Visitors to the disc golf courses in Piteå have increased significantly during the summer. When SVT visited one of Piteå's four tracks, it was full of activity.

A similar increase is reported around the country. It is easy to believe that the pandemic situation was recorded. Swedes have been forced to vacation only domestically and encouraged to enjoy outdoor sports.

"At least doubled"

- We have doubled our number of visitors at least. It is a problem that it gets full on the course but it is an in-country problem, says John Hall, chairman of Piteå disc golf.

Disc golf is cheap to practice and easy to start with, but at the same time difficult to master. You can play with others or against yourself. In the video above, you get to see what the sport can look like and hear why many are attracted to it.

The union confirms

Mattias Nilsson, chairman of the Swedish Disc Golf Association, confirms the increase in practitioners:

- It is true that the sport has increased significantly this year. We saw the trends already last year and knew well that something would happen this year and that the sport would take a big step forward this year. But under the prevailing circumstances, it has clearly become more than a big step.

Tourist state in the immediate area

- Above all, disc golf has become a family activity. You see increases on most courses in Sweden of how whole families have embraced the sport and see it as a good activity when you tourist more in the local area, he says.

But the increase is harder to quantify. The competition activities were paused and have started to a limited extent since. Most of the courses in Sweden are free to play on - no statistics are kept on how many people play.

- But during the year I have collected reports from most clubs and I dare say that the sport on average has a doubling of players who regularly go out to play. And locally, it can be much more than that even, says Mattias Nilsson, Swedish Disc Golf Association.