Article says : "Hitting a Baseball is the Hardest Skill to Pull Off in Sports." -- Not IMO

[pwd72s]

This kid out of Madras, Oregon did okay in the bigs...I loved baseball as a kid. Know damned well I'd have big trouble, even when at my best, getting a hit against even a journeyman big league pitcher. Those who make the big show are top athletes with finely honed skills..honed after being blessed genetically.

Jacoby Ellsbury compiled a career batting average of .284 with 104 home runs and 512 RBI in his 1235-game career with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. He began playing during the 2007 season and last took the field during the 2017 campaign.

 

[evergruven]

I am a wee bit out of date! I haven't watched TV in ten years and haven't watched tennis in a lot longer! I remember when the Williams sisters came along and Chris Evert had a lot to do with my initial interest in watching tennis when she was a HOT ingenue. The men hit backhands with one hand and one guy that fascinated me had an obviously much bigger right arm. Fairly short person but a great player in that day. Wooden rackets were still the thing too.

Hu

chris evert was a beast..and the williams sisters followed her well
he was a lefty, but you could be describing "rocket" rod laver..he was well-known for his "popeye" arm

 

[pwd72s]

My "what if" thought is that IF a top tier baseball player, born with those obvious hand/eye skills, had turned to pool at a young age instead...todays top pool pros wouldn't be the top...

 

[ShootingArts]

chris evert was a beast..and the williams sisters followed her well
he was a lefty, but you could be describing "rocket" rod laver..he was well-known for his "popeye" arm

It wasn't Laver, I remember him. This man was Mexican or Spanish or had a Spanish sounding name. He was stocky and fairly dark complected as I remember. He was an older player when I first saw him and still among the elite. Nags me now because I can't remember enough to even do a search for him.

Hu

 

[evergruven]

It wasn't Laver, I remember him. This man was Mexican or Spanish or had a Spanish sounding name. He was stocky and fairly dark complected as I remember. He was an older player when I first saw him and still among the elite. Nags me now because I can't remember enough to even do a search for him.

Hu

know it when you see it ?

Category:Mexican male tennis players - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Category:Spanish male tennis players - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[David in FL]

Exactly! Every sport is as hard as your opponent makes it.

Not necessarily. As an example, in golf, most times you‘re not even playing against an opponent. You‘re simply playing against the course in order to post the best score possible.

Playing golf at a high level is crazy hard.

Hell, playing golf at a mediocre level is difficult enough that the vast majority of golfers, playing by the rules, will never break 90…

 

[gregcantrall]

The longest ball I ever hit. I still remember seeing the stitches and label. Highschool grade fast ball hit probably 420. Well that was in highschool. At 7250 above sea level, I am sure I hit longer balls. That thin air and cold temperature had balls hit on the sweet spot hurt the hands

 

[garczar]

I'm always amazed that some baseball players can focus enough to see the stitching on the ball coming at them at 90+ mph.

Biggest key is 'PATIENCE' to hit at the ML level. TW RARELY ever swung at bad balls. Same thing for Tony Guinn. Get the pitch you like. Easier said than done when facing a surgeon like Greg Maddux.

 

[garczar]

Not necessarily. As an example, in golf, most times you‘re not even playing against an opponent. You‘re simply playing against the course in order to post the best score possible.

Playing golf at a high level is crazy hard.

Hell, playing golf at a mediocre level is difficult enough that the vast majority of golfers, playing by the rules, will never break 90…

That's why we almost always play match-play for small money. The you ARE playing your opponent. Way more fun. My lifetime lows are a few 1-2over rounds. Could easily shoot 100 the next day. Crazy fkng game.

 

[tomatoshooter]

Easier said than done when facing a surgeon like Greg Maddux.

I heard he wouldn't show all his pitches in the early innings so he'd have something fresh if he needed to get a guy out later in the game.

 

[tomatoshooter]

Not necessarily. As an example, in golf, most times you‘re not even playing against an opponent. You‘re simply playing against the course in order to post the best score possible.

If you shoot 120 and everybody else shoots 130, you are the best golfer.

 

[jay helfert]

What about successfully executing a pole vault? Or basically any gymnastic apparatus? There are plenty of sports that are very tough that most people wouldn't be able to do.

The Rings! The most well conditioned athletes I've ever seen are gymnasts. Second may be swimmers.
Back to the originbal question. I played all sports as a kid and teenager. I was, good at baseball and basketball, but a bit too small to go far. I was excellent at tennis and reached the city finals my senior year. I also played golf for a few years (age 13-15) and was able to break 80 when I was 15, but preferred tennis. The bottom line is that I picked up all these games and could play at a competent level rather quickly.

Then along came pool when I was already 18. BY FAR the hardest game I ever tried to play! It was really frustrating to try to just learn how to make balls consistently. After maybe a solid year of practice I got fairly good at pocketing shots. Then I set out on learning how to control the cue ball, and that was much harder! Another two years of dedication and I could now run a rack of 9-Ball occasionally. I thought I was good, but then I saw good and I realized I had a long way to go. I tried and tried for another ten years but never really got to where anyone would call me a very good player. A shortstop was the highest compliment I ever got. Somewhere I caught onto how to make bank shots and liked it. I was good at that, and beat some much better players at that one game. But alas there was not much call for Bank Pool back then.

