21 types of sports: characteristics and examples

There are many types of sports according to various classifications. The most common is to group sports according to their similarity, either because they have in common the environment in which they are practiced, the number of participants, because they require the use of a particular equipment, or because they are practiced at a certain time of year specific.

For example, in water sports all the activities that can be carried out in the water are included, in collective sports all the activities are grouped disciplines that require more than one participant, motor sports include motorized vehicles used on land, sea or air, etc.

For this reason, it often happens that the same discipline belongs to several categories. For example, him surf It is an individual, aquatic, extreme and sliding sport at the same time.

Next we are going to know some types of sports and their most representative examples.

Sport types	Characteristics	Example
Aquatic	They are practiced in the water, either in open or closed spaces.	Swimming
Aerial	They are practiced in the air and include the use of light airplanes, vehicles without fuselage or special equipment.	Paragliding
Terrestrial	Any sport that is not practiced in water or air.	Mountaineering
Individuals	They only require one participant for their execution.	Athletics
Team	They require more than one person for their execution and it is evaluated by teams.	Soccer
With ball	They require the mandatory use of a ball and can be individual or team.	Tennis
Tabletop / Mental	They are played on a board or table and require strategy skills.	Chess
Motor	You need a motorized vehicle that can be land, air or water.	Motorcycling
With racket or similar	They require the use of a racket, bat, mallet, or similar accessory to propel a ball.	Lacrosse
Athletics	They measure the physical capacity of the participants in terms of strength, speed or distance.	Long jump
Combined tests	They combine several athletics events in the same competition.	triathlon
Gymnastics	Sequences are executed with or without the help of elements.	Rhythmic gymnastics
Extremes / controlled risk	They involve a potential risk to the physical integrity of the competitor.	Base jump
Of combat	Participants make physical contact with some parts of their body and there may be blows.	Boxing
Grip	The participants make physical contact but combat is not allowed, but knockdown.	Greco-Roman fight
Precision	They are based on the aim to a target in a certain number of attempts.	Archery
Sliding	They are executed by sliding on a surface with or without the help of elements.	Skateboard
Of strength	They require the demonstration of physical force over a number of attempts.	Weightlifting
Of winter	All sports activities that require snow, ice or cold weather to run.	Snowboard
Cycling	Any sport that needs a bicycle for its execution.	Road cycling
Of Mountain	They are the disciplines that are carried out in mountainous terrain.	Climbing.

1. Watersports

They are all the activities or practices that are carried out in the water, either in closed spaces, such as the pool of a gym, or in open spaces such as lagoons and beaches. They can be practiced individually or in teams.

Examples of water sports are swimming, surf, diving or sport fishing.

2. Air or aeronautical sports

They are the sports activities that take place in the air. Depending on the discipline, they may require the use of closed aircraft such as light airplanes, vehicles without a fuselage such as ultralights or special equipment such as parachutes.

Examples of aerial sports They are model airplanes, paragliding, parachuting and aerobatics.

3. Land sports

They are all practices that are carried out on dry land. This means that it includes all sports that are not water or air, so it is a very broad category.

Examples of land sports It would be mountaineering, cycling, marathons, motor racing, athletics, etc.

4. individual sports

They are those that can be done without the need for accompaniment. This means that a team is not required to train, play or compete. In this case, performance is evaluated on an individual basis.

Examples of individual sports are athletics, weightlifting, surf, climbing, gymnastics, individual rowing, etc.

5. team sports

They are all sports activities that require more than one person to practice them. This implies from sports in pairs to collective competitions. In this type of sports, performance is evaluated as a group, regardless of the individual performance of the team members.

Examples of team sports they are baseball, soccer, basketball, hockey, team rowing, and so on.

See also Difference between group and team

6. Ball sports

They are all the practices that require a ball in a compulsory way since without this element, the game could not be carried out. In general, the sporting dynamics itself involves the participation of several players organized into teams.

Examples of ball sports they are football, billiards, handball, bowling, tennis, volleyball, etc.

7. Table sports

Also called board games, they are all sports activities that involve the use of a board or a flat surface. Although they do not involve physical activity, they do require mental agility, hence they are also called mental sports. They can involve the use of strategies or depend on chance.

