Lesser Known Adapted Sports: Ultimate Frisbee, Disc Golf and Badminton

We talk a lot about adapted sports here at SPINALpedia. The Paralympians, the brand new, and everyone’s favorite – extreme athletes. But today we’re talking about a few lesser known adapted sports. Sports you never considered before, but have their own leagues and everything, proving they’re just as popular, just not as widely known.

Our first video comes from SPINALpedia user wheelzoffortune – a paraplegic who makes videos showing everything he does, to showering to cooking. And he loves being active. This video is his homage to one of his favorite sports – disc golf; the free frisbee-esque version of golf.

And as wheelzoffortune likes to says in  his video – what’s great about disc golf is that not much is needed in the way of adaptations – just a pair of arms and a decent amount of strength. Watch his throw a drive at a disc golf course near his home (and putt too; chain noise oh yeah)

Our second video shows Wheelchair Ultimate Frisbee being played at the University of New Hampshire, an intermural team with both disabled and able-bodied players. But the catch – the able-bodied players must use a wheelchair to play.  And what’s awesome about the University of New Hampshire is that the players from the able-bodied ultimate frisbee team play on this team too. Way cool.

This video from the university is a cool montage of an average game night for WC Ultimate Frisbee, showing a bit of crash and dash that can also happen on the court. Looks like a blast, but good hand movement is a must. Watch them play

And our third video profiles a classic sport that originates from England – badminton. I loved playing badminton in 8th grade. We could play it indoors in the wintertime and it was awesome. All we needed was a gymnasium to play in and we were set. In this video from the Devon Racqueteers Wheelchair Badminton Club, watch Denny Vettom, a paraplegic, play some very sweet badminton from his chair

This sport is awesomely fun to watch too. It’s just as fast as the able-bodied version, and this is not always the case with other adapted sports. It’s a long match at 11 minutes, but to get a feel for why this sport needs to become big over here in the US. Watch the match now

Adapted sports can be all over the place….maybe even wheelchair cricket exists. The point – almost any sport can be adapted, and it should be done because hey – we can get a little stir-crazy over here in paralysis-land. A little variation in adapted sports is always good for the soul.

What lesser known adapted sports do you love?

Watch the videos!

– Adapted Disc Golf

– Wheelchair Ultimate Frisbee

– Wheelchair Badminton