Which professional sport requires the least skill?

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Iplaytolose
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#121 » by Iplaytolose » Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:47 pm

gswhoops wrote:Football. Its a lot more athleticism then skill, thats why you keep seeing teams pick freak athletes with underdeveloped football skills way too high (Darrius Hayward-Bey, Vernon Gholston, etc.)


This can happen in any sport. It's not like those guys are any good... They are drafted off potential.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#122 » by Joseph17 » Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:56 pm

Probably football. As someone else said, basketball varies by position. You need to be extremely skilled to play point in the NBA especially if you're an undersized point.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#123 » by Danchan » Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:59 pm

ManualRam wrote:How is hitting a pitch that is thrown with intention of you not hitting it, NOT a skill? That is the hardest thing to do in professional sports, especially at the pro level.


And yet they have to throw it at a box that make sure you ARE able to hit it or it's a "foul"
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#124 » by lobosloboslobos » Thu Aug 11, 2011 6:11 pm

Danchan wrote:
ManualRam wrote:How is hitting a pitch that is thrown with intention of you not hitting it, NOT a skill? That is the hardest thing to do in professional sports, especially at the pro level.


And yet they have to throw it at a box that make sure you ARE able to hit it or it's a "foul"


well, that would be a 'ball' actually, not a foul, but whatever.

i agree with people who say that football is much more complicated - and therefore more skillful - than we are giving it credit to be.

The problem with baseball is that it has two things that are hard to do - pitch and hit - and the rest of it, even including fielding, are all things average people can do pretty well with a little practice. The pros admittedly do it the best, but the basic skills of running catching and throwing make it easier than some other sports in those respects.

Still, I think football and baseball are tied, and I would even consider putting basketball behind them in difficulty. Highly subjective I know and I'm not sure I'd stick to that, but my 2 cents for the moment.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#125 » by Frosty » Thu Aug 11, 2011 6:29 pm

CarMalone wrote:I'm surprised nobody has posted this link yet.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

It may be subjective and up for debate but it gives an insight on how the different sports are judged.

Degree of Difficulty: Sport Rankings
SPORT END STR PWR SPD AGI FLX NER DUR HAN ANA TOTAL RANK
Boxing 8.63 8.13 8.63 6.38 6.25 4.38 8.88 8.50 7.00 5.63 72.375 1
Ice Hockey 7.25 7.13 7.88 7.75 7.63 4.88 6.00 8.25 7.50 7.50 71.750 2
Football 5.38 8.63 8.13 7.13 6.38 4.38 7.25 8.50 5.50 7.13 68.375 3
Basketball 7.38 6.25 6.50 7.25 8.13 5.63 4.13 7.75 7.50 7.38 67.875 4


We identified 10 categories, or skills, that go into athleticism

"Skills" that go into athleticism? Endurance, Strength, Power, Speed, Agility, Flexibility etc are generally not considered "skills" but abilities or attributes.

The "skills" are usually learned actions.

Of course sports like football would be ranked higher here.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#126 » by AWalkerREMIX » Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:38 pm

Football definitely.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#127 » by Ditchweed » Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:45 pm

Camel Racing. It is a professional sport in some parts of the world.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#128 » by DarthBane » Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:48 pm

Do mental aspects count as skill? If so, I'd argue football isn't as easy as some people think.

What really differentiates the professional football players from the rest is the mental aspect of the game. I'm not talking about wilting under pressure, I'm referring to the necessity to be aware of your surroundings. There are tons of packages, tons of schemes and every time you line up on either side of the ball, you HAVE to be able to read your opposition. The fact that the plays change every single snap makes it all the more difficult.

I remember talking to a guy who played college football (Wide Receiver) in the states and he said that within 1.5 seconds of the ball being snapped, you (as a receiver) have to decide:
- What coverage the defense is playing (they do their best not to show you before the snap)
- What route you want to run (if you have a choice route)
- The depth of the route, depending on where the defender lines up.
- Where the hole is in the coverage

You have to do all of that within a few seconds, usually while getting punched, pushed, held by the defender.

Making it even more difficult is that the receiver and QB have to be thinking the exact same thing. If the WR goes left when the QB expects him to go right, it's an interception.

No other sport can compete with football when it comes to mental awareness.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#129 » by MrBigShot » Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:53 pm

Football, very easily imo and then it becomes difficult to decide. Hitting a baseball at 90mph is very difficult, but other facets of baseball aren't nearly as difficult. Imo easiest to hardest:

Football, Baseball, Hockey, Basketball
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#130 » by boogie-reke » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:06 pm

Everyone in American football bar the QB, and prolly NBA bigs are the lowest

Real football is the highest and hardest.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#131 » by Don Draper » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:12 pm

boogie-reke wrote:Everyone in American football bar the QB, and prolly NBA bigs are the lowest

Real football is the highest and hardest.

