The World's Hardest, Most Difficult Sport?

[SavvySwede]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

I disagree. There are all kinds of forms of athleticism, and golf requires touch, speed, and precision. Nimbleness, flexibility, speed/power…

Golf requires some athleticism, sure. But so many sports are so much more physically demanding than golf that any of the ones with a solid technical component would quickly outrank it. (Boxing, gymnastics, wrestling, figure skating, etc)

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

Golf requires some athleticism, sure. But so many sports are so much more physically demanding than golf that any of the ones with a solid technical component would quickly outrank it. (Boxing, gymnastics, wrestling, figure skating, etc)

That's only because you're defining "athletic" a certain way.

Golf requires a lot of athleticism. It's just not the type that's going to make you tired relatively quickly.

[SavvySwede]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

That's only because you're defining "athletic" a certain way.

Golf requires a lot of athleticism. It's just not the type that's going to make you tired relatively quickly.

 

That's why I made sure to add gymnastics and figure skating to my post. They stand on equal footing with golf regarding technical aspects IMO and I don't see those athletes lacking in any of the physical attributes you listed about golf. (speed, power, flexibility, nimleness, precision and touch)

[JonMA1]

All sports are difficult at the top level.

Repeating the type of precision golf pros perform for 18 holes, four days in a row is beyond my comprehension. I might be lucky to make one or two shots per round on an easy course that a pro would accept as being "ok". We can all agree golf is pretty hard.

But... if we were to carry the ball for one play during an NFL game, where the fastest, hardest hitting defensive players in the world would square off and hit you as hard as they could, few of us would be around for a second play. And if you think interior line play is nothing more than brute strength, you probably don't know much about the game.

I don't know how you'd rank any sport harder than another.

[dak4n6]

22 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

Yes golf is hard.  But there are many sports that are beyond the physical abilities of so many while those same people could get proficient at golf.

Pole Vaulting

The rings in gymnastics

Two man beach volleyball (at a competitive level)

Surfing

Try to take any of those up when you are 50 years old... Golf which can be taken up at 50 or older, not nearly as high of physical requirements.

Great mulls, you just killed my dreams. I was setting my sights on becoming an Olympic pole vaulter at 55.

[David in FL]

Sadly the article would have been more convincing had it not been so obvious that the author didn't know much at all about golf...

[Natural Patrick]

7 hours ago, iacas said:

I disagree. There are all kinds of forms of athleticism, and golf requires touch, speed, and precision. Nimbleness, flexibility, speed/power…

Then it is Hockey at the highest level, end of discussion.

[nickyreno]

Skateboarding on a professional level.

[natureboy]

14 hours ago, SavvySwede said:

so many sports are so much more physically demanding than golf that any of the ones with a solid technical component would quickly outrank it. (Boxing, gymnastics, wrestling, figure skating, etc)

Per the definition of 'hard' in the article, I have to take issue with boxing & wrestling. I think he was talking about (though he probably overlapped) time to a certain base 'competency' vs. 'proficiency'. I discount polo in the article because the sport's primary barriers to entry are not athletic skill related, though I don't discount horsemanship as a difficult skill or athletic. Any two kids could 'box' or 'wrestle' without much if any training. To do them at a high level is another thing. Gymnastics on the other hand...

[turtleback]

19 hours ago, SavvySwede said:

Golf requires some athleticism, sure. But so many sports are so much more physically demanding than golf that any of the ones with a solid technical component would quickly outrank it. (Boxing, gymnastics, wrestling, figure skating, etc)

None of which requires the same level of eye-hand and fine motor control as golf.

 

It is all in the definitions.

[SavvySwede]

8 minutes ago, turtleback said:

None of which requires the same level of eye-hand and fine motor control as golf.

 

It is all in the definitions.

Honestly at this point is seems like everyone is trying to make their "definitions" fit golf instead of the other way around. Gymnastics and figure skating require a ton of fine motor control. (balance beam, balance another person over your head, etc) Putting by comparison is a very basic motion and easy skill to acquire.

