Which sport do you think requires the most SKILL?

I would agree about golf, but I believe baseball is one of the most difficult of all sports, think of it this way if you can just get on base 30% of your at bats, that would make you pretty much a superstar. Boxing is a bit overrated even though I personally enjoy it, it's more about your genetics, and ability to endure a lot of punishment, but all professional sports require high levels of skill, and talent, along with training.

Gymnastics for certain due to the years of required dedication, flexibility, mental acuity, concentration and strength.

Martial arts of any kind for similar reasons as gymnastics; some,such as wu shu Kung Fu can be equally challenging as gymnastics due to their acrobatic forms and doing such with weapons in hand.

I love watching a skillful ballet dancer as well. Any skilled dancer, for that matter.

Lacrosse, Golf, Chess, Go.

And of course, then there's the most difficult sport of all, convincing NinaBambina to come to Louisville and "entertain" me for the pittance I have to offer. ;)

Aw, GMD. 💋

Golf, yes. I would say baseball, too.

I'll add auto racing. You have to understand your car, the track, the other drivers, how things change in time, and you have to do it at 200 mph over three hours in an uncomfortable outfit and helmet without fatigue, knowing a wrong move could end your life. I'd say that takes skill.

I think that the most valid sports require both skill and physical athleticism.

Gaming? Competition... yes. Sport... no. It's all skill essentially zero athletics.

Arm wrestling... also not a sport. All brute force and nearly no skill. But it is also a competition.

Freestyle rock climbing without ropes, etc. Lots of physical skill and mental fortitude. I mean, I think they're fucking lunatics, but I admire the nerve and breadth of talent.

Baseball is 90% mental and 50% physical.

rickball

The most dangerous, extreme, and mentally demanding sport in the world. Only the ricks are intelligent and badass enough to play rickball.

ROAR!!!

ROAR!!!

Hey rickdugan my bud, let’s get togther with the bear and shark for some ultimate rickball.

But no dickless George in the audience. If dickless Georgie were to even see a second of the badassery that is rickball his brain would asplode. Then the vulture would consume him after an appropriate period of rotting in the sun

ROAR!

ROAR!

In this country I would say baseball.

For about 2 years my income was from whitewater rafting. Keeping a raft upright in the powerful, ever changing chaos takes some strength and expertise. But not an ultimate amount.

But I think doing so in a little kayak, reading the water, predicting forces most can't see, and making it look easy, should be on the list.

Fetch

^^^^^ Dog's do that so easy. What is hard for them is fly catching.

SJG

Good question/thread.

I think would also agree with the others about baseball. Not only is there a diverse amount of things one has to be good at (with bat swings, throwing/catching ball, etc) but there’s also the interpersonal factor from being a team sport.

Gymnastics is the most fun to watch tho. 😁

—>”For about 2 years my income was from whitewater rafting. Keeping a raft upright in the powerful, ever changing chaos takes some strength and expertise. But not an ultimate amount.”

Woah! That sounds really cool

For me, most athleticism is gymnastics and combat sports such as boxing and MMA.

Woah! That sounds really cool <<

Thanks, Nicespice. Yeah, quite a few of my favorite memories are from those days.

I was especially proud of my ability to get the asshole in the raft splashed on more than others.

Gymnastics. The amazing combination of athleticism, focus, coordination and determination it takes to even compete at a junior level is amazing. I know a gym where there is a sign posted which says "if Gymnastics was easy, it would be football.". That is obviously an oversimplification but you get the mindset.

This may sound strange, but when played at the highest level I think all sports are equally difficult. Brute force doesn't get you very far, even in boxing, where strategy and deception play a huge role.

Baseball. Bar none. For many of the reasons listed.

In baseball you have to start playing as a kid (before age 10) or you have almost no chance of playing at the major league level.

Lorenzo Cain is a notable exception (he started in high school].

In basketball and football and even golf there are plenty of examples of players who started playing the sport in college or as an adult and made to the highest level.

There's not enough bandwidth to settle the SKILL argument, so I'll weigh in with my thoughts on what has been presented so far:

Gymnastics- Definitely takes skill to do the various flips, jumps, and contortions that people don't normally do. You're competing against yourself in a closed circuit, controlled environment arena. Tough thing is doing a routine in absolutely perfect form (or closer to it than other gymnasts in the meet). Achieving the extra nth point separates the winners from also rans, but you "own the floor" when you do your routine. Meaning that no other competitor is going to run out on the floor, and try to knock you down in the middle of your routine. Also, an indoor competition, meaning you don't have to contend with the weather elements. I don't let that denigrate the skill required to do a routine in perfect form.

