Most people who walk into an exam after an injury can name their job, their commute, and the errands they ran that week. Far fewer can say what they did for fun. Weekend softball, a pickup game of basketball, a round of golf, a long hike, or a session of tennis all put load through the same joints you are asking the clinic to check. Writing those activities down before your visit gives the examiner a clearer picture of what your body normally handles.
Why Recreation Belongs in the Notes
Recreational activity differs from work in one important way: it is often chosen, repeated, and done at full effort. A shift may involve lifting, bending, or standing, but a game can add sudden twists, jumps, sprints, and quick stops. Those movements ask a knee, hip, ankle, or shoulder to do things in a few seconds that a daily routine rarely asks. Noting them helps you separate what was normal for you from what has changed.
Write down the activity name, how often you do it, and roughly how long each session lasts. A line like 'pickup basketball, twice a week, about an hour' is more useful than 'I play sports.' Include seasonal activities too. A game you play only in the spring still counts as part of your usual load.
Describing the Effort, Not Just the Sport
Two people can play the same sport and load their bodies very differently. One may coach from the sideline while the other sprints every point. Note the intensity in plain words: light, moderate, or hard, and whether you are the one who runs, lunges, or holds a position. If you use equipment, such as a racquet, a bat, golf clubs, a bicycle, or a weight room machine, name it. Equipment can change which joints do the work.
Also note what you do between sessions. Stretching, a warm-up routine, a brace, or a rest day are all details the examiner may want to know. If you stopped an activity after an event, say so and give the date you stopped, as closely as you can recall it. If you did not stop, write that down as well.
Recording Changes in Your Routine
The most helpful part of this list is the change over time. Before you write, think about the last few months in two columns: what you did as usual, and what you have skipped, shortened, or altered since the event. Maybe you still golf but only nine holes. Maybe you stopped running and switched to a stationary bike. Maybe you cannot take the court at all. Each change is a fact you can state without guessing at its cause.
Keep the wording simple. Say what you did, what you can no longer do, and what you are unsure about. If you are not sure whether a particular game affected a joint, write 'not sure' instead of picking a cause. An honest list of unknowns is useful to the examiner, and it is far better than a tidy list built on assumptions.
What This Note Does Not Do
A list of your sports is not a diagnosis, and it does not explain why a joint hurts. It is a record of your normal activity so that the examining clinician can ask better questions and compare what you report with what they find during the visit. Only the examiner can interpret those findings, and that conversation happens in the room with you.
Bring the list on paper or on your phone. Read it aloud at the start of the exam, then add anything you forgot. If a sport matters a great deal to you, say so. Your goal for the appointment is to be understood, and a clear account of how you move and play is one of the simplest ways to make that happen.