extreme sports

Extreme sports is a general term used to describe sports that feature speed, danger, height, a high level of physical exertion or spectacular stunts and have their roots in 1960's countercultural movements.  Research by American Sports Data found that new-style sports such as snowboarding and paintball have became more popular at the expense of more traditional sports.

Snowboarding was up by Thirty per cent between 1998 and 2004 while paintball increased by 63 per cent over the same period (to 9.6million participants), and indoor rock climbing was up by Sixty Three per cent (to 7.7million). By contrast, the number of registered baseball players fell by Twenty eight per cent between 1987 and 2000, dropping to 10.9 million players. Softball and volleyball fell by Thirty seven per cent and thirty six per cent respectively.

Another characteristic of extreme sports is that they tend to be individual rather than team sports. Extreme sports can include both competitive and non-competitive activities.

The most popular extreme sports in the United States are: Inline Skating, Skateboarding, Paintball, Snowboarding, BMX, Roller Hockey and Paragliding.