[InTheRough]

The author of that article doesn't really seem to know much about sports in general.  Being able to kick a soccer ball around does not make you proficient at soccer and being able to simply catch and throw a baseball properly takes a lot more practice that the author thinks before you become proficient (also don't forget about that hitting thing that you do in baseball--I've heard its pretty hard ).

Golf does require some athleticism but not even close to as much as any of the other big four sports.  Obviously its difficult if not impossible to compare difficulty of sports because they each require different skills/strengths that are equally difficult and time consuming to develop however the way I have always tried to differentiate which sport is the toughest is to consider how the players would do in any of the other sports.   There are plenty of athletes from other sports that play golf at a high level and were multi-sport athletes at a high level, but I seriously doubt that there are many PGA level golfers that would be able to play any other sport at a high level. 

Not saying golf is easy by any stretch of the word, just saying that other sports are more difficult.

[Natural Patrick]

31 minutes ago, InTheRough said:

The author of that article doesn't really seem to know much about sports in general.  Being able to kick a soccer ball around does not make you proficient at soccer and being able to simply catch and throw a baseball properly takes a lot more practice that the author thinks before you become proficient (also don't forget about that hitting thing that you do in baseball--I've heard its pretty hard ).

Golf does require some athleticism but not even close to as much as any of the other big four sports.  Obviously its difficult if not impossible to compare difficulty of sports because they each require different skills/strengths that are equally difficult and time consuming to develop however the way I have always tried to differentiate which sport is the toughest is to consider how the players would do in any of the other sports.   There are plenty of athletes from other sports that play golf at a high level and were multi-sport athletes at a high level, but I seriously doubt that there are many PGA level golfers that would be able to play any other sport at a high level. 

Not saying golf is easy by any stretch of the word, just saying that other sports are more difficult.

All I know is that I would pay good money, to watch 99.9% of the NBA players. Try and strap on a pair of skates and skate with the puck on the end of their stick.

[InTheRough]

38 minutes ago, Natural Patrick said:

All I know is that I would pay good money, to watch 99.9% of the NBA players. Try and strap on a pair of skates and skate with the puck on the end of their stick.

Haha.  I would pay to see any athlete from any of the other sports do that.  

I think Hockey players are probably the most well rounded athletes out there. NBA, and NFL guys are bigger, faster, and stronger, and the MLB and PGA guys have better hand-eye coordination but Hockey players need to be everything and need to be able to do it on ice.  That and it's the only sport where if you act like a twat the other players will literally punch you in the jaw for it.

[dak4n6]

This whole discussion is based upon the definition of 'proficiency'. Plus, in different sports, there are different levels progressing from rank amateurs through clubs and leagues, to semi-pros, to the apex level pros.

Thus, 'proficient' is absolutely impossible to define in a way that cuts across all of these different areas.

All I know is, I could play tennis (I made #2 on my HS team after picking up a racket 4 months earlier), softball, flag football, and pickup basketball 'proficiently' way, waaay, waaay quicker than I started playing golf 'proficiently'.

[mcanadiens]

There are certain things in life that I simply am not capable of doing. In my eyes, those are the hardest. It isn't so much the abilities to play said sport at the highest level.

I play golf (poorly) and I played hockey (also poorly), but I do not have the skills to even try mountain climbing or stock car racing. Both would result in either long-term injury or death for yours truly.

 

[dak4n6]

I think this discussion should be limited to 'common' sports. Certainly free climbing El Capitan, running the Iditerod, and walking a tight rope between highrise buildings doesn't enter into the picture. I can always come up with some 'sport' that can beat your sport. How about sky diving from the edge of the troposhpere? That certainly must have a big learning curve.......

I still maintain that within my limited realm, golf has always been and will always be the most elusive and hard to maintain sport. I used to play a lot of tennis, but since I joined a local CC and had to coach two stepkids, I have played almost never in the last 5 years. But I picked up a racket the other day and was striping shots, no big deal...

[MrDC]

It's really impossible to say for sure, but if a reasonably athletic person were to take up pole vaulting as an adult, or some other difficult sport, it's safe to say that after a few years of solid practice they would get pretty good, but not so with golf, I think it's common for adults without any previous golf experience to spend years learning and never really get to a high level, decent sure but not great, there's something about golf that is very hard to learn as an adult.