What Sport Has The Best All-Around Athletes?

[stnphoto]

Not being able to do two pullups does not completely offfset the endurance, agility, ability to generate power in bursts, etc.

No it does not, but not having the upper body strength to do two pull-ups is not offset by good eyesight when you are evaluating athleticism, which is what was posed as the question. We do athlete testing year-round and on any number of the metrics commonly used, the tennis folks would not score highly as a group. As anything, individuals stand out, eg Serena Williams.

[boxerboxer]

You can't really rank a quality (athleticism) without establishing a concrete metric.

[Jason Musgrave]

Impossible to say whats the most demanding imho. For example driving a Formula1 car** has got to be up there as one of the most physically violent sports, but others are harder in other ways...it all comes down to how you define it imho.

So far I'm with floor gymnastics or motocross.



**Here's a guy who makes his living driving exotic sports cars...and he can't hold his head long enough to get the thing around the track 3x, hell he can't even get out of the paddock.

[Crashburn]

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

Argument over.

Mike Mamula would be in the Crossfit hall of fame if one existed or people knew what crossfit was in 1994. He could run and jump and perform various cleans with tons of weight, unfortunately when he was on the gridiron his play didn't match what he could do in the gym. While hockey players do some incredible things on ice I still have to give the edge to the basketball players who appear to change direction while in mid air.

[RickM]

Crossfit? Dunno much about it but now that I have a better sense of the criteria and parameters we're using...I'll offer up an example of someone that I think fits the bill...Ron Kauk. This pic below is from his heyday. You may never have heard of him, (vertical_doug, garro, and few others will know) but you may have seen his movie stuntwork or seen film of some of his Yosemite exploits etc. Guy was a superhuman beast of Fitness. Probably still is. The simple fact that he's still alive and in one piece after all the stuff he's done is a testament to..well...something...maybe just Luck

[Saab2000]

Soccer/football (not American football) and downhill skiing.

That said, the skiers I have known who have been good have not necessarily been super athletes. They started young. The best skiers start at like 4 and there's no way to catch up to someone who starts that young.

I love downhill skiing but will never be good at it compared to a child who starts young.

This said, it's hard to argue with tennis, hockey, basketball, etc.

[andrew]

Water polo. Basketball, soccer, wrestling and swimming combined. What could be more demanding athletically? Plus, with the women, there is the chance to see boobs.

[HorsCat]

I think it's a silly question. But I'll agree with tennis. Definitely not cycling (not much skill required and the athleticism required is of a very, very specific variety). Skill-wise, golf wins hands down. But that's not the question. And cue the 'golf's not a sport crowd' . . .

[afrizzledfry]

Mountaineering. Without question. Ted Williams thinks the hardest thing in sport is hitting a baseball? No disrespect to baseball (or Williams), but that is just silly. Maybe he has a different definition of sport than I do. Try climbing K2 without supplemental oxygen.

[afrizzledfry]

Crossfit? Dunno much about it but now that I have a better sense of the criteria and parameters we're using...I'll offer up an example of someone that I think fits the bill...Ron Kauk. This pic below is from his heyday. You may never have heard of him, (vertical_doug, garro, and few others will know) but you may have seen his movie stuntwork or seen film of some of his Yosemite exploits etc. Guy was a superhuman beast of Fitness. Probably still is. The simple fact that he's still alive and in one piece after all the stuff he's done is a testament to..well...something...maybe just Luck

Was thinking Ed Viesturs, mainly because I don't know too much about mountaineering. I wouldn't be surprised if there are 'better' climbers out there.

[bking]

after reading all to this point, still think it's basketball. To watch a guy 6'8" and 250 lbs run, jump, spin, twist, at full tilt is amazing. One shot is a slam over some other 250 lb guy, the next is a soft finger roll that gently rolls around and in, after he body slams into a guy 6'11" and 285, 10' feet in the air.

It's a silly question agreed. But for coordination, quickness, endurance and strength in a package NBA is impressive.

that said, i gave up on all those prima donna's years ago.

[s_curran]

I honestly think some sort of "extreme" athlete would be a good candidate. The awareness they have of there body in there surroundings is unlike anything else. Think Travis Pastrana. Freestyle skiers could also be up there. Maybe even surfers, although there set of skills might be slightly limited. The tough thing is seeing past the best like Kelly Slater, Travis Pastrana, Jon Olsen, Shaun White, etc, and seeing the averages.

[Chad]

Crossfitters are the best exercises.

Now that is funny right there, and accurate. Still say overall fitness, they win. Swim a mile, climb a rope, push a sled, blah, blah, blah.

I'm not one of them, for the record.

[christian]

Think Travis Pastrana.

Well, we can actually put this to the test. Travis is hosting an 24-hour bike race in October. Couple of Salonistas and I are headed down. Pretty sure we're gonna win. The other participants are NASCAR drivers, moto gp riders, maybe a couple other bicycle racers. Yeah, we're going to win for sure.

[doomridesout]

No one has mentioned it because it is only practiced as a 'sport' sometimes, but high level martial arts is a very serious contender for this debate, if you are judging for a total package. I'm more thinking of film guys like Bruce Lee and Tony Jaa because I think 'mixed martial arts' is an ugly trend that verges on barbaric but all the high level practitioners are in great shape in myriad ways. Hand eye coordination, body awareness, the ability to generate huge amounts of power, quickness. The fact that movie karate is choreographed is no slur against the athleticism required.

If you want an analogue in Olympic sports, the feats gymnasts perform are pretty unbelievable. If the ultimate test of athleticism is the athlete's mastery of the will over the body, gymnastics may be the winner.

Tangentially, has anyone watched the show 'Ninja Warrior'?

[Brandon White]

Tangentially, has anyone watched the show 'Ninja Warrior'?

I watched it for the first time the other night. Some interesting displays of athleticism and it definitely takes agility and strength pull off a lot of that. The following day I had to jump the privacy fence to retrieve a ball and felt like a complete loser at my fence jumping skills. I blamed cycling.

[Jonathan]

Well, we can actually put this to the test. Travis is hosting an 24-hour bike race in October. Couple of Salonistas and I are headed down. Pretty sure we're gonna win. The other participants are NASCAR drivers, moto gp riders, maybe a couple other bicycle racers. Yeah, we're going to win for sure.

There is a retired super bike racer on the Specialized payroll. Races MTb, and he's quite good too. I forget his name at the moment.

[christian]

I think you're thinking of Ben Bostrom... But surely Signature_Justin will prove faster than him! Like I said, I'm pretty sure we're going to win, thus proving that overworked suburban dads are the best all-around athletes.

[Jonathan]

I think you're thinking of Ben Bostrom... But surely Signature_Justin will prove faster than him! Like I said, I'm pretty sure we're going to win, thus proving that overworked suburban dads are the best all-around athletes.

Yes. That's the one.

[sine]

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 will up the ante some..................biathlete.