What Sport Has The Best All-Around Athletes?

[derailer]

XC ski racers. Requires the highest aerobic capacity of any sport; balanced upper and lower body strength; the balance to glide for several metres on one 44mm wide ski and the co-ordination to downhill on skis with no side cut nor metal edges and no heel binding.

I was gonna say soccer. But then a good case was made for hockey. Then an even better case was made for xc ski racing. So I'd like to change my answer to boxing .

I think a light- to middle-weight fighter could gut out a soccer match, a game of hockey if he knew how to skate, and an xc ski race if he knew how to ski. But I don't think any of those other athletes could handle 12 rounds in the ring.

[Mark Kelly]

Having had my nose broken in the ring* I feel qualified to comment. If your pain tolerance is any good, boxing's not so hard. IMO gloves should be banned, but that's another argument.




*At the Navy's officer training college we were expected to participate in all sports, even those for which we were manifestly unsuited. I love speedball, it's a lot like drumming. Hated actual boxing: even a three round amateur bout hurts like hell when your opponent is faster and can get under your guard.

[VTMike]

XC ski racers. Requires the highest aerobic capacity of any sport; balanced upper and lower body strength; the balance to glide for several metres on one 44mm wide ski and the co-ordination to downhill on skis with no side cut nor metal edges and no heel binding.

Bumped into local Olympian Andy Newell on a ride late last summer. He had spent the day in NYC introducing YMCA kids to skiing. Had left before the sun came up and had just made it back into town. Wanted to get a quick workout in to stay on schedule. I, on the other hand, was just looking to enjoy 20-30 miles. In small-talk (his mom was my son's pre-school teacher), we realized we were heading in the same direction. After 10 or so miles with him chatting and being a perfect gentlemen in hiding our fitness difference, I took an abrupt turn for fear that my heart might explode.
Haven't felt that fat and out of shape in a long time.
Humbling for sure.

But from a total-athlete point of view, I don't think he's tops (and he's a stellar example of a XC guy in both coordination and fitness) in the spectrum of athletes.

I worked and coached with a guy who played in the NFL in the early 60s. Freakish in 100 different ways and far and away that most impressive athlete I've ever seen (and that includes coaching with and against a number of guys who went D1 in football and basketball and some who even made it in the pros). I'd say his greatest distinction was a drive to win. No matter what the endeavor, he was going to beat all comers...

[derailer]

Having had my nose broken in the ring* I feel qualified to comment.

The closest I've gotten to a boxing ring is a high definition pay-per-view fight, so I must defer to your first-hand experience. I guess one thing that impresses me about boxing is that a good fight is something like interval training where each athlete receives a merciless pummeling on the cool-downs. Also, moxie, which, if it isn't a criteria of athleticism, should be, is probably no more prevalent in boxing than any other sport. When a pugilist shows heroic determination, it just impresses the heck out of me. I'm rambling now, so I'll just roll the tape.

[robin3mj]

Ice hockey, for all the reasons mentioned above. Plus an 80+ game season then two months of playoffs.

[Mabouya]

I'd say basketball, hockey, soccer and tennis, in any order you like.

[Mark Kelly]

The closest I've gotten to a boxing ring is a high definition pay-per-view fight,... When a pugilist shows heroic determination, it just impresses the heck out of me.

Or he's just too pummelled to know he should give up.

I remember thinking half way through the third round "that's a lot of blood on the other guy's singlet and I don't think I've hit him that hard". The ref then stopped the fight due to injury - that would be my broken nose as mentioned above.

[Shinomaster]

Olympic wrestling or rodeo riding, i can't decide.

[vertical_doug]

It's not even close.

Ashton Eaton
Decathlon

[RickM]

-Soccer
-Hockey
-Tennis
-Basketball

Hadn't thought about Motocross..but yeah. Also...Alpinists. No stick n' ball...but everything else in spades.

According to an informal poll of cute lady friends...best sports bodies; Water Polo players.

[boxerboxer]

According to an informal poll of cute lady friends...best sports bodies; Water Polo players.

