Disabilities are difficult to live with, especially for those undergoing an adjustment period if they’re recently disabled. Perhaps you think your days of activity are over? Well, that’s not always the case, and there’s still a great many activities that you can partake in to boost your mood and fitness.
While mobility solutions are out there for the disabled, sporting solutions are too! No matter who you are, sport is about fitness and fun, and there are even opportunities for professional competitions among the disabled community too, as the Paralympics well prove! Sport is adapting to accommodate all. Consequently, here are some of the sports that warmly welcome participation from the disabled community.
Para Archery
Archery in general is often overlooked as a sport by great swathes of people, but it’s actually a sport that helps flaunt strength, skill and precision. Interestingly, para archery was actually one of the first sports where wheelchair athletes had organised competition, charting new territory for sport and its participants. Is there a better place to begin?
There’re many different categories for competition depending on the nature of the disability the contestant has. Of course, these principles will be found in any of the casual clubs or practice sessions that you join too, which also include any assistive devices you may need to help your shooting. All in all, para archery is a sport that, while perhaps slower than others, allows you to really build up muscle and hone your skills in your own time.
Wheelchair Tennis
Tennis is another sport that is happy to adapt. For wheelchair users, the sport is renamed and repurposed to Wheelchair Tennis, where players get two bounces of the ball in place of one. People with prosthetics are also encouraged to play, and all can even compete against non-disabled players (who still only get one bounce) if they want to!
It’s incredibly accessible. In the UK, there is a website dedicated to helping you discover a nearby game so you can get involved all the quicker. Consequently, know that you can scout around for a local match no matter where you are. The demand and availability are out there, and like archery, you will build up a wide array of exercise points in no time!
Wheelchair Racing
Perhaps the most well known parasport of them all, Wheelchair Racing is hugely popular and enormously fun. It can take place as a road race or track, and they’ve been a part of the summer Paralympics for quite some time. The history of this sport is wide and well documented and has given people at their lowest ebb a chance to shine.
Cast aside the standard wheelchair when you’re racing and introduce yourself to the three wheeled counterparts; equipped with two larger wheels at the back and a smaller wheel at the front. It’s designed to help you ramp up speed and build your sense of fun and freedom alongside your momentum. In the end, few sports are as liberating as this one, disabled or not!
