[JayMillz]

What do you think are the 3 hardest sports to do in terms of conditioning and degree of difficulty? Off the top of my head, my three are Rugby, Water Polo and MMA.

[Chad Daring]

I've always been told rowing is incredibly difficult due to the combination of team timing, physical strength, and endurance you need to have. You could get rid of MMA and just say competitive fighting in general. Boxers have to be in amazing shape and to box WELL you need to have a very high level of skill.

[Chaz]

I haven't done any of those three, but I have heard that they are all hard. Definitely water polo!

Two sports which I have done that are also hard are cross-country skiing, and competitive rowing.

[Luckystar]

American football, MMA, and basketball.

I always gauge the difficulty of a sport by assessing who would perform better if you asked the competitive athletes in two sports to switch. Who would have a more conceivable chance at excelling.

[Brian]

as far as degree of difficulty - surfing, soccer, and golf

conditioning - combat sports and soccer

[thegmanifesto]

Boxing
MMA
Wrestling
Surfing
And the Iditarod.

In no particular order.

[Gunner]

Tennis and squash at a high level are pretty difficult.

[wi30]

I think ice hockey should be up there. Even the best all around athletes would have trouble skating if they didn't have any experience. Anyone who plays competitively started at a very young age.

[Dash Global]

tennis is INCREDIBLY hard to reach a high level.

[jmoney29]

I'd say basketball, soccer, and MMA because the agility and footwork required and competition is greatest in those sports. You would have to be better than a worldwide field rather than a field of just a few continents in order to be a world-class player.

[Kona]

You can't just say "surfing" is the hardest sport. Old ladies get out on longboards and cruise. There different types.

I think tow-in surfing is the hardest sport. Have any of you guys ever done that?

The speed going into waves adds a whole other danger element. You feel like you ran a marathon and got beat the whole way after a session.

This guy Kealii is one of the best:

Look at maybe 20 seconds in when he's got on yellow shorts. That looks like Teahupoo, and he's just chilling. The video's slowed down, but you can tell he's got major speed going. Then right after that when he's on a yellow board is Pipe, and he takes it normally with no effort at all. Towing just makes you better.

After that big wave surfing is next. Laird Hamilton is the best:

This stuff requires a total combination of toughness. You gotta be in perfect shape, but you need 10o times that in skill and confidence.

All the guys that are good at these two styles are monsters. Its why (when they aren't in jail) they have chicks all over them. When you talk about alpha males, it's guys like these I always think of.

Third toughest is a toss up for me. Iditarod racing or Mount Everest climbing are up there.

I used to think golf was very gay, but it's hard. I always get wasted and quit though.

Aloha!

[JayMillz]

(10-24-2011 06:54 PM)Brian Wrote:  

conditioning - combat sports and soccer

soccer is one that I would consider, but hard for me to put it over rugby or water polo. Looks like there is a general consensus on combat sports.

[JayMillz]

(10-24-2011 09:11 PM)Kona Wrote:  

This guy Kealii is one of the best:

Great vids! Definitely a lot of skill involved.

[thegmanifesto]

(10-24-2011 09:11 PM)Kona Wrote:  

You can't just say "surfing" is the hardest sport. Old ladies get out on longboards and cruise. There different types.

I think tow-in surfing is the hardest sport. Have any of you guys ever done that?

The speed going into waves adds a whole other danger element. You feel like you ran a marathon and got beat the whole way after a session.

This guy Kealii is one of the best:

Look at maybe 20 seconds in when he's got on yellow shorts. That looks like Teahupoo, and he's just chilling. The video's slowed down, but you can tell he's got major speed going. Then right after that when he's on a yellow board is Pipe, and he takes it normally with no effort at all. Towing just makes you better.

After that big wave surfing is next. Laird Hamilton is the best:

This stuff requires a total combination of toughness. You gotta be in perfect shape, but you need 10o times that in skill and confidence.

All the guys that are good at these two styles are monsters. Its why (when they aren't in jail) they have chicks all over them. When you talk about alpha males, it's guys like these I always think of.

Third toughest is a toss up for me. Iditarod racing or Mount Everest climbing are up there.

I used to think golf was very gay, but it's hard. I always get wasted and quit though.

Aloha!

I was actually going to qualify what I said with "Big Wave Surfing" but for some reason I didn't.

Agreed.

Motocross is sick as well.

And skateboarding can be heavy as well:

Fast forward to 1:20

The craziest thing is I went to a couple of raves with Danny Way when I was a young pup.

[Hooligan Harry]

(10-24-2011 06:50 PM)Luckystar Wrote:  

American football, MMA, and basketball.

I always gauge the difficulty of a sport by assessing who would perform better if you asked the competitive athletes in two sports to switch. Who would have a more conceivable chance at excelling.

Dont they use pads and helmets in American Football? Uncle Roosh makes a guest appearance a few times in this clip. 2:15 or so is just another day at the office.

Basketball? Thats what our girls play.

MMA and Boxing are the hardest sports IMO. Skill wise, things like football and golf.

[Moma]

(10-24-2011 11:11 PM)Hooligan Harry Wrote:  

Dont they use pads and helmets in American Football? Uncle Roosh makes a guest appearance a few times in this clip. 2:15 or so is just another day at the office.

