey.

Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a
goal. Unqualified, the word football normally means the form of football that is the most popular
where the word is used. Sports commonly called football include association football (known as
soccer in North America and
Oceania); gridiron football
(specifically American football or
Canadian football); Australian
rules football; rugby union and
rugby league; and Gaelic football.
These various forms of football
share to varying extent common
origins and are known as football
codes.

There are a number of references

to traditional, ancient, or
prehistoric ball games played in many different parts of the world. Contemporary codes of
football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools during
the 19th century. The expansion and cultural influence of the British Empire allowed these rules
of football to spread to areas of British influence outside the directly controlled Empire.By the
end of the 19th century, distinct regional codes were already developing: Gaelic football, for
example, deliberately incorporated the rules of local traditional football games in order to
maintain their heritage. In 1888, The Football League was founded in England, becoming the
first of many professional football associations. During the 20th century, several of the various
kinds of football grew to become some of the most popular team sports in the world.
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team
tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has
been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since Tokyo 1964. Beach
volleyball was introduced to the programme at the Atlanta 1996. The adapted version of
volleyball at the Summer Paralympic Games is sitting volleyball.

The complete set of rules is extensive, but play essentially proceeds as follows: a player on one
of the teams begins a 'rally' by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a
hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the
receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court.
The team may touch the ball up to three times (one player cannot double touch the ball) to return
the ball to the other side of the court, but individual players may not touch the ball twice
consecutively. Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack. An attack is an
attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the team receiving the ball is
unable to pass the ball and continue the rally, thus, losing the point. The team that wins the rally
is awarded a point and serves the ball to start the next rally

Polo is a horseback ball game, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team
sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-
handled wooden mallet to hit a
small hard ball through the
opposing team's goal. Each
team has four mounted riders,
and the game usually lasts one
to two hours, divided into
periods called chukkas or
"chukkers".
Polo has been called "the sport
of kings",and has become a
spectator sport for equestrians
and high society, often
supported by sponsorship. The concept of the game and its variants date back from the 6th
century BC to the 1st century AD, originated from equestrian games played by nomadic Iranian
and Turkic peoples. The sport was at first a training game for Persian cavalry units, usually the
royal guard or other elite troops.A notable example is Saladin, who was known for being a
skilled polo player which contributed to his cavalry training. It is now popular around the world,
with well over 100 member countries in the Federation of International Polo, played
professionally in 16 countries, and was an Olympic sport from 1900 to 1936.
Arena polo is an indoor/semi-outdoor variant with similar rules, and is played with three riders
per team. The playing field is smaller, enclosed and usually of compacted sand or fine aggregate,
and often indoors. Arena polo has more maneuvering due to space limitations, and uses an air-
inflated ball slightly larger than the hard solid ball used in field polo. Standard mallets are used,
though slightly larger-head arena mallets are an option.

Basketball is a team sport in

which two teams, most commonly
of five players each, opposing one
another on a rectangular court,
compete with the primary
objective of shooting a basketball
(approximately 9.4 inches (24 cm)
in diameter) through the defender's
hoop (a basket 18 inches (46 cm)
in diameter mounted 10 feet (3.048
m) high to a backboard at each end
of the court, while preventing the
opposing team from shooting
through their own hoop. A field
goal is worth two points, unless
made from behind the three-point
line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to
shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws. The team with the most
points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an
additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.
Players advance the ball by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or by passing it to a
teammate, both of which require considerable skill. On offense, players may use a variety of
shots – the layup, the jump shot, or a dunk; on defense, they may steal the ball from a dribbler,
intercept passes, or block shots; either offense or defense may collect a rebound, that is, a missed
shot that bounces from rim or backboard. It is a violation to lift or drag one's pivot foot without
dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling.
The five players on each side fall into five playing positions. The tallest player is usually the
center, the second-tallest and strongest is the power forward, a slightly shorter but more agile
player is the small forward, and the shortest players or the best ball handlers are the shooting
guard and the point guard, who implements the coach's game plan by managing the execution of
offensive and defensive plays (player positioning). Informally, players may play three-on-three,
two-on-two, and one-on-one.