play, do and go

We use the verbs play, do and go with sports and activities. Here is the information you need to know to use them correctly:

play

Play is used with ball sports or competitive games where we play against another person:

'How often do you play tennis?' - tennis is a ball sport.
'I play poker with my friends on Friday night.' - poker is a competitive game. We play to win.
'I don't like playing computer games.' - again, computer games are competitive so we use play.

do

Do is used for a recreational activity or a non-team sport that does not use a ball:

'I heard that you do karate.' - karate is a non-team activity.
'I do crossword puzzles in my free time.' - crossword puzzles are not competitive.

go

Go is used with activities that end -ing. We go somewhere to do something:

'I'm going fishing on Sunday.'
'Are you going skiing this winter?'
'She said she was going swimming.'