Small Space Summer Sport: Bocce

Sports are great! They are good for exercise, some get you outside and they usually involve friends. If you live in a small space the down side is the stuff — the sports “equipment” that in a space to use ratio is seldom worth having. I know we all say we are going to ride our bike every day, but more often than not it ends up in the storage unit.

The trick is finding sports gear that can be used often and takes up little space. Bocce, for example, is a great sport that requires very little equipment to play. You do need a bocce set. A Bocce set usually includes eight large balls of two or sometimes more colors and a small ball called the pallino.

Bocce can be played almost everywhere. Any grassy area will do, but other surfaces including dirt and beaches will also work. If you live in a city, there is a good chance that your local park will have bocce courts, especially if your city has a “little Italy”. Bocce can be played with two, four or eight people. You may have noticed that most sets come with balls of two different colors. The balls usually have varying designs, so they can be assigned to multiple players. The rules are easy — you can read them here. There are also a multitude of bocce sets available, a reasonable quality set can be purchased for $69.00 to $120.00 dollars.

A bocce set is a great thing to have. It takes up very little room — about the size of a bowling ball bag, and can make for some relaxing summer time friendly competition.

Small Space Extreme Sports: Pen Spinning

Today I bring extreme sports to the small space dwelling masses. I know you crave having the space for an indoor basketball hoop or bowling lane of your own. Today I bring you a far cooler activity suitable for small space living.

Pen Spinning has not really caught on in the states as the competitive, don’t poke your eye out sport that it is. In Japan, however, it is huge. I am aware that not all, ok many, Japanese trends never catch on in the rest of the world, but I think pen spinning has merit.

Penz’Gear is now selling a two pack of specially balanced spinning pens complete with a DVD of tricks. If you are not familiar with pen spinning, you need to be. Do yourself a favor and watch the video at the bottom of this post.

The things these people can do with pens — yes pens — is just plain insane. Well I’d like to write more, but I need to practice. The next time you see me, I may well have ink all over my hands, but you’ll know why.