Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Sports Enthusiasts Debate Which Sport Requires The Most Skill

I don't know a ton about sports. When I played basketball as a youth they would constantly stop the game whenever the ball fell into my hands.

Why you ask?

I would just run with it. You catch and run in these sporty situations right?

Well apparently in basketball you also have to... dribble? With no bib.

Did you know that?

So that's an issue. Like, who made up these rules?

I have much respect for the people who master their craft as an athlete. I wouldn't know where to begin.


Which sport requires the most effort?

I say all of them.

Redditor staceelogreen wanted to hear from all the sports fanatics and follwers out there, so they asked:

"In your opinion, what sport requires the most skill and why?"

I also played baseball. The last time I played I was in the outfield (my usual haunt).

A home run I could've caught flew by me.

Why you ask?

I was watching the game that was happening on the other end of the field.

You see where my sports career stories are going, right?

Olympian

"Gymnastics and figure skating. Really anything that requires astronomical fitness while also being graceful and put together." ~ makeamessfoundation

Giphy

The League

"Champion's League/World Cup soccer (or football if you prefer). Reasons no other sport is anywhere close to the amount of competition."

"There are soccer obsessed players in basically every country in the entire world. Probably not even a tiny exaggeration to say that to reach the absolute peak you beat out at least 1-2 billion people, maybe even more."

Fore!

"Ignoring everything but individual skill golf can make a really big claim. The ball is tiny the distances are huge, the obstacles are many and it's so mentally challenging."

"Even the best players in the world play sub-par because of how mentally taxing it is to always be on. It's a sport where youth won't help you like it does in so many others."

"Watch any other sport (not Tony Romo though ) athletes try to play golf and you'll quickly realize that it's such a skill that you can't fake it with just athleticism."

"Nothing more frustrating than 5 putting because you're in your own head. It's like a sports game of 1 vs 100 every week."

o"Incredible that anyone ever wins multiple events." ~ Plinkostar

Checkmate

"It's not physical but I would say chess. For every one game a pro athlete has played of their sport, a pro chess player has played a hundred."

"Chess is probably 25% physical and 75% skill. I don't think any other sport can boast near those numbers." ~ DivergentGlory

Talent Required

"It depends on how you define skill. The most difficult sport to learn?"

"The biggest difference between an amateur and a top champion? The widest variety of talents required?" ~ ShinjukuAce

"Whatever variables/argument you wanna state! It was just a debate brought up at work and I said I'd throw it on reddit to see what others said haha." ~ staceelogreen

WIN!

"Wrestling/boxing/MMA... If you lose you get messed up." ~ TendiesForTheBoys

Giphy

I would kill to learn how to figure skate.

It's one of my favorite things to watch.

Boxing? MMA? No and NO! I abhor violence.

Why do people do those things?

Iced

"Ice hockey for sure." ~ POSITIVELY_ROMANTIC

"That was one of my answers with a coworker. Or figure skating."

"The element of ice throws such a high variable of skill in there. And I think ice skating is like gymnastics with a slippery floor haha." ~ staceelogreen

Giphy

Diversity

"The modern pentathlon requires the most diverse set of skills. Horsemanship. Fencing. Swimming. Running. Target shooting."

"All of that is done in a single day and the target shooting is done in stages interspersed along the 3200 meter cross country run. Your heart is pounding but you have to hold steady enough to fire a pistol accurately." ~ LordPimpernel

JUMP!

"Ski jumping isn't easy to learn, I heard, also Polo and horseback falconry seem somehow complicated at least."

"I myself know skiing pretty well (it is easier than it once was via the cravers but snowboarding is still easier to pick up in my exp), but ski jumping is again much more difficult." ~ hound-zone

Destruction

"Boxing. You're standing in a phone booth and trying to destroy the other person without getting lit up yourself."

"The amount of skill and fitness you need for this is insane. No reasonable person should embark on a boxing career."

"The most mentally and physically demanding sport other than mma in my opinion." ~ eo_tempore

Catch the Ball...

"I would say football, I played this sport in high school and there's so many little things that need to be worked on, perfected, practiced, and reviewed that if you see a guy doing something that looks impressive in the NFL you need to realize that he probably put thousands of hours into developing his skills."

"Just learning the proper way to carry the ball while running feels very challenging at the beginning." ~ LilAndre44

In the Hole

"Golf. Ratio of hole to non-hole area, and distances involved."

"Downhill mountain road skateboarding is insane.

"Top fuel dragsters. Everything Jerry Miculek does." ~ PropertyOfBarry

Giphy

I tried golf, but I like to sleep when I'm bored. I find it easier to sleep at home and not in the grass.

But to each their own.

That's why I was always meant to be Posh Spice.


Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.


More from Trending/best-of-reddit

dog and cat snuggling together
Krista Mangulsone on Unsplash

Times Pet Owners 'Severely Underestimated' Their Pets' Intelligence

I've lived with cats—because no one owns a feline—most of my life. Some have been very clever creatures while others were real dingbats.

Family members have owned dogs whose talents also ran the gamut.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gavin Newsom; Sean Duffy
Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images; Eric Lee/Getty Images

Gavin Newsom Hits Sean Duffy With Gross Reminder After Duffy Tells People To Keep Shoes On During Flights

After Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy spoke out about air travel etiquette and not wearing pajamas or taking your shoes off on an airplane, California Governor Gavin Newsom called him out by reminding him of the time then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—now the Health and Human Services Secretary—walked around on a plane barefoot.

Duffy recently appeared at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, to discuss his efforts to “restore courtesy and class to air travel” by arguing that people taking more pride in their appearance on flights.

Keep ReadingShow less
Scott Bessent
Meet the Press/NBC News

Scott Bessent Blasted Over His Bonkers Suggestion For How To Bring Your Own Inflation Rate Down

Continuing to follow the example of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on Meet the Press Sunday to blame Democratic President Joe Biden for the financial downturn caused by Trump's tariff fiasco, then lied repeatedly about the state of the economy.

Meet the Press host Kristen Welker played a clip of MAGA Republican Vice President JD Vance telling a conservative audience at a Breitbart News event that Americans owe the Trump administration "a little bit of patience"—apparently while they figure out what tariffs are and how they work since they're rolling back more of them to lower consumer prices despite claiming Trump's tariffs don't affect consumer prices.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lindsay Lohan attends the men's final during day fifteen of the 2025 US Open Tennis Championships at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Elsa/Getty Images

Lindsay Lohan Is Now Sporting A New Accent—And Fans Aren't Sure What To Make Of It

In a twist freakier than a sequel to Freaky Friday, Lindsay Lohan has debuted yet another new accent—this time at the Fashion Trust Arabia Awards in Doha, Qatar.

Draped in a maroon, jewel-trimmed gown by The New Arrivals Ilkyaz Ozel and accompanied by her husband, Bader Shammas, and their 2-year-old son, Luai, the actress looked serene, elegant, and completely unbothered by the collective whiplash she was about to inflict on the internet.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jameela Jamil
Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

Jameela Jamil Speaks Out Against The Rise Of The 'Aesthetic Of Emaciation' Among Women In Hollywood

Content Warning: eating disorders, thinness as an aesthetic, emaciation in Hollywood

There's no denying that we've been gifted with some incredible music, television shows, and films this year.

Keep ReadingShow less