GOLF

Golf as we know it today originated from a game played on the eastern coast of Scotland in the Kingdom of Fife during the 15th century. Players would hit a pebble around a natural course of sand dunes, rabbit runs and tracks using a stick or primitive club.

Some historians believe that Kolven from Holland and Chole from Belgium influenced the game. The latter was introduced into Scotland in 1421.However while these games and countless others are stick and ball games, they are missing that vital ingredient that is unique to golf - the hole. Whatever the argument, there can be no dispute that Scotland gave birth to the game we know as golf today.

During the mid-15th century, Scotland was preparing to defend itself against an English invasion. The population's enthusiastic pursuit of golf and soccer to the neglect of military training (archery primarily) caused the Scottish parliament of King James II to ban both sports in 1457. The ban was reaffirmed in 1470 and 1491 although people largely ignored it. Only in 1502 with the Treaty of Glasgow was the ban lifted with King James IV (James 1 of England) himself taking up the sport.

HANDBALL

Handball is a sport wherein players play with a ball without using playing instruments. Passing and bouncing is used to move the ball around and player use their hand instead of their feet to move the ball around. The purpose of the game is to throw the ball into the opponent's goal.

Handball sports finds it's origin in ancient Rome and Greece. The way handball sports is no played today evolved sometime in the 19th century in Northern Europe, primarily is the countries Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Handball began to be played at the international level in the 1920's.

This team sport is played by two teams. Each team is made up of seven players - six players and a goalkeeper. The ball's size is smaller than that of the football. The handball court covers an area of forty by twenty meters. A dividing line runs right through the court and goals are placed at either end of the court.

Players have to move the ball to the opposing team's goals to take a point. Once a player has scored goals, the game is restarted by the conceding team. At this point, it is important for all players to be behind the line in their half of the court, otherwise the restarting throw will have to be done again.
Handball moves at a fast pace and players do make body contact, but this can only be done with their torso. If a player is seen to be using arms to stop an attacker the play is restarted and the attacking team is given the ball in this restart.

TENNIS

Tennis, originally called lawn tennis, is believed to have been invented by the British army officer Major Walter Clopton Wingfield in 1873.  It was supposedly modeled after English court tennis, squash racquets and badminton.  It has since become a widely played game both professionally and on amateur courts worldwide.

Tennis is a sport played on a court with a racket and a ball.  It can be played by two (as in singles) or four (as in doubles) indoors or outdoors.  Courts are divided by a net and marked with two sets of lines, one for singles and one for doubles play.

Each point of a tennis game begins with a serve.  The player serving the ball is the server and the one receiving the ball is the receiver.  The server tosses the ball into the air and strikes it with the racket before it touches the ground, aiming to hit the ball into the opponent's area to begin the volley.  The server usually uses an overhand motion to strike the ball from behind the base line.  The first serve of the game is hit from the right side of the court into the diagonally opposite side of the court.  A fault is called if the ball does not enter the opponent's court on this side, is out of court bounds, or is served into the net.  After a fault, the server may attempt to serve again, but if the next serve results in a fault, a double fault is called.  A double fault results in a point being awarded to the server's opponent.  If a proper serve is not touched by the opponent's racket, it is called an ace.  After the first point, the serve is made from the left side of the court and alternates accordingly after each serve throughout the game.  A successful serve results in the ball being hit back and forth until one player or team fails to return it.  The ball must not bounce twice in a row on the same side of the court.  It also cannot be hit into the net or outside boundary lines.

TABLE TENNIS

Many people know ping-pong. It's the game that is usually played in the basement with an opponent, with plastic paddles in hand that made the distinctive noises when a ball was struck. A fun game it was, sort of like playing T-ball with huge yellow plastic bats or nerf football. But like those two familiar games, ping-pong also has a real sport behind it.

Table Tennis can be classified as a major sport worldwide, with millions of participants, major tournaments(with its own superstars), and many other things that make a sport truly a class of its own.

As a sport that emphasizes endurance and reflexes above simple size and strength, people of all ages and genders can play on an equal field. The equipment can be had for a reasonable price, and the sport is played indoors so year-round competition and practice is possible. A game requires only two players at the least, and typically lasts around 30 minutes, enabling quick matches during breaks, etc.

Table tennis truly is a sport for the masses, and its widespread adoption around the world is a testament for its versatility. The United States has been lagging behind Europe and Asia in per capita participation of table tennis as a sport. With enough enthusiasm and support, however, this intense and exciting sport can succeed beside the old mainstays.

JAVELIN THROW

The javelin throw is an athletics (track and field) throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear-like object made of metal and fibreglass.

Rules are similar to other throwing events: competitors take a number of throws, their best legal throw is recorded and the winner is the individual with the longest legal throw. The most noticeable difference with the other events is that rather than a throwing circle as used in discus, shot put and hammer throw, the competitors have a run-up area coated with the same rubberised surface used for coating running tracks, and a painted line on the surface from which they must release the javelin from. The javelin's point must touch the ground first for the throw to be legal.

Javelin throwers gain considerable forward velocity in their run-up to their throws, and as well as strength demonstrate athleticism more similar to running and jumping events. Thus, the athletes share more similar physical characteristics to those athletes rather than the bulky frames of the strength throwers.

The javelin throw has been part of the Summer Olympics since its inception. Although the javelin is currently used only for sport in most areas, it has a long history of use for hunting and warfare. There are, for instance, numerous references to the javelin in ancient Hellenic civilization, who practised a form of javelin throwing at the ancient Olympics. The objective there, however was to throw at a target rather than for distance.

ICE HOCKEY

Hockey is one of the world's fastest, intense, and competitive sports. The sport has many interesting aspects, to its players, history, teams, pro leagues, trophies, jerseys and much more.

In North America and Europe, the sport is very popular. In Canada the sport has a religious following. It is widely considered Canada's national past time due to the fact that Canadians feel they invented the game.

The sport has a rich history in the United States as well, particularly in the eastern parts of the United States in states such as Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Illinois, and New York just to name a few.

In European countries such as Sweden, Czech Republic, Russia, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, and Slovakia, the sports is very popular as well.

BADMINTON

Badminton is a sport which is played with the racquet between two opposite players or two opposite pairs. These two opposite players and pairs take the position on opposite sides of the rectangular and it is divided by a net. All players are score the points by just striking the shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and land in their opponents half of the court. The name of shuttlecock is the shortened to shuttle.

Badminton is an Olympic sport and it is divided into five disciplines: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles, in which each pair is man's and woman's. The first badminton club in the world, Bath Badminton club 1877, which transcribed the rules of badminton for the first time. In 1893, the badminton of England association is established the proper set of rules of badminton.