Dolphin Golf

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Complete a designated target course with the lowest collective throws while coordinating movement and catches.

Use it when: Use in large outdoor spaces or gymnasiums when an energetic, active coordination and strategy game is needed.

Skip it when: Skip in tight indoor rooms, when running or physical catching poses hazards, or during severe weather.

Group arrangement: Teams of 2 to 4 people moving simultaneously across shared targets

Timing: Playmeo outlines a 5-minute practice plus course play; UWT allocates 25 minutes for a full 3-hole run and reflection

Materials and tools

• One flexible rubber ring (deck tennis ring or quoit) per team of 2 to 4 players
• Scorecard slip and pen per team
• Cones or course markers if fixed outdoor features are not available

Before participants arrive

1. Scout a large open area (field, park, or sports hall).
2. Designate 3 visible target landmarks (for example, a specific tree trunk, a goal post, or a marked cone).
3. Mark a clear starting line.

Say this to open

Welcome to Dolphin Golf. Your team will navigate a course from the start line through three targets using this rubber ring. Normal catches are not allowed. You catch like a dolphin spearing out of the water: your thumb stays pressed flat to your palm, fingers extended together, and the ring must slide over your hand onto your wrist or forearm. Grasping with fingers does not count. Every toss counts as a stroke, whether caught or dropped. Your goal is to complete all holes in the fewest total strokes.

How to run it

1. Introduce rules and demonstrate catch 4 minutes

   Explain the course layout and demonstrate the legal dolphin catch: hand raised, thumb tucked flat against the palm, ring sliding directly onto the wrist or arm without gripping fingers. Form teams of 2 to 4 people. Hand one rubber ring, scorecard, and pencil to each team.

2. Practice throws and catches 5 minutes

   Teams spread out and practice tossing the ring to each other using the legal dolphin catch technique. Emphasize that fingers must not close around the ring. The facilitator circulates to confirm legal technique.

3. Play the course 12 minutes

   Teams start behind the line. One player throws downfield. A legal catcher holds spot and throws forward. On a missed or illegal finger catch, return the ring to the previous thrower to retry. Every attempt counts as one stroke. To hole out, catch the ring and touch the target, pivoting on at most one foot. Teams record strokes per hole and advance through all three holes.

4. Debrief and score tally 4 minutes

   Gather the group at the final hole. Have each team report their total strokes. Ask two participants to share what spacing or throwing strategy reduced drops, and how their team adjusted when a catch failed.

Debrief questions

• What throw trajectory or speed made legal catching easiest for your teammates?
• How did your team balance long, risky throws against short, reliable throws?
• What adjustments did your team make after missing a catch?

Finished output: Completed team scorecards showing stroke counts across the course targets.

Remote

This activity requires physical throwing, running, and spatial target navigation in an open area. It cannot be run online. For a virtual team planning session, use a shared digital whiteboard simulation game instead.

Hybrid

Dolphin Golf is strictly an on-site physical game. If some participants are remote, assign them real-time course marshaling or team strategy consultant roles via video call, or run a separate digital game.

Access and participation choices

• Participants who prefer not to run can serve as designated throwers from fixed stations, course strategists, or official stroke counters.
• Any participant may opt out of catching or throwing without explanation and support team scoring.

If the session gets stuck

Catchers instinctively close their fingers to grab the ring.

Remind players to flatten thumbs against palms like a paddle. Have teams practice a low, flat chest-height throw that slides naturally onto the forearm.

Teams throw across each other paths and risk collisions.

Stagger team start times by 30 seconds or create distinct parallel target zones.

Terms used here

• Dolphin Catch: Receiving the thrown ring onto the wrist or arm with fingers flat and thumb pressed inward, without grabbing with fingers.
• Hole out: Completing a golf target by legally catching the ring and touching the target landmark while maintaining one pivot foot.