Did you ever wonder how many different types of balls are used in sports?

By David McClelland

Before we look at all of the different sports and the balls used to play them, let me tell you about only those sports I have played that use balls. My first sport was baseball(1) because my dad had been a baseball pitcher in high school and in college and he would take me out to play catch from a young age. My second game was six-man football(2) which I began to play when I was about ten. I really enjoyed that. In six-man football, you have a center, a lineman on either side of the center and three backs; i.e., a quarterback and two running backs. I don't know if anyone plays that game today. I began to play basketball(3) later in grade school. In high school, I played only football, basketball and track. We also had baseball, for a total of four sports in my school, but I went out for track instead. Of course, at home we also played croquet(4). The sports that my school did not have could fill a book and included sports that are common in many high schools today; e.g., tennis, volleyball, wrestling, soccer, swimming and golf.

So far, you can see that the only balls I had used in sports through high school were the football and basketball. Let's move ahead about 50 years. Today, I play tennis(5), racquetball(6), squash(7), pickleball(8), volleyball (9), water volleyball(10), golf(11), bowling(12), pool/billiards(13), bocce ball(14), handball(15) and ping pong(16). We use balls in every one of those sports. For about 25 years, I also played slow-pitch softball(17).

Of course, not all sports use balls. Those that I can think of that don't use balls include ice hockey, field hockey, fishing, hunting, badminton, track, surfing, cycling, sports car racing, drag racing, motorcycle racing, wrestling, boxing, skiing (downhill, cross-country & jumping), ice skating & speed skating, snow boarding, bobsledding, martial arts, shooting sports, kick boxing, horseback riding/racing/rodeo and other equestrian events. Then, there are rock climbing, snow shoeing, disc golf, gymnastics, fencing, curling, roller skating/blading, roller derby, kite & model airplane flying, bungee jumping, sky diving, hot air ballooning, motorboat racing, sailboat racing, parasailing, archery, canoeing, swimming & diving, rowing, weightlifting, luge, kayaking, whitewater rafting, running, speed walking, wallyball, scuba diving, snorkeling, darts, horseshoes, hang gliding, bicycling, taboggoning and I'm sure there are many more. Our daughter coaches cheerleading and she said that many consider that to be a sport. It is clear that there are many more sports that don't use balls than those that do.

Sports that exist that I've never played that use balls include polo(18), cricket(19), rugby(20), dodgeball(21), lawn bowling(22) and lacrosse(23). That's 23 sports that I can think of that use balls. I'm sure there must be more. How many more can you name?