Most Difficult Sports to Play
Sports can be traced as long as the existence of the mankind which made the humans purposive, sportive and active beings. Earliest account of sports can be traced around 17,300 years ago in the cave paintings found in the Lascaux caves in France portraying sprinting and wrestling in the Upper Paleolithic. An earlier portrayal of figures wrestling was found dating to around 2400 BC in the tomb of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum in Saqqara, Egypt. There are extensive descriptions of funeral games such as for Patroclus by Achilles can be found in the legendary ancient book called Iliad by Greek writer Homer. Team sports today as we know them are an invention of Western culture according to historian Bernard Lewis. Sports and the attachments of physical fitness, durability and agility with it can be traced throughout the history of the mankind which used to, and still does deliver the height of physical and mental strength of the players. So let us take a look at the list of top 10 most difficult sports to play.
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Top 10 Most Difficult Sports to Play
1. Boxing
Boxing is both an Olympic and a Commonwealth sport of modern days and believed to be originated by the ancient Greeks as an Olympic game in BC 688 as a hand-to-hand combat sports. To be a good boxer, an athlete should have strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, and strong will power to survive on the ring against the punches of opponents. According to ESPN, Boxing gets 8.63 Endurance rating, 8.13 Strength rating, 8.63 Power rating, 6.38 rating on player’s speed, 6.25 Agility rating, 4.38 Flexibility rating, 8.88 rating on the nerve of the player, 8.50 Durability rating, 7.00 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 5.63 rating at the Analytic Aptitude of the boxer, which make a total of 72.375 and place boxing on the top of most difficult sports to play list.
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2. Ice Hockey
Ice hockey is believed to be originated from the Irish game of hurling which is the close related Scottish game of Shinty and became popular in the middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. This game is mostly famous in countries like Canada and the United States and played by two teams of skaters using sticks to shoot a hard rubber hockey ball called puck into their opponent’s net. According to ESPN, Ice Hockey gets 7.25 Endurance rating, 7.13 Strength rating, 7.88 Power rating, 7.75 rating on player’s speed, 7.63 Agility rating, 4.88 Flexibility rating, 6.00 rating on the nerve of the player, 8.25 Durability rating, 7.50 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 7.50 rating on the Analytic Aptitude of the Ice Hockey player, which make a total of 71.750 and placed Ice Hockey at the second spot of most difficult sports to play list.
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3. American Football
American football or Gridiron is played by two teams of eleven players each on a 120 yards long and 53.33 yards wide rectangular field with an oval ball by running or passing. It is believed to be originated from the sport of rugby football and was first played between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869. According to ESPN, Football gets 5.38 Endurance rating, 8.63 Strength rating, 8.13 Power rating, 7.13 rating on player’s speed, 6.38 Agility rating, 4.38 Flexibility rating, 7.25 rating on the nerve of the player, 8.50 Durability rating, 5.50 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 7.13 rating on the Analytic Aptitude of the Footballer, which make a total of 68.375 and place American Football at the third spot of most difficult sports to play list.
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4. Basketball
Basketball is played between two teams of five players each on a rectangular court having a hoop of 18 inches diameter and 10 feet height from the ground on the each end of the field. It is believed to have been invented by Dr. James Naismith at the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School in early December 1891. The most famous basketball championship is National Basketball league of the United States. According to ESPN, Basketball gets 7.38 Endurance rating, 6.25 Strength rating, 6.50 Power rating, 7.25 rating on player’s speed, 8.13 Agility rating, 5.63 Flexibility rating, 4.13 rating on the nerve of the player, 7.75 Durability rating, 7.50 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 7.38 rating on the Analytic Aptitude of the Basketball player, which make a total of 67.875 and place Basketball at the fourth position of most difficult sports to play list.
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5. Wrestling
Wrestling involves grappling type techniques such as throws and takedown, clinch fighting, joint locks, pins and various other grappling holds and is played by two participants who attempts to gain and maintain a superior position on the ring. It was found in the account of Homer in his legendary book Iliad recounts the Trojan War of the 12th and 13th century BC. According to ESPN, Wrestling gets 6.63 Endurance rating, 8.38 Strength rating, 7.13 Power rating, 5.13 rating on player’s speed, 6.38 Agility rating, 7.50 Flexibility rating, 5.00 rating on the nerve of the player, 6.75 Durability rating, 4.25 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 6.38 rating on the Analytic Aptitude of the Wrestler, which make a total of 63.500 and placed Wrestling at the fifth spot of most difficult sports to play list.
