Sport requiring the most athleticism?

[Squirrel]

TENNIS!!!!

 

Well, according to Olympic Decathlon Gold Medalist ...

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/olympic-decathlete-ashton-eaton-most-athletic-sport-2016-8

[Willihammer]

A refresher, the decathlon events are:

 

100 metres
Long jump
Shot put
High jump
400 metres
110 metres hurdles
Discus throw
Pole vault
Javelin throw
1500 metres

 

Basically he thinks athleticism is, in order of importance, a combination of foot speed (4), jumping (3), throwing (3), and pole vaulting (1).

[Mike Sixel]

And stamina.....

[Pardon My Dinger]

Hockey. Speed, strength, stamina, agility, coordination.

[Craig Arko]

I've often wondered how Bobby Riggs became one of the founding members of Cirque du Soleis.

[Willihammer]

The question is, what sports athletes would do best in the decathlon?

I doubt there's much difference in foot speed across the major sports. Perhaps hockey players are a step slower than other athletes, due to playing on skates instead of shoes. But I'd guess that foot speed is more or less a wash.

Jumping- basketball wins.

Throwing- baseball, easily.

Pole vaulting- pole vaulters, maybe Fierljeppen players

 

With the weighting you'd have to give it to basketball or baseball I think.

[Pardon My Dinger]

 

The question is, what sports athletes would do best in the decathlon?

I doubt there's much difference in foot speed across the major sports. Perhaps hockey players are a step slower than other athletes, due to playing on skates instead of shoes. But I'd guess that foot speed is more or less a wash.

Jumping- basketball wins.

Throwing- baseball, easily.

Pole vaulting- pole vaulters, maybe Fierljeppen players

 

With the weighting you'd have to give it to basketball or baseball I think.

I don't think that is the question. 

 

Example: throwing and pole vaulting are skills, not purely athletic qualities. 

[Vanimal46]

Water Polo. Those people are swimming the entire length of the game, trying to tackle and joust for the best position in the pool, and somehow elevate themselves out of the pool to fire a ball at a net. 

[jimmer]

 

Water Polo. Those people are swimming the entire length of the game, trying to tackle and joust for the best position in the pool, and somehow elevate themselves out of the pool to fire a ball at a net. 

yeah, I love playing Marco Polo...

[TheLeviathan]

I guess I'm not sure why a decathlete is one we should listen to.  Pick any sport and you can probably break it down into far more skills than 10 that are required to play it.  

 

There are a lot of definitions within definitions at work.  Personally I think baseball and hockey require the widest range of athletic attributes.

[Mike Sixel]

Baseball barely requires any stamina at all......

[Vanimal46]

 

Hockey. Speed, strength, stamina, agility, coordination.

Hockey itself is unique compared to most other sports. You or I could pick up a basketball and play, or a tennis racket and play. We may be shooting tons of air balls in basketball, but none the less it's still possible.

Unless you learn how to skate, no one can just pick up a hockey stick and head out on the ice. Hockey was my best sport growing up, so I'm biased that you need a ton of athletic traits to play. 

[Willihammer]

 

I don't think that is the question. 

 

Example: throwing and pole vaulting are skills, not purely athletic qualities. 

From the article:

 

 

“ I don’t have one specific person that I think is the most athletic person,” Eaton said. “In my opinion, you’d have to do a really exhaustive study over a long period of time with really clearly defined metrics in order to get that.”

 

In other words, you’d want them to compete in a decathlon.

I agree that of the 10 events, pole vaulting seems the lease athletic, although throwing is a basic motion IMO.

[Pardon My Dinger]

 

 Hockey was my best sport growing up, so I'm biased that you need a ton of athletic traits to play. 

Biases aside, here's the thing that I've always thought completely distinguishes the physical/athletic demands of playing hockey. Every single skater must possess the full fleet of athletic traits (i.e., speed, strength coordination, stamina, flexibility, etc.) in order to compete at a high level. No one is specialized to a point where they are an exception. Okay, a person could argue that goalies are, and I would disagree, but whatever. 

 

In baseball, some people run, and some people don't. In basketball, some people are quick and hyper coordinated, and some are big and imposing, yet slower than average. In football, you probably have some of the freakiest freaks in all the world, and you also have a lot of hulking strongmen who can't get down field without an oxygen tank. Other sports, more examples. It goes on like this. 

[TheLeviathan]

 

Baseball barely requires any stamina at all......

 

Is stamina an athletic thing?  I ask that in all seriousness, because it doesn't seem like a skill.  I can train myself for stamina, but no matter what i do I'm not going to be able to outrun most professional athletes.  or throw anywhere nearly as hard as them.  

 

I really think how we define these things makes a major difference.  I would agree that stamina is less necessary in baseball, but hand-eye coordination is off the charts more valuable in baseball than anything you do in a decathlon.  So how do we weight those things?

