What is the Hardest Sport?

I’ve played a lot of sports throughout my life.  I started with soccer when I was in kindergarten and played competitively for about 10 years.  I started dabbling in Tennis in 1st grade and took several lessons while I was growing up.  I added Baseball in 3rd grade and loved it until I realized by about my 4th day that it was one of the world’s worst sports.  In 5th grade, I figured out I loved basketball and it ended up dominating my life for the next several years.  I went to several camps, clinics, etc. throughout my ~10 years of playing it competitively.  In 7th grade I ended up picking up golf and I took lessons very early on which helped me become a solid high school golfer.  In high school, I started lifting weights and have continued that throughout my life.  I didn’t start snow skiing until my freshman year of college but got into that for the next 10 years as well.

Until last year, I hadn’t picked up or attempted anything new athletically in ages.  Sure, I tried the occasional Yoga class and Rock Climbing at the gym, but that doesn’t really count.  Finally, in 2011, I added a new sport for the first time in years when I picked up triathlons.  That meant adding running, cycling, and swimming to the list.

I literally had never run on a treadmill, never done a spin class, and never tried to swim laps until the middle of last year.  Obviously, I had to be able to run for several of the other sports but running for distance is far different that short bursts of speed required for basketball, tennis, etc.  Riding a bike is no problem but hammering along at 20+ mph in an aerodynamic position for 30+ miles is far different than my short loops around the neighborhood as a kid.  I’ve always been able to swim, but playing Marco Polo in the pool growing up is not quite comparable to swimming a mile efficiently that’s required for some triathlons.
So why am I telling you all of this?  Well, it got me thinking about an interesting question…what is the “hardest” sport?  The Schmeis 35 for 35 List has a lot of variety but I was thinking even more broadly about the hardest sport out there.

Welcome visitors, you have just arrived in the “completely subjective, debatable, if I was drinking I would argue about this for hours zone.”  


To start our research, let’s see what a quick Google search has to say on this topic.  As a side note, I always find it fascinating to see what pre-populates as I type in my search.  In this case, it appears typing in “what is the hardest” leads to this sequence of choices:
- Language to learn
- Sport
- Wood
- Bone in the Body
- Instrument to Play
- Nut to Crack

It seems others are wondering the same question as me since “Sport” was #2 on the list!  Also, there is no way you’re not going to immediately Google what the hardest “nut to crack” is right after reading this.

Anyway, when clicking on sport I found an interesting article on ESPN.  They tackle the question of “what is the hardest sport?” by looking at 10 categories (Endurance, Strength, Power, Speed, Agility, Flexibility, Nerve, Durability, Hand-Eye Coordination, and Analytic Aptitude) and asking experts to rate the importance of each category on a scale of 1-10 across 60 different sports and adding up the total.

Hey, that actually sounds like a reasonable way to figure this out.  Let’s check out the results they came up with:

Degree of Difficulty: Sport Rankings (ESPN)
SPORT	RANK
Boxing	1
Ice Hockey	2
Football	3
Basketball	4
Wrestling	5
Martial Arts	6
Tennis	7
Gymnastics	8
Baseball/Softball	9
Soccer	10
Skiing: Alpine	11
Water Polo	11
Rugby	13
Lacrosse	14
Rodeo: Steer Wrestling	15
Track and Field: Pole Vault	16
Field Hockey	17
Speed Skating	17
Figure Skating	19
Cycling: Distance	20
Volleyball	20
Racquetball/Squash	22
Surfing	23
Fencing	24
Skiing: Freestyle	25
Team Handball	26
Cycling: Sprints	27
Bobsledding/Luge	28
Ski Jumping	29
Badminton	30
Skiing: Nordic	30
Auto Racing	32
Track and Field: High Jump	33
Track and Field: Long, Triple jumps	34
Diving	35
Swimming (all strokes): Distance	36
Skateboarding	37
Track and Field: Sprints	38
Rowing	39
Rodeo: Calf Roping	40
Track and Field: Distance	40
Rodeo: Bull/Bareback/Bronc Riding	42
Track and Field: Middle Distance	43
Weight-Lifting	44
Swimming (all strokes): Sprints	45
Water Skiing	46
Table Tennis	47
Track and Field: Weights	48
Canoe/Kayak	49
Horse Racing	50
Golf	51
Cheerleading	52
Roller Skating	52
Equestrian	54
Archery	55
Curling	56
Bowling	57
Shooting	58
Billiards	59
Fishing	60

Ok, let’s break this down.  As with any analytics, the best thing to do is some spot checks to see if this makes sense.  In last place…Fishing!  Ok, I’m cool with that.  Sitting on a boat or dock and waiting for a fish doesn’t require much other than patience and beer so that makes sense.  

Number 1?  Boxing?  I can’t accept that.  I agree that a lot of the skills that are rated are required but here is where the ESPN system starts to fall apart.  Sure, endurance, agility, strength, etc. are all necessary but I think an average guy could get reasonably decent at boxing given some coaching and practice.  For some other sports, there is no way that’s true.  I’ll restrain from calling their system worthless though until I check out a few more…

Let’s keep going with this.  Tennis ranks ahead of Gymnastics.  My apologies to Federer and Nadal, but no freaking way.  I’m pretty sure most humans can get competent at tennis but I know there is no way they’re doing a Double Twisting Double Layout.  I feel the same way about Diving at #35 on the list.  Sorry Badminton, but there is no way you’re harder than doing the crazy shit these guys do off a 10 Meter platform.  Most people wouldn’t even jump from there, let alone dive, let alone try to do a diving trick.  I mean, I was pretty good at Badminton as a 6th grader in PE.  

Also, Golf at #51?  Clearly this panel of “experts” has never played.  Actually, that’s not fair.  According to their methodology, it probably does belong at 51 which again shows how ridiculous their method is.  

I think a better methodology is just to think about it in terms of one question…

”If you took an average person off the street who had never played the sport before and gave them 1 week with a professional coach, how close to competent could they look?”

With this question, I have to think the Gymnastics, Diving, and Ski Jumping type of sports have to be the most difficult.  Given I’ve never lost an argument, I guess that settles it…unless, of course, someone dares to challenge me with their views in the comments…

Schmeis