Top 10 Weirdest Sports in the World

You’ve probably heard of tennis, basketball or Football (which soccer to you Americans) – but you’ve probably not come across any of these sports, each one weirder than the last. These sports are real.

1. Sepak Takraw; Probably the least weird sport on the list, Sepak Takraw is sometimes referred to as kick volleyball. It’s essentially volleyball but you’re only allowed to use your feet and head to hit the ball on your opponent’s floor It’s very popular in Southeast Asia and there’s a ton of unbelievable plays in this game.

2. Shin Kicking; That’s a sport believe it or not. If you’re from the south of England, you’ve probably seen this before, but the idea of the game is to kick your opponent in the shin repeatedly to try and get them onto the ground. Before the game starts, you have to stuff your trousers full of straw, wear a lab coat for some reason, and then proceed to grapple your opponent and kick the crap out of him.

3. Caber Tossing; Whilst the English are kicking each other in the shins, the Scottish are throwing around bits of tree. Caber tossing is one of the original Scottish Highland Games and believe it or not, the object of the sport is NOT to throw the log the furthest. These logs (or cabers) are 19ft 6 inches long and weigh 175lbs and the idea is to toss the caber onto its end and for it to land in the 12 o’clock position. This is rarely done perfectly and judges are on hand to make a decision if there is a close tie.

4. Quidditch; Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last 20 years, you’ve probably heard of Harry Potter and the fictional sport that they play known as Quidditch. Unfortunately, some bright spark decided that they would actually play the game and introduce it to all the American colleges and Universities. So now every Saturday you’ll see grown men and women run around a field with a broom between their legs.

5. Wife Carrying; Our friends in Finland are responsible for this one. Yes, as you’ve probably guessed by the title – you have to carry your wife over an obstacle course in the fastest possible time. The only real requirements are that the wife must weigh at least 49kg and that the course is exactly 253.5m long. The winner usually wins his wife’s weight in beer.

6. Chess Boxing; It’s exactly as it sounds. Chess – the board game, mixed with boxing – the combat sport. Players alternate a round of boxing with a round of speed chess. The idea is to punch your opponent to death, so that he can’t think straight at the chess board. Or to confuse him with chess tactics so that they’re not concentrating on boxing. You win this sport either by knockout, or by checkmate, whichever comes first.

7. Dog Surfing; Normal surfing is passe, it’s old hat. I know, why don’t we put dogs on surfboards instead?! Yes, over in California, they’ve decided that it’s a good idea to stick their pets on surfboards and make them suffer Poseidon’s wrath. The winner is whichever dog is adjudged to ride the longest wave with the most degree of certainty.

8. Unicycle Football; American Football is hard enough – but there are some people who think that it’s just too easy. So those are the ones that decide to play football on unicycles. It’s pretty much the same game as American Football, you can tackle, pass or cycle with the ball. And the scoring is the pretty much same. But I can imagine the injuries from clashing unicycles being horrendous.

9. Blind Soccer; You’d think that playing soccer requires you to be able to see the ball. But obviously nobody told these guys. Players are either naturally blind or blindfolded and a bell is inserted into the soccer ball. They obviously can’t see the ball, so they have to listen for the bell inside the soccer ball and players have to constantly communicate so that they don’t run into each other.

10. Cardboard Tube Duelling; Cardboard Tube Duelling is as the name implies. It’s fighting with cardboard tubes. Players must hit each other and break their opponents’ cardboard tube, without breaking their own. If time expires, a referee will measure both tubes and the tube that has bent the least wins the duel. There’s no stabbing or lunging, no hitting in the face and cardboard armor and shields are optional. There’s even a pro league dedicated to cardboard tube combatants.