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6. Martial Arts
Martial arts is associated with the fighting arts of eastern Asia and are practiced for a variety of reasons such as self-defense, physical health and fitness, competition, entertainment and also for spiritual development. The oldest account of martial arts was found in the ancient Egyptian paintings dating back 3400 BC and was believed to be originated during the Xia Dynasty more than 4000 years ago. According to ESPN, Martial Arts gets 5.00 Endurance rating, 5.88 Strength rating, 7.75 Power rating, 6.38 rating on player’s speed, 6.00 Agility rating, 7.00 Flexibility rating, 6.63 rating on the nerve of the player, 5.88 Durability rating, 6.00 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 6.88 rating on the Analytic Aptitude of the Martial Artists, which make a total of 63.375 and place Martial Arts at the sixth place of most difficult sports to play list.
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7. Tennis
The racquet sport called Tennis is played individually against a single opponent or between two teams of two players each with racquets that are strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over. It is a major Olympic sport and was believed to be originated from in 12th century northern France. According to ESPN, Tennis gets 7.25 Endurance rating, 5.13 Strength rating, 7.13 Power rating, 6.75 rating on player’s speed, 7.75 Agility rating, 5.63 Flexibility rating, 3.00 rating on the nerve of the player, 5.00 Durability rating, 8.38 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 6.75 rating on the Analytic Aptitude of the Tennis player, which make a total of 62.750 and place Tennis at the seventh place of most difficult sports to play list.
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8. Gymnastics
Gymnastics is one of the most complex competitions that require the gymnasts to have excellent physical strength, agility, flexibility, power, grace, coordination, control and balance. Competitive artistic gymnastics is the most famous gymnastic events, and the first recorded account was found in a book called Le Arte Gymnastica by Girolamo Mercuriale from Forlì in 1569. According to ESPN, Gymnastics gets 5.38 Endurance rating, 6.13 Strength rating, 6.63 Power rating, 5.00 rating on player’s speed, 6.38 Agility rating, 10.00 Flexibility rating, 7.50 rating on the nerve of the player, 6.88 Durability rating, 4.50 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 4.13 rating on the Analytic Aptitude of the Gymnasts, which make a total of 62.500 and place Gymnastics on the eighth place of most difficult sports to play list.
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9. Baseball
Baseball is played between two teams of nine players each, and the most famous championship of this game is Major League Baseball or MLB in Canada and United States which again divided into the National League and American League. The first written document was found in an illustration of clerics playing a game called la soule which is similar to baseball in a French manuscript from 1344. According to ESPN, Baseball gets 4.63 Endurance rating, 5.75 Strength rating, 7.63 Power rating, 6.50 rating on player’s speed, 6.75 Agility rating, 4.75 Flexibility rating, 5.13 rating on the nerve of the player, 5.63 Durability rating, 9.25 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 6.25 rating on the Analytic Aptitude of the Baseball players, which make a total of 62.250 and place Baseball on the ninth place of most difficult sports to play list.
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10. Soccer
Association football commonly known as soccer is played between two teams of eleven players each and is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries which made this sport the most widely played sports of the world. It is originated from an early competitive game called cuju which is an exercise in a military manual from the third century BC according to FIFA. According to ESPN, Association football or Soccer gets 7.75 Endurance rating, 4.50 Strength rating, 5.13 Power rating, 7.25 rating on player’s speed, 8.25 Agility rating, 4.75 Flexibility rating, 3.63 rating on the nerve of the player, 6.25 Durability rating, 6.50 rating on the Hand-Eye Coordination of the player and 7.50 rating on the Analytic Aptitude of the Soccer players, which make a total of 61.500 and place Association Football at the tenth place of most difficult sports to play list.
There is no such outdoor game which doesn’t need the physical fitness and certain skill set of the players. Other notable mentions on this list of the difficult sports to play which requires extreme physical strength and agility are Alpine Skiing and water Polo with 60.625 rating point each and Lacrosse with 60.375 rating point according to the ESPN.