Examples of table sports are chess, Scrabble, card games, role-playing games, the Monopoly, etc.

See also Intelligence types

8. Motor sports

They are all disciplines that require the use of motorized vehicles, whether on land, water (motorboating) or air (aeronautics). They usually involve speed competitions.

Examples of motorsports they are motor racing, motorcycling, motorboat racing (motor boating) and aeronautical stunts.

9. Racket sports or similar

This category includes all sports activities that require the use of an accessory to propel a ball, such as a racket, a bat, a stick, etc. They generally combine speed and agility and can be played individually or in teams.

Examples of racquet sports are tennis, baseball, golf, cricket or the lacrosse.

10. Athletics

Athletics groups together several disciplines in which the physical capacity of the participants is measured through tests of speed, endurance, height or distance. The first reference exists of this sport dates from the year 776 a. C in Greece, making it the oldest organized sport out there.

Examples of athletics events they are sprinting, triple jump and javelin throwing.

11. Combined event sports

These are activities that combine several athletic disciplines in the same practice. They are done individually, usually last several days and can be carried out on indoor or outdoor courts.

An example of combined tests is the indoor heptathlon, which combines a 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60-meter hurdles sprint, pole vault, and 1000 sprint meter dash.

12. Gymnastics

Gymnastics groups several modalities that require the execution of sequences with or without the help of elements. Participation can be individual or by teams and the variety, quantity and technique of the movements carried out is evaluated.

Some examples are artistic, rhythmic, acrobatic and trampoline gymnastics.

13. extreme sports

They are all sports practices that involve an obvious risk for the competitor. They are also known as controlled risk sports or adventure sports. They can be run on land, water or in the air and require physical and emotional skills to manage the hazards related to the activity.

Examples of extreme sports are rock climbing, base jumping, kitesurf, the BMX, abseiling, etc.

14. Combat sports

They are all disciplines that involve physical contact between two competitors, based on certain rules that allow the use of certain parts of the body. They usually have a limited duration and require a referee to ensure compliance with the rules and the physical integrity of the opponents.

Examples of combat sports are the muay thai, boxing and kick boxing.

15. Grip sports

They are disciplines that involve physical contact between two opponents but do not require blows, but rather seek the physical surrender of the other through knockdown techniques. In this type of sports, the submission of the rival is considered an honorable practice and implies the immediate victory of the other opponent.

Examples of grip sports They are the Olympic wrestling, the Greco-Roman wrestling and judo.

16. Precision sports

They are all sports that require aiming at a target with the greatest accuracy in the fewest possible attempts. For this reason they are also known as marksmanship games, and require great hand-eye coordination to achieve greater skill.

Examples of precision sports are golf, archery, bowling, the paintball or billiards.

17. Sliding sports

As the name implies, they are all disciplines that involve sliding on a surface and may require the help of other elements. They can be run individually or collectively.

Examples of sliding sports are ice skating, ice hockey, roller skating, surf, the longboard, the windsurfing and the skateboard, among others.

18. Strength sports

They are so called because the objective is for the participants to demonstrate their physical strength. The competitions of these disciplines usually have several tests or attempts and are limited by time, by the weight to be lifted or by the speed with which the force is demonstrated.

Examples of strength sports they are weightlifting, strength athletics, powerlifting, or shot put.

19. winter sports

It refers to all sports activities that are practiced during that season of the year because snow, ice or specific weather conditions are required to be carried out. This type of sports has its own Olympic Games, which have been held every four years since 1924.

Examples of winter sports are skiing, ice climbing, snowboard, sledding, etc.

20. Cycling

Within cycling, all the activities that require the use of a bicycle to move are grouped, either in the covered field or in the open air (asphalt or mountain). In general, the goal is to travel a certain distance in the shortest time possible, with the exception of certain disciplines such as BMX, in which the variety and precision of stunts.

Examples of bicycle sports are mountain biking, road biking, cyclo-cross, and Freestyle BMX.

21. Mountain Sports

As its name indicates, this type of sport groups together all the activities that are carried out in mountainous terrain. These are disciplines of great physical demand, so they require prior training or, ultimately, the assistance of a professional guide and the use of special equipment.

Examples of mountain sports are hiking, river descent, mountaineering and trail running.