Shopping for a new hobby? Try one of these low-profile, low insurance sports...

While most of us have long to-do lists and bucket lists and lists of all sorts to keep us occupied for several lives, there are times when we still wish we were doing something else. It isn't that we don't have enough to do, it's that we're looking for something new, something interesting, or something that intrigues us in a way that we can't really account for. This is especially true when it comes to physical activity: while basic forms of exercise like running and swimming are here to stay (with good reason!) the ever-changing trends in fitness classes speak to that need for the unique in our leisurely pursuits. For this reason, we've rounded up a few of the less frequently indulged sports for your consideration, along with tips on how these sports might affect your life insurance rates.

Fencing. If you've always wanted to know what it feels like to “demand satisfaction” via means of sword-fighting, this may be as close as you can get, since the sport of fencing is actually derived from sword fighting. (The faint of heart need not panic if their loved ones decide to take up this quixotic past-time—the blades are blunted.) In order to defeat your opponent, you want to accumulate a greater number of points. This is achieved by striking designated areas on your opponent's uniform. Since fencing gear is extremely protective, injuries are kept to a minimum. However, despite the prolific padding and the lack of sharp edges, as with any sport, injuries do occur. The most common types of injuries sustained during fencing are those affecting the ankles and the knees (typically from repeated strenuous movements). Fencing insurance rates are actually among the lowest for any sport, so from that angle, we give this one a thumbs up!

Octopush. Even though this past-time does not involve wrestling with an octopus (imagine the impact on your insurance rates if it did!) it's still an apt name: an underwater version of hockey, the flailing and grasping involved will bring you closer to the feeling of being a tentacled creature than any other experience we know of. Using a stick that is only a foot long, and a three pound puck that sits at the bottom of the pool, players must try to shoot the puck through their opposing team's goal (much like with conventional ice hockey). Unlike ice hockey, body checking isn't so much of a feature of this game: rather, the players' swimming and diving abilities are the primary focus here. Because of this, injuries sustained during underwater hockey tend to be less frequent and less severe than those sustained during ice hockey...another keeper from an insurance standpoint!

Disc golf. What this game has in common with conventional golf is the idea of trying to meet a target with as few tries as possible. The major difference, however, is that rather than moving a ball to a certain target using a golf club, the players are moving a disc towards the target by throwing it, much as you would throw a frisbee. The “holes” are above ground structures, rather than in-ground openings. Just as there are different types of clubs in conventional golf, there are different types of discs with disc golf. While injuries include strain to shoulders and knees (and the odd strike from a stray disc—ouch!) insurance providers still don't see disc golf as a peer to sky diving or bungee jumping. So if you're looking for an excuse to use that free frisbee you got during orientation week, head out to a disc golf course for some practice.

Do you have an unusual past-time? How did you first discover it?