Basketball? Thats what our girls play.

MMA and Boxing are the hardest sports IMO. Skill wise, things like football and golf.

I've often heard this criticism between Commonwealth residents and Americans about American football vs rugby.

One cat from work who played American football growing up said because there are a lot more head on collisions in American football, they wear padding and so forth.

I never played either so I'm not sure which one is more dangerous or requires the higher level of skill.

[canucktraveller]

(10-24-2011 11:11 PM)Hooligan Harry Wrote:  

(10-24-2011 06:50 PM)Luckystar Wrote:  

American football, MMA, and basketball.

I always gauge the difficulty of a sport by assessing who would perform better if you asked the competitive athletes in two sports to switch. Who would have a more conceivable chance at excelling.

Dont they use pads and helmets in American Football? Uncle Roosh makes a guest appearance a few times in this clip. 2:15 or so is just another day at the office.


Basketball? Thats what our girls play.
MMA and Boxing are the hardest sports IMO. Skill wise, things like football and golf.

American football and rugby are very different, using the pads and helmet excuse doesn't work because NFL players are considerably bigger and faster than rugby. In my opinion, rugby takes far more conditioning while NFL takes more physical ability (speed, strength, agility)






I am going the throw a homer vote in for baseball, definitely not the most physically demanding sport, but hitting a baseball from a major league pitcher is next to impossible for an average person. One of the biggest gaps between "athletic" people and pros in my opinion.

[Chaz]

canucktraveler,
That's a good point about baseball! That would be insanely hard to get a home run, or even a base hit, off a major league pitcher! I recently had a hard time in a batting cage against the pitching machine set to 80 mph. Pretty tough. Couldn't imagine what a 95 mph fastball or 85 mph curve ball would look like coming in! Yikes!

[thegmanifesto]

(10-24-2011 11:28 PM)canucktraveller Wrote:  

(10-24-2011 11:11 PM)Hooligan Harry Wrote:  

(10-24-2011 06:50 PM)Luckystar Wrote:  

American football, MMA, and basketball.

I always gauge the difficulty of a sport by assessing who would perform better if you asked the competitive athletes in two sports to switch. Who would have a more conceivable chance at excelling.

Dont they use pads and helmets in American Football? Uncle Roosh makes a guest appearance a few times in this clip. 2:15 or so is just another day at the office.


Basketball? Thats what our girls play.
MMA and Boxing are the hardest sports IMO. Skill wise, things like football and golf.

American football and rugby are very different, using the pads and helmet excuse doesn't work because NFL players are considerably bigger and faster than rugby. In my opinion, rugby takes far more conditioning while NFL takes more physical ability (speed, strength, agility)





I am going the throw a homer vote in for baseball, definitely not the most physically demanding sport, but hitting a baseball from a major league pitcher is next to impossible for an average person. One of the biggest gaps between "athletic" people and pros in my opinion.

Yeah, but and average person would die big wave surfing.

Or stepping in the ring with Mike Tyson.

Or Manny Pac Man for that matter.

[canucktraveller]

(10-25-2011 02:22 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

Yeah, but and average person would die big wave surfing.

Or stepping in the ring with Mike Tyson.

Or Manny Pac Man for that matter.

I agree, I was focusing more on team sports.


this is an interesting analysis
sports.espn.go. com/espn/page2/sportSkills


(can't post links yet)

[Chad Daring]

To add to the rugby vs A. Football conversation, I've heard that football players tend to hit harder and more often as well, because the person doing the hitting has less chance of injury do to the pads. Rugby guys stand to take just as much damage from a tackle then football players.

I've heard the same about barehanded fighting versus padded glove fighting, the guys in the padded glove ranks, i.e. boxing, actually take way more damage, internally, because there's less external damage to cause the fight to end early.

[Aliblahba]

I'd say water sports is the hardest. A chick would have a hell of a time holding me down for a golden shower.

[alecks]

funny the way nobody has mentioned BODYBUILDING!!!!!!!! the hardest sport ever made in my opinion. The competition standard to become a pro is so high. You need to be massive while retaining rediculously low bodyfat,lines,conditioning,shape of the muscle bellies,genetics,symmetry and quality of the muscle.

next to that id say mma or boxing

[Luckystar]

(10-24-2011 11:11 PM)Hooligan Harry Wrote:  

(10-24-2011 06:50 PM)Luckystar Wrote:  

American football, MMA, and basketball.

I always gauge the difficulty of a sport by assessing who would perform better if you asked the competitive athletes in two sports to switch. Who would have a more conceivable chance at excelling.

Dont they use pads and helmets in American Football? Uncle Roosh makes a guest appearance a few times in this clip. 2:15 or so is just another day at the office.

Basketball? Thats what our girls play.

MMA and Boxing are the hardest sports IMO. Skill wise, things like football and golf.

[Basil Ransom]

All sports are insanely hard at competitive levels, kinda hard to distinguish among them.

But to play or compete among friends, to acquire a basic level of proficiency, varies a lot from one sport to the other. Baseball, soccer, and flag football seem relatively straightforward. Sports that introduce a lot of equipment like motocross and polo, foreign environments like surfing and water polo, or unique skills like combat sports, tend to rate the hardest.

Buzkashi looks pretty hard. Swinging dead goat carcasses while on a horse.