According to an informal poll of man friends...best sports bodies: Porn.

[burgess1108]

OK, but cyclists are still the toughest sumbitches in sport. They race in weather that cancels other sporting events, the events are longer with no sidelines to rest on (sticky bottles not withstanding) and when they crash, unless they're absolutely broken, they get up and finish the race.

Exhibit A:
WHOOPS1.jpg

[Brandon White]

OK, but cyclists are still the toughest sumbitches in sport. They race in weather that cancels other sporting events, the events are longer with no sidelines to rest on (sticky bottles not withstanding) and when they crash, unless they're absolutely broken, they get up and finish the race.

Exhibit A:
WHOOPS1.jpg

Oh, we aren't saying pro cyclists are tough. Repeatedly wrecking your body on long tours takes a lot of cajones. A professional cyclist isn't going to win any overall fitness competitions though.

[stnphoto]

Tennis? Sorry no. We have elite-level players here who can't do two pull-ups. Decathletes, sprinters, lacrosse players, and hockey players are exceptional athletes on their average. You have to have that mix of power, speed, agility and quickness and these athletes, men and women, are the typical standouts.

[mainemike]

alpine skiers. see: bode miller almost crashing at 70mph.

[RickM]

Tennis? Sorry no. We have elite-level players here who can't do two pull-ups. Decathletes, sprinters, lacrosse players, and hockey players are exceptional athletes on their average. You have to have that mix of power, speed, agility and quickness and these athletes, men and women, are the typical standouts.

I guess it depends on your criteria. Not being able to do two pullups does not completely offfset the endurance, agility, ability to generate power in bursts, etc.. not to mention the hand/eye and the excellent eyesight required of elite-level tennis players. My daughter was a competitive figure skater for years and the joke they had was that hockey was for people who didn't know how to skate...so everyone pokes fun at everyone else, I guess.

Personally, I think that the single most difficult thing to do well..and consistently...in all of Sport is hitting major-league pitching. You don't have to be an Adonis for sure, (See; Manny Ramirez) but there's a damn good reason why if you can only do it ~1/3 of the time you attempt to...you're damn good.

And to set off a real shitstorm..what about elite golfers? Anyone who thinks it's easy is uninformed. They're not all-around athletes, but the task set they perform is not easy by any means.

[Chad]

Crossfit. You don't even know the event you're going to have to compete in.

Argument over.

[Christian Fox]

I guess it depends on your criteria. Not being able to do two pullups does not completely offfset the endurance, agility, ability to generate power in bursts, etc.. not to mention the hand/eye and the excellent eyesight required of elite-level tennis players. My daughter was a competitive figure skater for years and the joke they had was that hockey was for people who didn't know how to skate...so everyone pokes fun at everyone else, I guess.

Personally, I think that the single most difficult thing to do well..and consistently...in all of Sport is hitting major-league pitching. You don't have to be an Adonis for sure, (See; Manny Ramirez) but there's a damn good reason why if you can only do it ~1/3 of the time you attempt to...you're damn good.

And to set off a real shitstorm..what about elite golfers? Anyone who thinks it's easy is uninformed. They're not all-around athletes, but the task set they perform is not easy by any means.

Correct, it comes down to your personal criteria. For me, baseball and golf are skill games that are both incredibly hard, but don't require elite athleticism in the traditional sense. John Daly is a very talented golfer, but I wouldn't consider him an elite athlete. It would be like me calling a very talented carpenter an athlete.

It's really tough to say because a lot athletes would be world class in any sport they tried, it comes down to what sport was popular to play when they were a kid. Different sports at different times will attract the better athletes and skew things. Right now youth lacrosse is cannibalizing every other sport, at least where I live.

[Brandon White]

Crossfit. You don't even know the event you're going to have to compete in.

Argument over.

Crossfitters are the best exercises.

[stnphoto]

Crossfit. You don't even know the event you're going to have to compete in.

Shouldn't this read "you don't even know the event you're going to be be kipping in"?