World's Most Difficult Sport to Play

[Eco]

What do you think is the most difficult sport to play? 

It's often said here that the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball, but I'm sure there are sports out there that may be more difficult. 

Personally, I have always argued for hockey, as it's one of the only sports that requires hand/foot/eye coordination all at once, and it's a sport where if you lapse concentration for a second, you're likely to get slammed into the boards. 

So, what do you think and why? 

[Cicero]

Boxing. 

[Mpache]

Hockey.

You have to balance yourself, its a rough sport with requirements to be strong, be able to hold a stick and learn the technique.

[Rucksackfranzose]

Depends on what you mean with difficult. If you mean body control it's probably sports acrobatics, if you mean difficult in the sense of suffering the most it might be ultimate fighting, if you mean difficult in the sense of exhausting as an one day event it's probably triathlon, if you mean difficult in the sense of  requiring the most condition over more than one day it's probably Tour de France, if you mean difficult in the sense of requiring the most balanced athletics it's probably decathlon, if you mean difficult in the sense of requiring the biggest mental capacity I'm voting chess, and if you mean difficult in the sense of requiring the most different set of skills it's chessboxing. Finally if you mean requiring the most patience when calling it difficult it's either chess or fishing.Just one thing I'm sure of those choosing baseball only do so because that's the sport they' re the most keen of.

[CaaC (John)+]

Boxing, you have to be fit and also have mental awareness.  

[Azeem]

22 hours ago, CityTheBest said:

But for sheer competition, football is the hardest due to the large amount of people you are competing against with it being by far the most popular sport in the world.

By that logic web designing is a more difficult job than planting a chip in human brain because it has far more competition 

[Eco]

On 09/08/2020 at 11:00, CityTheBest said:

Snooker or Gymnastics. Snooker isn't physical and all about skill so you can't just train to run all day and be competitive. If you've no skill, you've got no chance. And in gymnastics you have to be super flexible, which is why most olympic gold winners are 16-20 because people became less flexible after 20.

But for sheer competition, football is the hardest due to the large amount of people you are competing against with it being by far the most popular sport in the world.

You can't be more wrong. I bet their are much more opportunities to play football than any other sport in the world. Granted, their are more people who want to be professional footballs, but in England alone, you have 69 professional clubs in England, and even below that you have more that make enough of a wage to live. 

[Spike]

It has to be hockey, full contact, on thin blades, small puck, using a stick. None of it is very easy.

 

[Spike]

On 04/08/2020 at 11:35, Eco said:

What do you think is the most difficult sport to play? 

It's often said here that the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball, but I'm sure there are sports out there that may be more difficult. 

Personally, I have always argued for hockey, as it's one of the only sports that requires hand/foot/eye coordination all at once, and it's a sport where if you lapse concentration for a second, you're likely to get slammed into the boards. 

So, what do you think and why? 

While it is supremely difficult I don' think there is much technique to it. Just swing and pray that the ball makes a solid contact so the bastard is sent in the stands. On the other hand cricket requires a lot more technique and thought. Pitch condition, ball condition, fielder placement, a lot more deliveries than baseball, protecting the stumps, protecting the leg, in some cases limited overs, while it isn't as difficult to hit the ball with the bat, it is very difficult to carry the bat, and it is expected that a player doesn't get out for as long as possible, whereas getting out is part and parcel to baseball.

[Devil-Dick Willie]

On 10/08/2020 at 01:00, CityTheBest said:

Snooker or Gymnastics. Snooker isn't physical and all about skill so you can't just train to run all day and be competitive. If you've no skill, you've got no chance. And in gymnastics you have to be super flexible, which is why most olympic gold winners are 16-20 because people became less flexible after 20.

But for sheer competition, football is the hardest due to the large amount of people you are competing against with it being by far the most popular sport in the world.

On the contrary. You can do EXACTLY that because it's not physical. You could practice shots 14 hours a day, eat and shit for 2 hours and sleep for 8 without diminishing returns. You can't train physically for more than about 3-4 without drugs. And you'd need 2 -3 rest days or active recovery days at last. Also it's not a sport.

My shouts.

MMA. A more punishing sport than boxing that requires a more complete skill set and has more grave consequences for a slip in concentration. A boxer will only ever hit you. A guy in the cage might be trying to knock you out, break your knee or ragdoll you to the ground. 

Test cricket batsman. It's your job to focus in any heat for as long as possible, up to 16 hours of play. A single mistake costs you your entire innings. 

Ice hockey is a good shout, and there are sports with so much specific skill like Gymnastics or basketball where you have to be born a freak AND train hard to make it.

[MUFC]

F1.

[CaaC (John)+]

I had a wee bit of an argument with my brother-in-law once as he kept raving on about Darts & Snooker as a sport where I said it was not a sport for me, mind you this was way back when you would watch both on tv with players with cigarettes stuck in their gobs and a pint of lager etc in their hands, I said how can you class that as a sport? imagine a football match and a penalty shootout with players sitting around waiting to take a penalty, all smoking and supping on booze, he could not answer me back on that one.

