Flying Frisbees: New sports can lead to unexpected joys

After hitting the books for five hours, I got ready to take an unwilling break Wednesday afternoon to play Ultimate Frisbee.

By the way, Frisbee is NOT my forte.

But I'd promised a friend to fill in if there was an empty spot on her co-ed, seven-player team. And on Wednesday, "That's so fetch," (team name) needed one more female player to avoid forfeiting the match. So, surly and hating school, I tromped to the field wishing I was about to play a sport where I could actually release all of my frustration effectively... some type of non-contact sport like yoga or rock climbing. Knowing my team would be flattened by the opposition sunk my spirits. After all, winning equals fun, and it didn't look like we would be pulling for a "W".

Sure enough, we lost 2 to 7. Plus, I felt like I was going to have a heat stroke when I stumbled off the field. But, unexpectedly, playing Frisbee rewarded me with a fantastic and rejuvenating study break.

At the start of the game, our team filtered onto the field, we spoke positively of plans, passing, and wins. People introduced themselves to me and we began running around like a herd of animals tossing the disc teammate to teammate. My disgruntlement soon morphed into gratefulness that my teammates included the newbie in their Frisbee passing. I happily dove for the Frisbee, rolled in the grass and sent wobbly, short passes to my teammates.

Moral of the story: Quantity of skills doesn't determine the quality of your workout. So get out there and try a new team sport. Exercising with people can make exercise "feel less like an obligation and more like a pleasure," insists an article from North Shore Medical Center. In no time, you could be looking like this: