SFIA’s Topline Report showed that America’s inactivity rate declined for the second year in a row, reaching its lowest levels in the organization’s annual survey. 

Pandemic-friendly activities, including tennis, golf, running, hiking, yoga, skateboarding, and surfing, continued in popularity while other categories, including team sports that declined in 2020, show signs of recovery.

The inactivity rate, measured as doing none of the more than 100 sports and activities it tracked, decreased by 0.7 percent, or 2.1 million individuals, to 72 million individuals. Lower inactivity levels in 2021 were primarily driven by the 18-to-24 and 25-to-34-year-old age groups, with youth inactivity, age groups 6-to-12 and 13-to-17, also decreasing for the fifth year in a row in its survey.

Compared to 2016, activity has increased 7.8 percent, or 16.8 million, in the five years.

Team Sports And Health Club Activities Trail Pre-Pandemic Levels
On the downside, participation rates in team sports and health clubs recovered in 2021 but remain below pre-pandemic levels due to the lingering effects of pandemic restrictions.

And while more Americans participated in “some” physical activity, the rate of regular sport and fitness participation lagged in many categories and demographic segmentation. 

The report includes an analysis of casual versus core comparisons across the activities the organization coves.

In the study, Tom Cove, President and CEO, SFIA, wrote, “Put plainly, while more people did something, they did not do that much of it in many cases.”

However, the majority of the SFIA report offers encouraging news.

Golf, tennis, running, hiking, skateboarding, and surfing benefitted by being perceived as “pandemic-friendly” from a social-distancing purpose and added to the activities 2020 gains, registering double-digit participation increases over the two years. Cove stated, “Clearly, being able to be done outside, with social distance or individually, provided demonstrable attraction.”

Water Sports Paces 2021 Participant Gains
Across the seven sports categories tracked by SFIA, water sports saw the most significant year-over-year increase in participation at 2.3 percent, followed by Outdoor Sports with a 2.2 percent increase.

Water Sports’ year-over-year gains were boosted by participation in kayaking, stand-up paddling and boardsailing/windsurfing. Over the last two years since the pandemic, the biggest Water Sports category winners were kayaking (recreational), up 17.3 percent; surfing, 16.9 percent; stand up paddling, 5.0 percent; and canoeing, 2.3 percent. Over the last two years, water-related activities that lost participants included water skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving, and boardsailing/windsurfing.

Trail Running Leads Outdoor Participation Gains
Outdoor Sports continued to grow, with 53.9 percent of the U.S. population participating. The rate remains higher than pre-pandemic levels, with a 6.2 percent gain over 50.7 percent participation rate in 2019.

The largest contributor to gain in Outdoor Participation was trail running, increasing 5.6 percent in one year and 13.9 percent from 2019.

Participation in most outdoor activities was down year-over-year against 2020’s run-up to the pandemic but remained above pre-pandemic levels for many. 

On a two-year basis, the biggest participation gains in outdoor activities were hiking (day), 18.1 percent; camping, 15.6 percent; birdwatching more than one-quarter mile from home/vehicle, 15.6 percent; cycling (road/paved surface), 8.6 percent; climbing (indoor), 7.1 percent; camping (RV), 6.1 percent; bicycling (BMX), 5.8 percent; climbing (sport/boulder), 5.4 percent; fishing (saltwater), 4.5 percent; and fishing (freshwater/other), 4.3 percent.

Team Sports Shows Some Recovery
Team sports saw a year-over-year increase of 1.8 percent, but participation remains lower than pre-pandemic levels, with approximately two million fewer participants in team sports in 2021 than in 2019.

Sports that are typically played inside and with a team suffer the most. The report also found regional skew to team sports participation, reflecting team sport’s reliance on state and local policies to open schools and community facilities.

For many years, Basketball led the team sports group nationally in total and core participation, benefitting during the pandemic because it can be played informally, outside and in modified settings.

Fast-pitch softball, team swimming, court volleyball, gymnastics, and cheerleading rebounded from participation loss in 2020 but remains lower than 2019 participation numbers. 

Sports like gymnastics and court volleyball benefited from the summer Olympic bump. Basketball, tackle football, outdoor soccer, and team swimming had higher participation numbers than in 2019.