No such thing a "real" football. American football is football, so is soccer.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#132 » by Deus » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:24 pm

Football isn't the easiest. Basketball is by far. American football requires tremendous skills, depending on your position. The most skilled sport is baseball, because its not an athletic sport. Not when 250 pound fatass guys like Yankee pitcher Sabathia can be a starting pitcher.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#133 » by Death Knight » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:25 pm

Professional ping pong.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#134 » by 7-Day Dray » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:29 pm

Deus wrote:Football isn't the easiest. Basketball is by far. American football requires tremendous skills, depending on your position. The most skilled sport is baseball, because its not an athletic sport. Not when 250 pound fatass guys like Yankee pitcher Sabathia can be a starting pitcher.


:lol: How is basketball by far the easiest. I think basketball takes the most skill because there are so many facets of the game like shooting, ball-handling, rebounding, defense, and a player can be limited depending on his athletic abilty.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#135 » by Vader » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:32 pm

Weight lifting

The "players" look dumber than any other sports and they use steroid as their food.

Not much skills involved either. As long as you know how to wait for your turn and count to 3 and can raise both hands up, you can do weight lifting.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#136 » by BodieB » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:33 pm

How are people saying baseball is the hardest? Fat David Ortiz almost won MVP one year by doing nothing but hitting, literally.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#137 » by OvertimeNO » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:40 pm

Death Knight wrote:Professional ping pong.


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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#138 » by 7-Day Dray » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:43 pm

Wone wrote:
knicksNOTslick wrote:Out of the most popular sports in the US (golf, basketball, baseball, football, hockey, even soccer), it's clearly basketball that requires the least skill.

If you're tall (like 6'10 or over), you already have a legit shot at playing basketball professionally. Hell, it doesn't even have to be here in the NBA, you could play pro sports in Europe or in Asia and have a career out of it. If you're tall and have some athleticism, and haven't played the sport yet, you'll still have a shot at making it. Look at how many teams scout prospects based solely on raw ability. They're not even skilled yet.


tell that ot Antonio GAtes. The guy was actually a college BASKETBALL player who couldn't make it to the NBA so he tried football, and lo and behold, he made it to the NFL! Withouot playing a single minute of college football (he played 4 years of college basketball). He was a football player in high school though sho he was 4 years removed out of playing any sort of organized football. And as I said before, Gates became a 7 time pro bowler. He was also a 5 time All pro. That's basically the carrer equivalent of Tracy Mcgrady (7 time all star, 7 time all nba). How many football players couldn't make it to the NFL and became a Tracy McGrady type all star without having played any college basketball before? None. And not only that but how many rookie pro bowlers do we see? There's actually quite a lot...Adrian Peterosn, Chris Johnson, Jairus Byrd, Patrick Willisk, Jaeke Long, Maurkice Pouncey, JOe thomas, etc etc.. How many rookie all stars do you see in the BNA? Bale Griffin and that's it. And Yao. Those were the only two rookie all stars of this decade!

Basketball is more skilled than football because dribbling the ball while running is a lot harder than running while holding the football. Doing crossovers, and spin moves while not losing the ball is a lot harder than doing juke fakes and stiff arms. Shooting while in movement and off the dribble is a lot harder than running a route and catching a football. Quarterback is an extrememly skilled position though, I'll give them that. But there's a reason why we see a lot of players in the NFL taken in the later rounds taht make an impact as opposed to NBA players drafted in the late first round or second round. Because football is not as skilled based as basketball and is more athleticism based.


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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#139 » by Gongxi » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:43 pm

BodieB wrote:How are people saying baseball is the hardest? Fat David Ortiz almost won MVP one year by doing nothing but hitting, literally.


Huh? What does that have to do with the topic?

The question isn't what sport requires the most athleticism or which sports' players are in the best shape.
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Re: Which professional sport requires the least skill? 

Post#140 » by BodieB » Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:52 pm

Gongxi wrote:
BodieB wrote:How are people saying baseball is the hardest? Fat David Ortiz almost won MVP one year by doing nothing but hitting, literally.


Huh? What does that have to do with the topic?

The question isn't what sport requires the most athleticism or which sports' players are in the best shape.

The point is from a skill standpoint, how does Baseball require the most skill when someone can achieve the highest award by literally succeeding in just one part of the game? Hitting is difficult, but cmon.

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