What is the toughest sport?

[rwhyman]

Here is a good one. Canoe/kayak placed below Ping Pong.

This was copied from the Sailing Scuttlebutt digest.

"When ESPN went about listing the top 60 most demanding sports, they
identified 10 categories, or skills, that go into athleticism, and then
assigned a number from 1 to 10 to the demands each sport makes of each of
those 10 skills. By totaling and averaging their responses, they arrived at
a degree-of-difficulty number for each sport on a 1 to 100 scale. That
number places the difficulty of performing each sport in context with the
other sports we rated. When the list was done, they found that Boxing (1) is
the most demanding sport -- and that Fishing (60) is the least demanding
sport."

Here is a link to the list.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills#

[frontrangefred]

I totally belive Baseball should be 9th, those guys are always working harder then me when I have to portage miles of mountainuos terrian with a fully loaded kayak.

Frontrange

Flatwater Canoe/Kayaking is a pretty darn easy sport as long as you are not using a race boat.

There are some freaking hilarious listings thought. ESPN just lost a lot of ground in my book with the list, not to mention them ruining their TV station with freaking poker (how is that a sport again). Surprised the did not list that freaking first.

Skateboarding is 37th, and distance cycling is 20th. What a crock of shit. Skateboarding is probably the hardest sport there is besides boxing and hockey in my opinion (Hockey might be harder cause you have to know how to skate and box while standing on ice). Distance cycling got 20th? If you have a heart the size of a gorillas and plently of performance enhancing drugs it seems that you could probably train up to be a pretty good road biker.

Badminton beat us out too! I guess both sports sometimes entail the "Shuttle Cock" at least.

Nick

[mania]

I didn't read it but high altitude mountaineering has to be the toughest and kills a whole lot of people including the best of the best.

[RDNEK]

I think that ESPN is very close with this list. Water Polo and Rodeo should be higher and backcountry snowmachine riders should top the list - but IMO the rest fall as they should.

We must remember that whitewater kayakers, skateboarders, ect - even at the top levels don’t even come to training as hard as even the baseball players. I have never heard of those damn month long 2 a days to get ready for the kayaking season. Interval, agility, and weight training for kayakers – funny.

That is the best part of this kayaking thing. The best athletes are not groomed from birth to achieve the highest levels at kayaking. Those who do choose to do it for pleasure.

Kayaking will never be at the level of the big sports here in America. This is why I choose to kayak and I am damn happy for one that we do not have to endure 2 a day practices + weights + agility + intervals + pool workouts + film sessions + everything else that comes with the top tier sports listed at the top of this list.

I am happy with kayaking’s rating – I think it is right where it should be.

[BastrdSonOfElvis]

Okay, ESPN might be pretty weak...but ESPN the Ocho is kickass.

Also, I didn't see Dodgeball anywhere on the list, which is bunk. Anyone who has dodged wrenches at practice will tell you that Dball (as I like to call it) is intense.

Badminton and ping pong (without beer) rank right down there with golf on the ol' excite-o-meter. I wonder how anyone can play without falling asleep. I certainly don't think they deserve to be very high on the list.

What a dumb list anyway. And how can boxing be ahead of boxing..on ice with your shirt over your head? Eh?

[hobie]

No question, Ultimate fighting. I started taking a jujitsu and mixed martial arts class last summer. So tough on you. I think there are so many difficult sports to learn but this one is tough all the way around. Not only to learn but also tolerate getting your ass whipped daily, cardio, the works.

h

[vaultman14]

my other sport is 16th (pole vault) horray!!!!

[Mut]

I like that alpine skiing is ahead of freestyle skiing. Does that mean the strugglers that I see on the slopes would be better of in the halfpipe?


REDNECK,
What do you mean kayakers don't do 2 a days getting ready for the season. I know many boaters who hit the substance at least twice a day prior to kayak season and sit on their couch and visualize their lines, doesn't that count for something?

[raftus]

It is clear when you look at the Nerve rating for Canoe/Kayak that it is referring to flatwater. According to the ratings Soccer and Cheerleading require the same amount of nerve - yeah, right. Whitewater belongs near the top of the list here - right next to auto racing. The analytical ranking is also a joke - reading water with the possibility of death due to a misread is ranked with bobsledding and figure skating. Clearly it belongs near the top of this rating as well.

Whitewater boating may not require the combination of attributes that makes it the ultimate sport in difficulty - but it definitely belongs in the top 15 - probably more like the top 5 or 10.