On a two-year basis, team sports showed participation gains included basketball, 8.9 percent; soccer (outdoor) 5.4 percent; football (tackle), 2.4 percent; soccer (indoor), 1.4 percent; and team swimming (0.1.). Team sports showing double-digit declines over the last two years included track and field, roller hockey, lacrosse, softball (slow-pitch), rugby and volleyball (court). Cheerleading, gymnastics and volleyball (grass) had high-single-digit participation declines.

Fitness Activities Show Some Recovery
Most fitness activities rebounded from 2020 club closures, although these rates have not fully bounced back to 2019 numbers.

Treadmill use had the most significant increase in the total number of participants, up 7.6 percent in 2021. In 2020, treadmill use dropped 12.3 percent, a loss of seven million people during the pandemic due to fitness club closures and the restrictions due to the pandemic.

On a two-year basis, treadmill participation was down 5.6 percent. Steeper double-digit declines in participation on a two-year basis were seen in indoor class activities, including stationary cycling (group), boot camp style training, cardio kickboxing, and cross-training workouts. Elliptical motion/cross-trainer, stair-climbing machine, rowing machine, and weight-resistance machines all had double-digit participation declines.

Yoga continued to have the largest gains. In 2021, 34.3 million people practiced yoga, up 4.7 percent from 2020 and 12.8 percent from 2019. Yoga has averaged a 5.5 percent participation increase over the last five years.

Dance, step and other choreographed exercises to music, dumbbells/hand weights, kettlebells, Pilates training, and yoga have had higher participation numbers than in 2019. Many fitness activities rebounded with participants who participated in casual frequency, and Barre and Tai Chi had the highest increase in frequency.

Aquatic exercise took a hit in participation as it did in 2020 partly due to temporary gym and fitness club closures and the reluctance of the 65-plus consumer to return to indoor group activities. The 65-plus age group is aquatic exercises largest participated age group.

In Racquet sports, pickleball became the fastest-growing over the last two years, with participation rates seeing a 39.3 percent growth. Pickleball participation grew 14.8 percent in 2021. Participation in tennis was up 4.5 percent year-over-year, climbing 27.9 percent over 2019. Cardio and table tennis also gained ground over the last two years while badminton and racquetball slumped.

In the Winter sports category, ski resorts experienced a slight recovery but continued to be hindered by COVID-19 restrictions. Skiing (alpine/downhill/freeski/telemark), the largest activity, saw a participation decline of 5.0 percent year-over-year and was down 8.4 percent on a two-year basis. Skiing (cross-country), sledding/saucer riding/snow tubing, and snowshoeing saw a high-single-digit decrease in participants on a two-year basis, while snowboarding had a moderate gain.

Golf Paces Individual Activity Gains
Among individual activities, golf’s momentum stood out. Overall golf (on/ off-course) participation was up 1.7 percent year-over-year and gained 9.6 percent on a two-year basis. The gains were led by off-course only (driving range, golf entertainment venue, indoor simulator), which saw a 24.8 percent two-year gain. Beyond golf and trail running, the winner in individual activities was skateboarding, which saw participation climb 32.3 percent on a two-year basis.

On a two-year basis, other individual sports with gains included boxing, MMA for competition and roller skating (inline wheels). Running/jogging participation, lost gains from 2020, and was down 3.3 percent year-over-year in 2021 and off 2.1 percent on a two-year basis. Archery participation was up slightly but down modestly on a two-year stack. Bowling and triathlon were down on a two-year basis.

Other survey findings include:

  • The two most common activities inactive Americans participated in over the next 12 months were fishing and camping. The youngest inactive age segment was interested in team sports (soccer, basketball, and tackle football);
  • Boomers had the highest increase in participation compared to other generations. Gen X participation decreased across all sports categories. Millennials continued to maintain the same activity levels in 2021, preferring fitness activities;
  • Income disparity of inactive individuals decreased as all income brackets inactivity rates declined. In 2021, the inactivity rate stalled with lower-income households, while the rates for higher-income households continued to recede, suggesting that the pandemic had not treated everyone fairly. Lower-income households were more likely required to return to a physical place of work. Schools struggled to contain the impact of the pandemic, still requiring some students to continue at-home learning and other students losing weeks with temporary closures due to a COVID-19 outbreaks.

Photo courtesy Pro Pickleball Association