Really, the question should be what is the most physical sport going like Boxing, Rugby, Football etc or what sport is hard with mental ability and not physical like Snooker, Darts, Table Tennis, I don't think picking up a dart or snooker cue and shooting is hard physical wise but being more mentally alert.

The most physical sport I have done in my lifetime which combined both physical & mental would be...

• Boxing
• Rugby
• Skiing
• Australian Rules Football
• Handball   

[ScoRoss]

Quarterback in American football or Ice hockey. Lots of finesse to worry about with the threat of some 120kg man coming to hit you.

[Stan]

1 hour ago, ScoRoss said:

Quarterback in American football or Ice hockey. Lots of finesse to worry about with the threat of some 120kg man coming to hit you.

They should bring in things like helmets and lots of padding to protect those guys. 

[nudge+]

Water polo. 

[Stan]

1 minute ago, nudge said:

Water polo. 

Absolutely hated this in school. Couldn't tread water for more than a couple of minutes let alone play against other people. I'd always go in goal as I had better reflexes for that position (and hang on to the net/post to give myself a rest )

[Tommy]

Curling. 

[Devil-Dick Willie]

1 hour ago, ScoRoss said:

Quarterback in American football or Ice hockey. Lots of finesse to worry about with the threat of some 120kg man coming to hit you.

No. In NFL each player has literally 1 fucking job and it was assigned to them by a coach. It's their job to be a literal chess piece. 

[ScoRoss]

12 minutes ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

No. In NFL each player has literally 1 fucking job and it was assigned to them by a coach. It's their job to be a literal chess piece. 

 Okay then

[Mpache]

On 12/08/2020 at 06:54, Devil-Dick Willie said:

No. In NFL each player has literally 1 fucking job and it was assigned to them by a coach. It's their job to be a literal chess piece. 

The only thing that makes the NFL tough is sitting through a game without getting sick of seeing some Wendy's commercial about three dozen times.

Ice Hockey is the only right answer here. At least when it comes to team sports.

[Mel81x+]

Going with either Water Polo or Boxing. Ice Hockey is right up there but the two aforementioned sports offer something a bit more challenging in terms of fitness and skill.

[JoshBRFC+]

On 04/08/2020 at 18:37, Cicero said:

Boxing. 

 

On 08/08/2020 at 13:14, CaaC (John) said:

Boxing, you have to be fit and also have mental awareness.  

 

 

Boxing. I love the sweet science of the elite and great fighters. It overtook football a few years back as my favourite sport. 
 

If you make a mistake in most sports you’re not going to end up with your head coming off your shoulders.

 

 

[CaaC (John)+]

Still, say one of the sports below but that is just my opinion as I have played them all and with them, you are not padded out with helmet, shin and arm pads and gloves to protect you, pro boxing has no helmet and you only have a jockstrap around your bollocks in case you get hit with an illegal punch, although it still hurts a bit getting punched in the bollocks I can assure you of that. 

• Boxing
• Rugby
• Skiing
• Australian Rules Football
• Handball   

One of the greatest when he KOed Liston and he didn't hit him in the bollocks.

 

[Spike]

On 12/08/2020 at 05:54, Devil-Dick Willie said:

No. In NFL each player has literally 1 fucking job and it was assigned to them by a coach. It's their job to be a literal chess piece. 

Not at all, that is true for most positions in american football but a great QB has to be tactically aware, athletic, strong, and calm. The decision making is huge especially on audibles, when to run the ball, when to throw, clock management, some rely on their coach making a lot of calls but a QB that can’t think on his feet is useless and is gonna get sacked a lot. You can really tell the difference between an american footballer that is just a brute versus an intelligent player. It really is the equivalent between having a bad, mediocre, good, or great captain in cricket. Food for thought, the average career of a running back for instance is three years, usually done in by injuries or they get figured out.

the sport has a surprising amount of positional depth particularly with the offensive players, quarterback, runningback, tight end, and wide receiver

[Devil-Dick Willie]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

Not at all, that is true for most positions in american football but a great QB has to be tactically aware, athletic, strong, and calm. The decision making is huge especially on audibles, when to run the ball, when to throw, clock management, some rely on their coach making a lot of calls but a QB that can’t think on his feet is useless and is gonna get sacked a lot. You can really tell the difference between an american footballer that is just a brute versus an intelligent player. It really is the equivalent between having a bad, mediocre, good, or great captain in cricket. Food for thought, the average career of a running back for instance is three years, usually done in by injuries or they get figured out.

the sport has a surprising amount of positional depth particularly with the offensive players, quarterback, runningback, tight end, and wide receiver

 

"Athlete"

Quarter backs are the queen chess piece yes. They have the most freedom and need more tools than the others, I would say quarter back is still easier to play than say, a halfback in rugby. Who has more responsibility over tactics, needs endurance conditioning because he's running for 2 40 minute halves instead of 10-20 second bursts, and he actually has to make tackles.