[Vanimal46]

 

Biases aside, here's the thing that I've always thought completely distinguishes the physical/athletic demands of playing hockey. Every single skater must possess the full fleet of athletic traits (i.e., speed, strength coordination, stamina, flexibility, etc.) in order to compete at a high level. No one is specialized to a point where they are an exception. Okay, a person could argue that goalies are, and I would disagree, but whatever. 

As a former goalie in hockey, thank you. We're athletic too! The only people that were specialized to a point were enforcers like Boogey... But thankfully, they're getting phased out of the game. 

[TheLeviathan]

 

As a former goalie in hockey, thank you. We're athletic too! The only people that were specialized to a point were enforcers like Boogey... But thankfully, they're getting phased out of the game. 

 

Goalies are athletic in a way that most people can't fathom.  I always marvel at what they can do.  The peripheral vision, anticipation, flexibility, hand eye coordination, the mental acumen and focus necessary.

 

I always wished I could play it.  No position in sports allows you to dominate in quite the same way as a freaky elite goalie.

[nicksaviking]

 

From the article:

 

I agree that of the 10 events, pole vaulting seems the lease athletic, although throwing is a basic motion IMO.

 

I don't know, you need pretty good speed, upper body strength, core strength and really good body control.

 

And b**** of steel. I have no clue how you practice doing that for the first time; it seems to me there's no way someone just trying it out wouldn't get 10 kinds of injured.

[Vanimal46]

 

Goalies are athletic in a way that most people can't fathom.  I always marvel at what they can do.  The peripheral vision, anticipation, flexibility, hand eye coordination, the mental acumen and focus necessary.

 

I always wished I could play it.  No position in sports allows you to dominate in quite the same way as a freaky elite goalie.

I loved everything about it. Gotta thank my older brother who needed someone to shoot on when we were little. And my parents for forking over the dough to buy the equipment.... Playing hockey isn't cheap! 

[Pardon My Dinger]

By now, I'm sure you guys are all thinking the same thing I am.

 

Hunger Games. That's the only way to settle this argument. We're just going to have the put two athletes from each sport into a bio dome and let them fight to the bloody end. 

[Willihammer]

 

Goalies are athletic in a way that most people can't fathom.  I always marvel at what they can do.  The peripheral vision, anticipation, flexibility, hand eye coordination, the mental acumen and focus necessary.

 

I always wished I could play it.  No position in sports allows you to dominate in quite the same way as a freaky elite goalie.

Starting pitcher?

Quarterback?

Tennis player?

[Willihammer]

 

I don't know, you need pretty good speed, upper body strength, core strength and really good body control.

 

And b**** of steel. I have no clue how you practice doing that for the first time; it seems to me there's no way someone just trying it out wouldn't get 10 kinds of injured.

True. What I should have said is that  of the ten events, pole vault seems the most sport-specific, whereas the others could be generalized to most sports.

[Vanimal46]

 

Starting pitcher?

Quarterback?

Tennis player?

Starting pitcher - nah, unless they're throwing a perfect game, they still rely heavily on the fielders. 

 

QB - Possibly. They also need to rely on their defense to keep the game in check and the o-line for keeping them on their feet. 

 

Tennis - I mean, yeah. Then we're getting into the debate between individual sports and team sports. 

[formerly33]

Catching requires more athleticism than pitching, imo. Hrbowski and I have had many an argument on who's more athletic, the sp or catcher ... I'm right, btw.

 

Ya'll are going to hate me for saying this, but my vote goes to gymnasts.

[twinsnorth49]

Hockey. Speed, strength, stamina, agility, coordination.

You're my favourite poster......now.

[nicksaviking]

 

Ya'll are going to hate me for saying this, but my vote goes to gymnasts.

 

No, even if there is debate, gymnasts certainly qualify as a candidate. Some of that stuff seems like it shouldn't be physically possible. We just saw a 4' 10" 18-year-old woman who could probably beat 70% of men in an arm wrestling contest and 90% of us in a foot race. And those skills are only a small component of what she does.

[Pardon My Dinger]

In terms of dominance (although, that is a side discussion): 

 

SP: what Van said. 

QB: one of many parts that must be, at least, efficient. 

Tennis: one on one?Pft. A truly dominant performance in net is 5 vs 1. 

[Willihammer]

Starting pitcher - nah, unless they're throwing a perfect game, they still rely heavily on the fielders. 

 

QB - Possibly. They also need to rely on their defense to keep the game in check and the o-line for keeping them on their feet. 

 

Tennis - I mean, yeah. Then we're getting into the debate between individual sports and team sports.

If goalies are so great, why doesn't that show up in the free agent contracts like starting pitchers and quarterbacks in those sports?

[twinsnorth49]

I'd say hockey ( I know, shocker). But seriously, speed, strength, hand eye coordination, agility and body control. All done on skates, not easy.

[Pardon My Dinger]

 

If goalies are so great, why doesn't that show up in the free agent contracts like starting pitchers and quarterbacks in those sports?

1. There are more "good" goalies than bad, relative to "good" QBs, SPs in their respective market. 

2. It does (?)

3. Money's not huge in hockey, and the goalie wears a mask over his face and competes in a niche sport.