Most skillful sport?

[Capt. Crankypants]

My friend thinks soccer (sorry to english people, I'm in Australia, we call it that here)

No we don't, or, we shouldn't
I cite 'Soccer Australia's recent change to 'Football Federation Australia'.
I also think it's just not very respectful. It'd be like people calling NRL 'Tackleball'.


Oh, right, topic... Really, I have no idea. I LIKE to think football takes a great amount of skill, but I guess it just depends what you're naturally good at and what you work at. I'd be terrible at any Ice-based sports (I can skate forward quickly without falling over, that's about it), but I'm great at football, because I'm naturally quick and have good balance, and I've worked hard at it.

 

[ripdajacker]

Handball. It requires a lot of microcalibrated movements, and it's brutal.

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

A lot of sports entail one sort of discipline that takes a lot of skill in to be really good at. I don't think I could say any one sport requires more overall skill than any other though.

Being a hockey player, I would say being a goalie on ice is much harder than anything else the regular players have to do. Goalie in any sport is quite a special position, and entails a lot more pressure.

I have alot of respect for goalies, even the ones in soccer that blame their team for everything. It really is that 'pressure' position, the whole last line of defence. On the off chance I get to see an Ice hockey game, I am always amazed at the agility of the goalies. Unlike in Soccer or even field hockey where the goalie can take a bit of a break when the ball is up the other end, the ice hockey goalie has to be constantly aware, have nerves of steel and lightning reflexes. How the goalie even reacts at all in alot of those really fast situations astounds me. I can barely even see it, it happens so fast and thats watching on TV. It must feel alot faster when you are actually playing.

 

[smithy_2045]

Australian Rules Football or cricket, and I'm not at all biased because those two are my favourite sports.

 

[bl4ckh4wk64]

Golf. The smallest, most minute inconsistencies and screw ups can mean the difference between 10 over par and 10 under.

 

[GodofCider]

Most skillful sport? Starcraft 2.

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

To be really good at golf is stupid hard.

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

My friend thinks soccer (sorry to english people, I'm in Australia, we call it that here)

No we don't, or, we shouldn't
I cite 'Soccer Australia's recent change to 'Football Federation Australia'.
I also think it's just not very respectful. It'd be like people calling NRL 'Tackleball'.


Oh, right, topic... Really, I have no idea. I LIKE to think football takes a great amount of skill, but I guess it just depends what you're naturally good at and what you work at. I'd be terrible at any Ice-based sports (I can skate forward quickly without falling over, that's about it), but I'm great at football, because I'm naturally quick and have good balance, and I've worked hard at it.

I understand the whole 'its played with the foot, so it football' argument and don't disagree. How can I , its right.

But while football here is still considered either rugby league or aussie rules, i will always call it soccer. Im sorry if that pisses some people off but hey, when I think of 'football' I think of the football I have been bought up with.

Its the same with Americans, they have their 'football' and call true football soccer, its just a way we can differenciate.

 

[Hader]

I have alot of respect for goalies, even the ones in soccer that blame their team for everything. It really is that 'pressure' position, the whole last line of defence. On the off chance I get to see an Ice hockey game, I am always amazed at the agility of the goalies. Unlike in Soccer or even field hockey where the goalie can take a bit of a break when the ball is up the other end, the ice hockey goalie has to be constantly aware, have nerves of steel and lightning reflexes. How the goalie even reacts at all in alot of those really fast situations astounds me. I can barely even see it, it happens so fast and thats watching on TV. It must feel alot faster when you are actually playing.

A lot of practice makes it seem easier. I was a goalie for 9 years, possibly could have done college level then NHL level hockey, but I decided against it.

That aside though, goalies usually have it rough because they have a great responsibilty on their shoulders and everyone looks to them for being at fault when they let in a goal. And I hate that term, "They let in a goal"...it is as much the teams fault for letting the other team get close enough to score a goal as it is the goalie for being unable to stop it.

 

[smithy_2045]

My friend thinks soccer (sorry to english people, I'm in Australia, we call it that here)

No we don't, or, we shouldn't
I cite 'Soccer Australia's recent change to 'Football Federation Australia'.
I also think it's just not very respectful. It'd be like people calling NRL 'Tackleball'.

More important than being "right" it having people know what you're talking about about. And if you say football in Australia, it'll instantly be thought that you're talking about Aussie Rules (at least, in the good states).

 

[SirDeadly]

I think cricket takes a LOT of skill. The ball is extremely difficult to time and with all of the variations in the bowling it's difficult to hit. It takes years of practice to become a really good batter and a lot of dedication to become a good bowler. Not to mention the reaction times needed for slip fielders and wicket keepers.

 

[Death God]

Martial Arts. You need balance, concentration, skill, and memory to be able to preform the moves in tune with the person you are up against.

 

[Danish rage]

Any idiot with little or no skill can pick up a ball, no matter the shape of it.

