Hamburg (dpa) - Summer is the season of lawn games and activities
like indiaca, petanque, skittles, badminton, Frisbee or boomerang
throwing. They all have two things in common: they are participant
sports and they are very entertaining. They are also excellent at
keeping the body fit.
"Those sports are played outdoors, they all involve intensive
movement and help your bodily coordination," says Theodor Stemper, a
sports doctor at the University of Wuppertal in western Germany.
Softball, badminton and table tennis are about hitting a ball with
a bat or racket in a precise direction. "That helps to train your
coordination faculties," says Stemper.
If you play those games at a slow pace the strain on the heart and
joints will be moderate. "But if you play competitively, you will
need to be in good condition." A prerequisite for outdoor games
played with a bat or racket is a level playing field that has as few
hazards to trip over as possible.
Among the traditional ball games played outside is boccia.
Variations on the game include petanque and skittles.
The common factor is that a ball is rolled along a compacted
surface of sand or grass with the aim of hitting a target. "When
you're buying one of those games keep in mind the material the balls
are made of," recommends Ulrich Brodowski, product manager at the
German-based online sports equipment trader Sport-Thieme.
An inexpensively priced plastic ball with a sand filling behaves
very differently from a steel ball or one made of wood.
Ball games are great for training coordination and dexterity but
they also help your concentration.
"Of all sports you cannot say these types of ball games are the
most healthy. But if your back is in good shape they are well worth
trying out," says Michaela Hombrecher from Germany's Techniker health
insurance company. After all, a little exercise is better than none
at all.
Sports where an object is thrown such as the discus or boomerang
are all about coordination. More ambitious players will find they
also provide the chance to run a lot, improving stamina and strength.
A traditional discus is made of plastic. "An ordinary discus has a
diameter of about 21 or 22 centimetres and weighs about 140 grams,"
says Brodowski. Lighter disks are better for training but react very
quickly to wind while heavy disks require more strength.
A lot slower than a discus is a soft nylon disk with a lead rim
for stability. "But if you play it on a hard surface such as asphalt
the rim will become scratched and worn very quickly," warns
Brodowski.
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