List of beach sports

Pictorial examples of beach sports. Left to right, top to bottom: beach handball, sand yachting, beach flags, sandboarding, beach wrestling, beach soccer, beach volleyball, frescobol/matkot, and beach racing.

Beach sports are a classification of sport activities which are conducted on a sand surface. They are traditionally associated with being played on a natural, coastal sand beach, but also often take place on artificially constructed in-land playing fields using imported sand.[1][2][3] Some beach sports are played on hard, compacted and smooth sand, whilst others are played on soft, loose and uneven sand; a handful are played on both. Many are sand-based adaptations of sports already well established on other surfaces;[4][5] most are played in smaller playing areas than their parent sports due to the more difficult and exhausting nature of traversing such a yielding terrain.[5] The popularity and range of beach sports has experienced a notable rise since the emergence of pro beach volleyball as a successful commercial venture in the 1980s.[1][6][7] Beach sports are practiced from a range of casual and non-competitive to professional-level competition.[4][5]

The definition of beach sports is also frequently extended to include water sports conducted in an ocean or similar waterbody, overlooked by an adjacent beach which forms an integral part of the aesthetic and culture of such sports; this list excludes these.

  1. ^ a b Kasprzak, Marek; Łopuch, Michał (10 July 2022). "Sand: A Critical Component for Beach Volleyball Courts". Applied Sciences. 12 (14): 6985. doi:10.3390/app12146985. Retrieved 1 November 2022. the construction of beach sports courts away from the seashore requires the use of the right quality sand{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Krzywanski, Jaroslaw; Kuchar, Ernest; Mierzynski, Rafal (24 March 2021). "Cutaneous larva migrans in a beach volleyball player". IDCases. 24: e01084. doi:10.1016/j.idcr.2021.e01084. PMC 8047501. PMID 33889485. The sand for beach sports is often imported for competitions, and the proximity of water is not necessary.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Playing beach soccer outside of a natural beach". KICK442. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Beach Sports for Kids". ActiveActivities. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "List of Beach Sports". Rookie Road. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  6. ^ Alderside, Anya; Cavalcanti, Pedro; Diaz, Francisco; Roitman, Fernando (2015). "Diving into the Sand – A BEACH model for emerging lifestyle sports" (PDF). International Centre for Sports Studies. pp. 13–16. Retrieved 29 October 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Clift, Zoie (1 August 2015). "Beach Sports Put a Stake in the Sand" (PDF). Sportstravel Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2022.