Give me SuperG, snowboarding, skatebording, skijumping,Bmx,Motorcross or Rally over those shitty ball sports any day.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Racing.

No, not NASCAR; good, ridiculously fast, F1 racing!

One slip up and BOOM! 13 guys are in a mangled pile of fire and broken fiber-glass.

Hell, even NASCAR requires a lot of skill. It may look like a lot of "turnin' left", but imagine it this way:

You are doing around 160 miles an hour, completely surrounded by 43 other cars going just as fast as you. Everyone is driving within feet of each other, even on the turns, and many drivers are more than willing to bump and hit you to get ahead. Sounds stressful, right? You also have to do it for over 2 hours straight. Its not easy.

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

My friend thinks soccer (sorry to english people, I'm in Australia, we call it that here)

No we don't, or, we shouldn't

I understand the whole 'its played with the foot, so it football' argument and don't disagree. How can I , its right.

But while football here is still considered either rugby league or aussie rules, i will always call it soccer. Im sorry if that pisses some people off but hey, when I think of 'football' I think of the football I have been bought up with.

Its the same with Americans, they have their 'football' and call true football soccer, its just a way we can differenciate.

Eh, no-ones pissed off, I'I just won't let you speak for ALL Australians, hehe =D . I used to call it 'Soccer' too, but as I got more into it, I got to grips with it all and now try to refer to every code by it's own unique title. Football, American Football/Gridiron, AFL, NRL, etc.

P.S: I still find it difficult to refer to my favoured passtime, 'Indoor Soccer', as 'Indoor Football'...It just sounds.......weird? So don't take it too harshly =D . As you can see, there is no such thing as innocence...

 

[shreedder]

Tennis. For all the calculations and tiny, unnoticeable movements of hands and wrists and judging angles and distances and gravity that a quarterback has to do for each pass, tennis players have to do with more precision against a moving target every 5 seconds. And with almost every other sport the distance between a beginner and a professional isn't that big, but in tennis, most beginners can't even hit a ball over the net.

couldn't agree more. I hate having to relearn my form after every winterbreak. I will never understand how a pro can hit the ball so quickly, the top spin they use must be crazy.

 

[pigmypython]

Ice hockey for sure...and yes I am Canadian. However, I believe that for the reasons stated above hockey requires the biggest mix of skills.

 

[Akytalusia]

Martial Arts. You need balance, concentration, skill, and memory to be able to preform the moves in tune with the person you are up against.

seconded. I was wondering why noone else mentioned this. If it wasn't, I would have.

 

[lemiel14n3]

F1 racing!

One slip up and BOOM! 13 guys are in a mangled pile of fire and broken fiber-glass.

I guess it helps that they mostly go straight then

I honestly think there are a lot of sports that could claim being "the most skillful" and the vote mostly comes down to what sport you play/enjoy yourself. In soccer you have to keep a handle on a ball while other guys are trying to get it from you and you can't use your hands. In hockey you have to maneuver a tiny rubber puck while skating and avoiding people who are getting paid to hurt you and take the puck. With foot ball your job can be as uncomplicated as "Stop/hurt the guy in front of you" to memorizing running plays and making fast calls as to who's open for a pass/hand-off. In water polo you have to keep a rubber ball in the air and keep yourself from drowning while the other players brutalize every part of you they can kick without getting noticed.

Yeah, it's all pretty much relative

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

My friend thinks soccer (sorry to english people, I'm in Australia, we call it that here)

No we don't, or, we shouldn't

I understand the whole 'its played with the foot, so it football' argument and don't disagree. How can I , its right.

But while football here is still considered either rugby league or aussie rules, i will always call it soccer. Im sorry if that pisses some people off but hey, when I think of 'football' I think of the football I have been bought up with.

Its the same with Americans, they have their 'football' and call true football soccer, its just a way we can differenciate.

Eh, no-ones pissed off, I'I just won't let you speak for ALL Australians, hehe =D . I used to call it 'Soccer' too, but as I got more into it, I got to grips with it all and now try to refer to every code by it's own unique title. Football, American Football/Gridiron, AFL, NRL, etc.

P.S: I still find it difficult to refer to my favoured passtime, 'Indoor Soccer', as 'Indoor Football'...It just sounds.......weird? So don't take it too harshly =D . As you can see, there is no such thing as innocence...

Yeah I didn't actually mean piss you off personally but it did come across that way. Its just everytime I say soccer someone has to come and correct me when all of my 31 years me and everyone I know has always refered to 'football' as soccer..its just how it is with most people I know and if I was talking about football they would all assume I was talking about rugby league. I know thats not "everyone" but yeah..Isn't that easier than having to have this ridiculous argument with people. Some call it football, predominently from countries where it is the most popular sport. While it is widely played here in Australia, its not anywhere the highest spectator sports. Most are only interested when world cup is on and that makes us realise why we don't watch soccer in the first place.