Just for fun discussion purposes… enjoy.
Here is the list of the Top 10 Most Difficult Sports per Sporteology.com
Swimming and Cross-Country Running both make the list… but yet a sport that has them both (triathlon) is not listed…
have fun!
Using proper grammar might be just as hard a task for them as some of the “sports” on their list. Some of those descriptions were painful to read.
Is tight rope walking blindfolded over a Chicago street, a sport?
It’s like a parlor trick, or side show attraction.
Using proper grammar might be just as hard a task for them as some of the “sports” on their list. Some of those descriptions were painful to read.
Oh c’mon now these guys writing this article most likely have a Bachelors in Human Kinetics:
"Staying underwater and flapping one’s legs and arms is a difficult task, and only those with good skills can achieve the target.
It reminds me of assembly instructions on Chinese stuff. Doesn’t sound like English is the writer’s first language.
triathlons got those build in rest periods (transitions)
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Motor Cross?! Seriously?
Haim
Difficult for who and for what. Is it just to participate or to be a pro or to be world champion?
Cross country by itself can’t be more difficult than say soccer or football as the former is just running and the later are running plus some sort of ball handling skill plus tactics plus teamwork. But I do feel more beat up after getting a PR in a 10k than playing soccer with my friends in the park.
And how is swimming more difficult than water polo in any comparison?
For me, I would reorder that list so bull riding and figure skating were the most difficult.
Motor Cross?! Seriously?
Haim
I’m going to assume you’ve never done it.
I’m going to assume you’ve never done it.
Motor Cross? Never, but I have raced Moto-Cross, Cross Country, and Enduros pretty much my entire life, dabbled a little in Flat Track, and picked up a motorcycle Road Racing State Championship along the way.
Haim
I’m going to assume you’ve never done it.
Motor Cross? Never, but I have raced Moto-Cross, Cross Country, and Enduros pretty much my entire life, dabbled a little in Flat Track, and picked up a motorcycle Road Racing State Championship along the way.
Haim
BOOM SON!!!
I’m going to assume you’ve never done it.
Motor Cross? Never, but I have raced Moto-Cross, Cross Country, and Enduros pretty much my entire life, dabbled a little in Flat Track, and picked up a motorcycle Road Racing State Championship along the way.
Haim
BOOM SON!!!
Hell, that’s no back door brag. Thats a full blown front door brag.
Here is a link from my motocross race this weekend taken by another rider. I haven’t raced in two months because I was training for Kona. I can honestly say, my shoulders, arms, and hip flexors were more sore on Sunday than I’ve ever been after racing an IM. Each moto is about 15 min long and my heart rate is near its max the whole way.
I’m not going to say its the most difficult sport but it is hard and the penalties for crashing can be high. This day was fairly easy because this time of year they don’t till the dirt as deep and put as much water on as they do in some of the summer races. When the ruts get big is when the tracks get hard. This series is a low key winter series and today they had probably 70 racers and i think two walked away with broken arms.
The GNCC racing series is 3hrs per race with stops for fuel. I haven’t raced but ride trails. It is one of the best work outs you can get and the pro’s are amazing in strength, endurance, balance, and overall fitness. Like swimming you use almost every muscle in motocross.
Here would be my criteria for the most difficult sports:
The most difficult sports are those where excellence requires the greatest amount of discomfort.
A sport is difficult if anyone can excel, if they are willing to sacrifice and suffer. The world is big. To rise to the top of a sport like this will truly be difficult.
A sport is “not difficult” if some individuals can excel based on talent or coincidence alone.
It is hard to decide what sports are “difficult”.
It might be easier to decide what sports are “not difficult”
I would put sprinting at the top of the list of “not difficult sports.”
If Usain Bolts training consisted of smoking pot, beach walks and making love to beautiful women, he would still be faster than 99% of the worlds sprinters.
**Each moto is about 15 min long and my heart rate is near its max the whole way. **
I recall some sort of study released in the late '60s or early '70s that claimed that MX was the second most physically demanding sport in the world behind soccer, and that was back in the day when tracks in general weren’t as demanding as they are today. Of course, we have much better suspension now, but we also have far more horsepower to manage, so yeah, off-road motorcycle racing can be brutally hard (while it may not seem like it, road racing is not far behind). A Swedish rider by the name of Rolf Tibblin was among the first to really emphasize the need for fitness training for MX back in the '60s. I started distance running as a young boy back in the late '60s/early '70s, long before James Fixx made it a popular thing to do, as a result (it was training for motor sports that eventually brought me to Triathlon).
Nice video. I am a lifelong two stroke racer, so a starting line full of 4 strokes doesn’t give me the same rush, although it reminds me a little of the very old days when the Honda XR75 was the hot little bike to race thanks to a young Jeff Ward.
Haim
Nice video. I am a lifelong two stroke racer, so a starting line full of 4 strokes doesn’t give me the same rush, although it reminds me a little of the very old days when the Honda XR75 was the hot little bike to race thanks to a young Jeff Ward.
Haim
I’m 55 so my early life was dictated by 2-strokes, Husky and Can-Am’s mostly with the occasional Yamaha trail bike. They did bring back an open 2-stroke class this year in my state. All YZ’s and KTMs. My son rides a 2-stroke KX85 and a KX100 in the super-mini class. Once he gets near jumping to the schoolboy class, I may pick up a 125 2-stroke that I can play on and then give to him. The big 4-strokes are nice for old farts who can lug them around the track, hit the gas and clear most jumps.
All the old guys wish they would bring back more 2-strokes, cheaper and easier to work on but I don’t see this happening. Most old guys would still buy a 4-stroke because they don’t won’t to have to really work at riding the bike.
They don’t define how they measure difficulty in sports which admittedly is very hard to do. Different sports stress different aspects which make it hard to call one the most difficult.
Hitting a baseball coming at you near 100mph probably requires more hand eye coordination and reflexes than anything else, but it only takes a second to swing the bat and doesn’t even raise your resting heart rate.
Endurance sports require a tremendous amount of training and mental strength but in general anyone who is willing to put in the time and effort can typically complete the race (at much slower speeds).
After taking some Judo classes after college I had a new found respect for MMA athletes. They have to be strong, fast, and give nearly 100% effort for up to five minutes at a time.
All said I think the most difficult thing to do in sports is playing QB in the NFL. Their are very few really great QB’s because it requires more than just physical talent throwing the ball, but fast reflexes and snap judgments of a defense.
While the list included cross country AND skiing (presumably downhill), I feel that one glaring omission is cross country skiing. Sure, anyone can participate in it, but the people that do it competitively are red-lining for the duration, very seldom cruise to a finishing position, uncontested, and very often collapse from exhaustion at the finish line.