Most skillful sport?

[ThatPurpleGuy]

I don't know about most skill requiring but I always thought Aussie rules football required the most conditioning and endurance (or Rugby) but soccer requires more speed and a lot of quick thinking.

Martial arts made for combat (and even the competitive ones) require the most skill I reckon. That or golf.

Being from Sydney I have to hate Aussie rules (j/k its alright but I don't really watch it)but definitely agree with you about endurance. The field is huge and some of those players are running at near full speed for four 20 minute periods, how they don't get completely worn out I don't know.

 

[Signa]

I'm going to go with Basketball. You have to shoot the ball from yards away into a hoop that is only 125% the diameter of the ball itself. Talk about accuracy.

Though the repeated submissions of Golf does have me rethinking this. Seems to me though that once you get down a stroke in Golf, you always will hit it that way, only with slightly more or less power depending. Basketball still has the element of the clock and other players who can change the way your shot is thrown in an instant.

Never played golf have you?

I played a bit of basketball when I was younger and of course it takes alot of skill but with practice most people who are into sport will get decent at it. Not a pro level or anything but good enough to be able to have an enjoyable game.

Golf is different altogether...I know people who have played for years and while they do improve, you still couldn't say they were even playing at a decent level. Being in individual sport also means alot of skill comes with how you can control your mind under pressure. I would say the reason Tiger Woods is (was before his downfall) regarded as one of the greatest sportspeople of all time, is because he remained at the top for so long in a sport so difficult.

Oh I've swung a club and "pitiful" doesn't even begin to describe it. I still stand by what I said though. There is a lot more endurance involved with Basketball as well and teamwork and strategy. Your point still stands that all those are much more easily mastered, but I think the variety of skills still counts for something. Ultimately we could argue this for a while and it would be a very stupid argument.

It's just that of all the professional sports, I like what Basketball offers both the players and the spectators. Soccer(or football) is close in game style, but the goal is 10ft wide. Take away the goalie, and you are left with a very easy, skilless shot. You might argue that's what makes Soccer so much fun to watch, but I'm focusing on what the offensive player has to do to win. Like I said, the hoop that a basketball player has to hit is really tiny. The same could be said for baseball, but I always found that it was oddly easy to just follow through with the bat and hit the ball. If that wasn't so, I'd might give that a nod instead of basketball.

 

[Anarchemitis]

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.

Rally Racing is like that. It's not quite as fast, but the people in it have never driven on the track before, so they have to have a navigator.
The guy on the right is going to be like "400meters sharp turn right, gravel pitch... 3 kilometers straightaway, compact dirt... 200 meters left, rough mud to clearing" for the entire race, so that the Driver can compensate for the terrain and the conditions on the fly. It's like knowing what's around the corner.

The Beautiful Game is probably a pretty decent one, but I usually only pay attention to Hockey and the CFL. (The CFL is much more exciting than the NFL.)

 

[Kestrel-50]

Aero GP: a mix of fitness, concentration and pure ability and if you screw it up you die.

 

[AK47Marine]

Long range shooting, you better be able to do physics and calculus in your head on the fly and have perfect discipline of your body.

 

[Sovvolf]

I'm going to say Golf. Its a sport that requires real skill to pull off, even hitting the ball can take skill. You have to be able to hit it at the right speed at the right time in the right direction. You have to be able to read your terrain and wind before you hit in order to get it where you need it. You hit the ball just slightly harder than intended and it can end up costing you the hole. You hit it slightly lighter than intended and can also cost you the hole.

I'm a very sporty person and I've done quite a few in my time along with many different martial arts and I've still yet to come across anything that requires more skill than golf.

 

[smithy_2045]

cricket is easy when you learn technique

Not even. Sure, technique helps, but when you're facing a fast bowler who is swinging and seaming it, you can do nothing but try to survive, and even then you'll be struggling to do so.
Similarly, if you don't have variation and control in your bowling, you're cannon fodder. Sure, it doesn't require the best physical fitness, but this thread is only about skill.

 

[ilspooner]

Underwater Basket Weaving...

If that is real, I would so do it.

Yeah, ice hockey seems really hard. Soccer is quite tricky, but I saw ice hockey once, and wow. I must take forever to learn. I can't even ice skate properly.

 

[Balgus]

Starcraft 2 takes the most skill any game i have ever seen to become great. strategy and execution are key as well as adaptation to your opponents unit composition and builds. launching multipronged attacks and splitting your opponents army to reduce their battle effectiveness by a factor of 4. all of this happening in real time while dealing with guerilla tactics

 

[badgersprite]

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.

And then you have to plan out how to set your field, and you have to discuss your strategy. Do you lure a batsman into playing a bad shot by tempting him with several easy deliveries? Is that too much of a risk to your score? Do you just hammer away at him until he cracks under the pressure? Remember, you have to take the condition of the pitch which has been degrading over five days into account as well as the condition of the ball.

Then, as a batsman, you have a fraction of a second to decide between a selection of possible shots. Is it coming at your stumps? Is it worth playing a shot? You could nick it and be caught out. Do you cut it? There are fielders out there who could easily take a catch if you mistime it and it goes airborne? If it's coming at your stumps, do you sweep or defend? A sweep can score a boundary on the less defended leg side, but, if you miss, you could be out lbw.

It's ridiculous how much there is to think about. It's no wonder twenty twenty is getting popular; it must be a relief to just be able to take your mind off all that and go nuts showing off your talent.

 

[trust Milo]

Biathlon hands down. If you don't what it is, look it up RIGHT NOW. It is awesome...

 

[alinos]

im not sure personally but to me soccer is next to no skill, imo soccer is all about wearing the other team down for 70 minutes and then scoring, if theres any true skill in soccer i would say it would have to be the goalie figuring out where the kick is going to go, (though i would hazard a guess that its easier for them based on the fact that the kick is more defined than say a hockey player adjusting the stick minisculy to get a different angle, but at the same time they have a larger net so idk

otherwise i find the sport entirely boring.

to me i see a skillful sport as one that is constantly requiring the player to react quickly to what's happening around them

 

[Zannah]

I'd put free style fencing forward

 

[Sarkule]

I agree with the OP.
Of course that may be because I'm HORRIBLE at Ice Skating, and don't quite understand how anybody can do it.
But still, it does take a lot of skill.

 

[Semi-Human]

If where talking pure skill and not physical effort i'd say chest. just because it requires you to anticipate your opponents moves, remember and recognize strategies and think ahead more then any other sport.

If we include physical effort i'd say boxing or mma. You need, stamina,speed and strength. And you need to skills not only to move every part of your body in the right way to maximize the effectiveness of your attacks but also to move past your opponents guard while at the same time defending your self from your opponents efforts.

 

[Sarkule]

cricket is easy when you learn technique

Sure, when you learn every single technique of every single cricket player.
Remembering that most good cricket players have unique techniques.
So yes, if you were able to learn everybodies technique it would be easy.

 

[Hafnium]

Have to agree with the OP, ice hockey seems insanely difficult and tough. And the only sport I really like is football (soccer), so I could have been biased to say that.