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What is the hardest sport to learn (1 Viewer)

What is the hardest sport to learn?

  • Football

    Votes: 3 2.0%
  • Baseball

    Votes: 16 10.5%
  • Basketball

    Votes: 1 0.7%
  • Hockey

    Votes: 47 30.9%
  • Golf

    Votes: 54 35.5%
  • Skiing

    Votes: 5 3.3%
  • Surfing

    Votes: 22 14.5%
  • Tennis

    Votes: 4 2.6%

  • Total voters
    152

Buttonhook

Footballguy
There were a lot of posters in the "what do you suck at thread" that brought up basketball, even though many claimed they were good athletes.  Which got me to thinking, which sport is the hardest to get good at?

Assume you are generally a good athlete and can pick up on most athletic endeavors pretty easily.  Which sport do you think you would struggle with the most?

I've always thought that basketball was the toughest one.  I've seen lots of good athletes look like fools on the court because they can't do basic things like dribble with both hands.  On the other hand I've seen good athletes when just starting sports like softball, football and golf pick it up fairly quickly.

I voted for surfing - without a doubt the hardest sport I've ever tried (and I'm not talking long-boarding).  What pro surfers can do on a wave is incredible, but not something the Average Joe appreciates.

 
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I vote skiing... I was a pretty good athlete back in the day... picked up most sports fairly easy. But I went to Keystone while in collge and spent 2 days falling down a mountain. hardest thing I've ever tried to do.

 
So many ways to answer this. How do you define "learn"? Are we talking about being good at it or just being able to step on a rec-league field with a bunch of 40 year old average joes and not embarrass yourself?

I also think the answer varies based on when you are picking the sport up. You can pick up golf in your 30's and get to the point where you can enjoy yourself. If you've never kicked a soccer ball, you have zero chance of even developing basic skills as an adult.

All that said, I think I'm going to say golf, as there are basically zero skills that you learn in other sports that translate to it. Plenty of absolute world class athletes that couldn't break 120 if their life depended upon it.

 
I vote skiing... I was a pretty good athlete back in the day... picked up most sports fairly easy. But I went to Keystone while in collge and spent 2 days falling down a mountain. hardest thing I've ever tried to do.
Skiing is hard to learn for an adult, but super super simple for most children.  Low center of gravity, low body mass, brain too small to know better.  

 
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So many ways to answer this. How do you define "learn"? Are we talking about being good at it or just being able to step on a rec-league field with a bunch of 40 year old average joes and not embarrass yourself?

I also think the answer varies based on when you are picking the sport up. You can pick up golf in your 30's and get to the point where you can enjoy yourself. If you've never kicked a soccer ball, you have zero chance of even developing basic skills as an adult.

All that said, I think I'm going to say golf, as there are basically zero skills that you learn in other sports that translate to it. Plenty of absolute world class athletes that couldn't break 120 if their life depended upon it.
This, just enough that you can actually compete at a competent level and not make an ### of yourself.

 
I vote skiing... I was a pretty good athlete back in the day... picked up most sports fairly easy. But I went to Keystone while in collge and spent 2 days falling down a mountain. hardest thing I've ever tried to do.
This. I'm the same in that I'm a pretty decent athlete and other sports were easy to learn. Skiing...not so much so.

I'd have answered golf is the question was geared more to being good at but I took it literally in simply being able to function at low level.

 
I would definitely not vote golf.  Not for a sport where really old, fat, un-athletic people can be good at it.  

And to the point of the original question, if you are a good athlete, what sports would you still struggle with...

Back in my 20s I had a friend who was one of the best pure shooters in basketball I ever played with, he had great hand-eye coordination.  He never played golf, but after about 10 rounds he could break 100 (on a fairly difficult course) because he had a natural touch, so chipping and putting came easy to him (used to piss me off...).

I've also seen hockey players who barely play golf put up a decent score just slapping the ball around the course.

 
This, just enough that you can actually compete at a competent level and not make an ### of yourself.
Most people in the US can't ice skate so we'd look like fools playing hockey.  But if we assume everyone is starting from zero on everything the sport entails, the answer is water Polo. 

 
I didn't play tennis a lot however I found it to be the most difficult to pick up. You need to put some spin on the ball in order to be able to hit it with a decent amount of strength. Trying to do that while delivering an accurate shot is difficult 

 
trying not to make this look at me... too late - I've played many sports and did very well.   No I couldn't go lace em up and play D1 hockey or play MLB but of all the sports I've played.

Baseball is up there.   Hitting well is not easy

 
Hockey. If you are just athletic but haven't skated, that's tough. Add a stick and a bouncing puck on ice? That's a very long learning curve.

 
Gotta be hockey, although I nearly drowned surfing in Hawaii and I knew what I was doing so I could see an argument for that.

 
I went with surfing, because I would imagine that surfers are better hockey players than hockey players surfing...

 
If, just based on learning and not just participating, I would think it would have to be something both physically and mentally challenging.  Probably something in the gymnastics range, like the rings, balance bar, or uneven bars...

 
There were a lot of posters in the "what do you suck at thread" that brought up basketball, even though many claimed they were good athletes.  Which got me to thinking, which sport is the hardest to get good at?

Assume you are generally a good athlete and can pick up on most athletic endeavors pretty easily.  Which sport do you think you would struggle with the most?

I've always thought that basketball was the toughest one.  I've seen lots of good athletes look like fools on the court because they can't do basic things like dribble with both hands.  On the other hand I've seen good athletes when just starting sports like softball, football and golf pick it up fairly quickly.

I voted for surfing - without a doubt the hardest sport I've ever tried (and I'm not talking long-boarding).  What pro surfers can do on a wave is incredible, but not something the Average Joe appreciates.
Disagree.  I would put basketball as next easiest on the list behind football and softball.  Is learning to shoot or dribble really easy?  No, it does take practice, but if definitely acquirable skills for anyone with any athletic ability.

Can you show up at the gym once a week and goof around with your buddies for an hour and get better?  No, but if you put in the effort many duff golfers put in to their game, you would see marked improvements.

 
The OP is correct about surfing. One must also factor in the non-zero probability of getting eaten.  :shark:

 
I've never tried to play hockey.  It seems like a simple sport AFTER learning how to skate.  But since skating is the key, it probably is difficult to just get to where you can stay on your feet.

That said, golf is easily the most frustrating thing I've ever tried to learn.  I've been playing golf for decades now and still feel like a suck.  In my best years, I could shoot in the high 80's on 18.  Now, I only get to play once or twice a year and would struggle to break 100.  No sport is more humbling.

I'd rank them from easiest to hardest: football, skiing, tennis, basketball, baseball, surfing, hockey and then golf.

 
I play golf like less than once a year. Never really played more than a dozen times in a year at any point in my life. I am a single digit handicap. 

:shrug:

Can't skate though. Or swim that well.

 
I play golf like less than once a year. Never really played more than a dozen times in a year at any point in my life. I am a single digit handicap. 

:shrug:

Can't skate though. Or swim that well.
We aren't talking putt putt, right? I would need to see this. If this is true you are really pissing me off :lol:  

 

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