Golf- I don't play golf, but I recognize that each course is different, as in each day. You may be the top dog on your home course on a calm day, but try a different course with different terrain, and a windy, gusty day. Trees, and gaps in trees can do wicked things to your drive. A strong crosswind just might put you in the sand trap if you don't compensate just right. Lets see, there's a pond on your par3 just before the green. Do you swing for the fences in a strong headwind ? Don't get me started on putts. Ability to sink a putt from less than ideal spots is a difference maker. However, goofing up a drive or putt isn't the same as falling off a gymnastic beam.

Chess- Mental game that requires thinking many moves ahead. Opponent is trying to screw you up, something that is not that so in gymnastics or golf. Must know what you can do in a vast number of different situations.

Come to think of it, getting an enjoyable strip club visit can be a bit like a game of chess, but with many more players/opponents. You may not get the "queen" (i.e. most desirable dancer to you) but otherwise play a "good game" by putting yourself in the best position (stage vs bar, etc) , making sound "jump at the 1st attractive dancer vs wait it out" decision. I think gmd may be on to something by listing chess.

if talking strictly skill and not athleticism here are a some sports/activities for consideration: -pocket billiards- 14.1, 8 or 9 ball, 3 cushion -executing fast runs on a guitar, electric or acoustic, this was sort o considered a sport, especially during the 80's. -thoroughbred jockey -definitely golf all of the above all have requirements pertaining to skill, timing and execution. all synchronized into as one. you miss at least one of those components then the final result is an epic fail.

Good thread Nina. I think y'all TUSCLER's covered it well - golf, gymnastics, boxing - all in. And left basketball out.

This article summarizes what's said so far: pledgesports.org

I think Pole Dancing and Lap Dancing is 80% skill and 20% body. Numerous 7s sell more dances than 9s.

Nina...please read your damn PMs 😊

Chess! Staying awake long enough for a game is beyond me!

Fishdick and chess, smh.

Don’t agree with gymnastics, that’s about putting your children in gymnast classes early on during bone development and making them do weird shit.

Golf fo sho Pro football qb Ice skating Soccer

So I have to admit I have some personal bias. But if your definition of skill is expertise then I would say Formula 1 racing.

In addition to the obvious physical skill, stamina, and precision required by the driver you also have a team of people who have expertise in engineering, craftsmanship, and strategy.

I belong to Athletics Anonymous. Whenever you feel the need to do any kind of physical activity they send some one over to drink with you until the urge passes.

Great question

I’d bet hockey is a difficult sport to get a hold of

I'd say football followed by baseball. Football takes more than just big muscles. It requires maneuverability, athleticism of course, strategy, trickery between competing teams. Oh and of course a game plan before and during the actual sport.

Baseball is more about how you hit the ball athleticism and quick-thinking in a tight situation.

If you're talking about team skill, then I think you can judge them by the quality of play in the all-star game. Baseball: pretty much the same as any random regular season game, so low level of team skill. Basketball: terrible play in all star game, so high level of team skill. Same with football.

I was playing hooky when God was passing out skills.

Gymnastics and baseball have been mentioned and I agree. It takes years of ice time to get good at hockey. And then I’d add trap shooting. It’s the fastest growing high school sport and the champions don’t make it by running fast or jumping high but by tons of practice and controlling the mental challenges.

I'm going to submit fencing as a highly skilled sport. Same elements as boxing without the genetic involvement "to both take and deliver physical blows that few humans ever could."

-->"I'd say golf is probably the one that requires the most skill to master --- both physically and mentally. It takes many years to learn how to develop a great swing and one tiny error can doom you, and then you have to be mentally sharp to make the right kind of shots and learn how to withstand enormous stress when it comes down to the final holes to win or lose."

I was re-thinking my answers a bit, and realized it can be really difficult to separate skill (however you define it) from athleticism from the mental aspects. Golf is actually an example that makes things easier to see: unspeakably high skill level, and -- relative to most sports -- less athleticism required. So a mostly-skill sport, with very high skill requirements.

-->"I don't know much about gymnastics but I would substitute "skill" with "repetitive muscle memory". I honestly believe you could take any thin flexible female at age 10 and teach them how to be a really good gymnast if they practiced the same routines 300 times a day for 10 years."

I agree with you that you don't know much about gymnastics :) Part of the challenge is that if you've never participated in a sport, it can be difficult to assess what's going on. Muscle memory is an absolutely enormous factor in all sports, including golf. That doesn't mean there isn't also a huge amount of conscious skill in golf, or in gymnastics. In fact, the idea that great gymnasts can be built out of any 10-year-old girl is beyond laughable -- but it would be difficult to convince you of that in words, possibly. But the thing about gymnastics is, its incredibly high skill level is mixed in with athletic requirements that push the limits of human physiology. The level of explosive power developed is insane; just being able to perform many intermediate movements takes years of conditioning (if you tried them and were forced to hold the position, your tendons would tear).

