Rank youth sports by physically toughest!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

Bumping this chart. This is correct. The OP putting swimming at the top was ridiculous. I'm surprised football is above basketball. People who don't know basketball have no clue about the physicality and athleticism involved with basketball. It's a lot of jumping and running.

I agree, I think football is more about whining about injuries than anything. The point is they don't really condition that much or play that often. Yeah, people get hurt badly when they play, but getting beat up isn't necessarily tough. Basketball you have games twice a week at least. Tough is getting back up and playing the next day. Putting in the time strengthen all of those ankle and knee tendons and ligaments so that you can play at a high level every day. Football players don't really do that.

You clearly never played football.

I played in junior high, but the pads didn't fit my long lanky frame. Compared to basketball it was much less physically demanding. You play for ten seconds rest for 30. There are lots of "soft" football players. Not very tough at all. We had an undefeated season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Water polo takes 10x more endurance than wrestling.

Shut up clown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Water polo takes 10x more endurance than wrestling.

The question wasn't ENDURANCE it's PHYSICALLY TOUGHEST. There is a component of endurance at play but that isn't the entirety of it.


If you've never been in a fight, or participated in any of the combat sports or had someone physically try to impose their will on you while you are trying to do the same, you aren't going to be able to fully comprehend this aspect of toughness. That is not to say water polo isn't tough, it's just going to be somewhere on the list below wrestling, all things considered.

[Anonymous]

Wrestling is 100 times more difficult than water polo. GTFOH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Water polo takes 10x more endurance than wrestling.

The question wasn't ENDURANCE it's PHYSICALLY TOUGHEST. There is a component of endurance at play but that isn't the entirety of it.


If you've never been in a fight, or participated in any of the combat sports or had someone physically try to impose their will on you while you are trying to do the same, you aren't going to be able to fully comprehend this aspect of toughness. That is not to say water polo isn't tough, it's just going to be somewhere on the list below wrestling, all things considered.

I've never done water polo, but I gather that there is something else to it. It's physical contact in the water. Which adds two additional toughness challenges. A) People can't see the contact/dirty play B) Water is much denser than air so kicks and elbows are much more injurious, eg broken ribs. Let a boxer hit you, stand against a wall and let a boxer hit you. Let the boxer brace themselves against a wall as while you are pinned against a wall and let them hit you. Now use the legs. FYI Olympic boxers train in the water precisely for the resistance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:# 1 is definitely wrestling

This is multiple choice not fill in the blank

It goes without saying that wrestling is the toughest sport but they provided a list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids row and swim, and they are both tough. But have you seen normal people get into a fight or wrestling match? They crap out in less than 2 min. Wrestling and boxing look very intense.

Just thinking about wrestling makes my palms sweat. A friend of mine who wrestled in high school told me those matches were the hardest thing he has ever done because it felt like he was fighting for his life in front of a gym full of screaming people.

PP. Same. I know nothing about wrestling, but I really enjoyed watching Win Win, where one of the characters says that he imagines someone drowning him in a match and he has to do “whatever the f@& it takes”. And that becomes the team mantra.

[Anonymous]

Water polo is a grappling combat sport under the water where you’re using your lower body to fight for position.

You’re fighting to keep your head above the water in semi-stationary positions (no momentum) all while feeling the weight of your opponent on you. When you are not stationary you are explosively swimming at close to maximum speed in sprints.

The big risk with rescuing a drowning person is that they drag you under trying to climb on top of you to get to air. All lifeguards are taught to avoid that risk at all costs... And yet that is the basic premise of water polo to put yourself in that situation.

I didn’t play water polo but I went to a high school where wresting and WP were big and required as part of PE. No disrespect to the wrestlers, but water polo is an animal that will stretch your nervous system like no other sport I’ve ever tried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crew




Everything else

My kid did crew and club swim for two seasons. He said swim was definitely tougher, but crew was more time consuming (all that time spent breaking down and setting up the boats)

It's not the on the water rowing - it's the ergs (rowing machines).

[Anonymous]

Boxing nothing comes close

[Anonymous]

Baseball. From a technical perspective it’s requires the most skill at the varsity level. And it’s sneaky dangerous with a higher number of injuries than most other sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baseball. From a technical perspective it’s requires the most skill at the varsity level. And it’s sneaky dangerous with a higher number of injuries than most other sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baseball. From a technical perspective it’s requires the most skill at the varsity level. And it’s sneaky dangerous with a higher number of injuries than most other sports.

Baseball is barely a sport

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baseball. From a technical perspective it’s requires the most skill at the varsity level. And it’s sneaky dangerous with a higher number of injuries than most other sports.

This is laughable. My DS made varsity baseball at his school his senior year on a whim. It was a team that won states consistently. He's a great athlete and was playing soccer and ice hockey. Never played baseball before other than pick up. Coach was surprised to hear he hadn't been playing club all along.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baseball. From a technical perspective it’s requires the most skill at the varsity level. And it’s sneaky dangerous with a higher number of injuries than most other sports.

This is laughable. My DS made varsity baseball at his school his senior year on a whim. It was a team that won states consistently. He's a great athlete and was playing soccer and ice hockey. Never played baseball before other than pick up. Coach was surprised to hear he hadn't been playing club all along.

Just about every elite athlete agrees that baseball is the most difficult. It’s almost universally agreed.

https://www.si.com/college/2022/12/27/deion-sanders-football-baseball-easier