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In English, we use three different verbs to talk about sports:

play ~ do ~ go

1) Use PLAY for team sports or sports played with a ball:

football baseball basketball rugby tennis hockey volleyball cricket soccer badminton golf

I love to play badminton. I played basketball when I was in high school. In my spare time, I play soccer with my friends. Do you play any sports? When I was a kid, I loved playing baseball with my family.

2) Use for sports that end in –ing ():

skiing swimming climbing diving fishing running jogging skating / figure skating

I love to go jogging in the morning before I go to work. My grandfather and I go fishing every time I visit him. Every winter, my family and I go skiing in the Rockies. What are you doing this weekend? Let’s go swimming!

*NOTE: There is NO to between go and the activity. You do NOT ‘go to swimming.’ You just ‘go swimming.’

  The sports that end in –ing are all in gerund form. They can also be used in their verb form:

aerobics karate / martial arts yoga gymnastics She does a lot of yoga – that’s why she looks so great! My daughter used to take swimming lessons, but now she does gymnastics. Do you do any sports? To stay in shape, I jog every morning, I play tennis and I also do aerobics.

• Practice is rarely used to talk about sports. It is only used to talk about professional athletes who need to practice their skills before a game or an important event. The average person does not practice a sport.