-->"Boxing does need skill at the highest level but it really just comes down to genetics and how well you can take punishment. "

I suspect this is another case of something you haven't done, and may not fully understand what you're seeing. Boxing is the most high-skill sport I've done; the fact that you think Mike Tyson's success was based on good DNA to take blows means, again, you don't really understand what you're seeing. Don't get me wrong, like many great golfers, Tyson was a prodigy right from the beginning. But the level of skill seen, especially in the first part of his career when opponents could barely touch him, is practically inconceivable... switch to a boxer who is more of a counterpuncher, if you really understand what you're seeing, the skill level is mind boggling. So is the ability -- which is not based on just muscle memory or DNA -- to recognize a small gap of vulnerability in an opponent, and develop a strategy to exploit it.

AGain, though, I think it's easier to see the skill in golf, which isn't confounded with human-limit-stretching athletic requirements, than it is in gymnastics or boxing, which not only have those human-limit-stretching athletic requirements, but mental aspects around controlling fear, when a mistake means more than ending up in the sand trap.

Let me throw competitive sailing into the mix. Doing it in all different wind strengths, knowing how to read wind strength and direction in relation to surrounding geography to optimize your courses, using the current well and doing this while knowing where all of your closest competitors are takes a lot of smarts and concentration. Sailing America's Cup foiling cats takes it to an even higher level, requiring intense concentration on boat speed and whole-crew coordination in addition.

I would say hockey.

Stop teasing, Nina. :)

Great responses. I see several people mentioned baseball. I agree it is a very difficult sport and requires a lot of precision. I don't think it's the sport that requires the absolute most skill, but it's a part of the conversation. I also think we could add ice hockey to the list of high-skilled sports, although like baseball, there are a few other that require even more skill imo.

I don't know if Chess belongs in the conversation. It is completely mental and I am talking about sports that require physical skill. I realize I didn't specify...

Also, ballet requires an amazing level of skill and discipline. Speaking of which, I would like to go see a ballet soon.

My opinion... chess is a game, not a sport.

Most sports include some sort of competition, so I'm not sure ballet fits the bill as a sport. Most people consider that type of dance to be in the arts, not sport.

An exception, though... figure skating.

All that said, I'd watch the fuck out of the full-contact competitive ballet.

Don't judge...

Floyd Mayweather (jr) is unbelievably stupid.

^ I have boxed competitively many years ago and I think it’s more instinctive and agility dependent than actual skills involved, but you need to keep moving or you will get your bell rung, you just need to go back a ways to fights like Ali -Frazier or Ali -Foreman to remember how some guys can take punishment and keep moving, I don’t feel it takes the same level of skill as consistently hitting a baseball in a pro league, that in my opinion is the most difficult sports task to master. It takes tremendous concentration, extremely fast hand eye coordination, and a level of strength that is not really seen in any other sport.

Hockey requires skill, you need to know how to ice kate fast and precisely, forward and backwards, and stop on a dime.

You have to be able to handle a puck while ice skating; defend and hit other players.

Ish,

You say " My opinion... chess is a game, not a sport."

Nina said "And we are talking skill, not athleticism. Skill, by definition, requires expertise."

Chess fits her requirements.

fucking a low mileage girl in the club during the first lap dance with her… Maybe that is skill... and maybe again it’s just pure luck.

"How much skill can be involved if a dude can barely speak and read at a 2nd grade level?"

Maybe he's Boxing's idiot savant...

@misterwonderful

I would say that requires a little of both skill and luck, but probably more skill

Nina, for the purposes of your discussion, do you wish to confine definition of "sport" to those that are either 1) Part of the Olympics or 2) A sport which would confer a varsity letter in high school or college ? Members with too much time on your hand, please report google search results back to us.

All professional competitive sports. Unless you consider things that don't require physical activity, such as chess.

Chess was gmd's original idea, not mine.

Nina, You said "not athleticism". Chess doesn't take much "athleticism" and certainly requires a skill. Perhaps you equate athleticism physical activity. Sitting is a physical activity, is it not? Of course, it was your question, so you can interpret it any way you desire. :)

I'll take you to the ballet, Nina!

I played Volleyball for many years competitively and felt it required both a high level of athleticism and skill and always said it was the easiest sport to make a mistake at while performing...... and then I took up golf. To me the difference between the average Joe and a pro golfer is huge. To do what they do on the courses they play; my vote goes to golf.

I go to the ballet to watch Nina’s version of the Nutcracker 😷

My vote probably goes to gymnastics too. In terms of overall athleticism required.

Golf is so damn hard (been playing for many years, low round is 79 a few times) but being great at golf, like the pros, seems different from being an amazing athlete.

One other sport whose athletes are more agile and skilled than one would think is ping pong players. YouTube a video of bad asses in that sport some day.

captain,

Since the first time I played golf, I've always shot in the 70's. Any hotter, I don't play!