Don't ever let anyone tell you this is not a very tough game to play well. It damn sure is! I've been around a lot of great athletes and to a man they admire the skill of pool players. You don't catch on to pool in a minute or a year for that matter. When someone used to ask me how to become a good player, my stock answer was to become obsessed with the game for three years! I would still tell them that today.

It wasn't Laver, I remember him. This man was Mexican or Spanish or had a Spanish sounding name. He was stocky and fairly dark complected as I remember. He was an older player when I first saw him and still among the elite. Nags me now because I can't remember enough to even do a search for him.

Hu

Manual Santana

 

[vjmehra]

I don't think pool really comes close in this debate in all honesty.

Remember this is about the hardest skill, not what it takes to win at the top level (all pro sports presumably require a combination of talent, dedication and mental strength).

For example, to use the baseball case, a 10 year old pitching to you is unlikely to require you (as an adult batter) to require as much skill as a 25 year old pro, but for 10 year olds playing little league the skill levels should be roughly evenly matched.

In pool (pockets aside) the game isn't any harder at the top than the bottom, all that changes is you are more likely to get punished for your mistakes. You can argue consistency is a skill, but then you'd have to say that about every sport.

On a fundamental level carom, snooker, Russian Pyramid are all harder than pool (before people moan, that's not to say any particular cue sport is harder to WIN at, pool for example has more people capable of winning, hence it is tough in a different sense, but that isn't the discussion here, this is about specific skill), so that alone should take it out of the equation.

In short, the margin between a good pool player and a world class pool player doesn't impact the skill involved to perform the basic aspects of the game (not to win, which is a separate discussion), whereas for most other sports it does (golf is the obvious exception, but I'd say golf is far tougher than pool, albeit that is solely personal opinion).

 

[gregcantrall]

When I am focusing well play ing pool. I see the gearing action between the cue ball and oject ball. Almost like slo mo.

 

[Dan_B]

...a bull is standing over there reading this has a big smile, thinking, 'want some of this'?

The focusing part is huge..
...imagine you're up, clocks are ticking and your 8 -12 or so contenders are not sitting, they're focusing as you are at their table.
The objective is to get out as perfectly as possible. You and your contenders (nominees) are required to plot 9 separate table settings of 4 balls (parameters vary per the pre-match stewards' call). Focusing out the fans that have bets placed is an attribute that will require a skill. No Marshalls saying "quiet please!"

purse? for the first year soft roll-out, maybe the summer of 2024
$10 - 30,000 for 18 minutes or less of action.

 

[pt109]

We had a pitcher that threw in that range. He was 6 foot and 200 lbs in little league. In highschool I caught him in practice. His fast ball had about a 4" hop. On one play he was cut off near the mound with the runner being far enough ahead that he crossed in front of the fast ball he threw for the play at the plate. The hop put the ball just above my glove and direct hit to the cup. Oh Lord. Anyway the scouts assessment was he threw with his arm and not whole body. Not interested as that wouldn't lead to longevity. Opposite of Sachel Page.

You know, Greg….I needed to read this….I’d forgotten what I had going for me as a pool player.
I started early as a golfer, working at a pro shop and getting excellent tutelage. Strong hands but buggy whip arms…but by 16 , I could drive the odd par four…by 17, I could drive a lot of them. You reminded me that I hit with my whole body…or from the toenails, as Hogan said.
I brought that to a snooker table when I was 17….I could hit a ball hard…when I took up 9-ball, I had a good break immediately, unlike most snooker players.

 

[DeeDeeCues]

...a bull is standing over there reading this has a big smile, thinking, 'want some of this'?

The focusing part is huge..
...imagine you're up, clocks are ticking and your 8 -12 or so contenders are not sitting, they're focusing as you are at their table.
The objective is to get out as perfectly as possible. You and your contenders (nominees) are required to plot 9 separate table settings of 4 balls (parameters vary per the pre-match stewards' call). Focusing out the fans that have bets placed is an attribute that will require a skill. No Marshalls saying "quiet please!"

purse? for the first year soft roll-out, maybe the summer of 2024
$10 - 30,000 for 18 minutes or less of action.

Those are all definitely words. What they mean put together in that order, I have no clue.

 

[pt109]

My "what if" thought is that IF a top tier baseball player, born with those obvious hand/eye skills, had turned to pool at a young age instead...todays top pool pros wouldn't be the top...

Johnny Kling did just that…won a world championship during a baseball career….the famous Brunswick Kling models are named after him.
….he wasn’t the only baseballer that played high level billiards.

 

[pt109]

I’m still going with boxing….that fist coming at you is hooked up to a brain, it’s not a non-thinking projectile.
..all great fighters are smart, capable of split second decisions…the ones that are just tough, are punching bags.
Lots of club fighters can clean out a bar of brawlers.

 

[ShootingArts]

I’m still going with boxing….that fist coming at you is hooked up to a brain, it’s not a non-thinking projectile.
..all great fighters are smart, capable of split second decisions…the ones that are just tough, are punching bags.
Lots of club fighters can clean out a bar of brawlers.

Back in my teens I found myself penned up against an old stage my cue butt in my hands chest high. Next to me was a medium sized fellow. William had wrapped up a career as a pretty good club fighter over Houston way a couple years before. Twenty-four guys in front of us but it soon became obvious that the guys in the front row didn't want to be there. In five minutes time they were blatantly leaning back to avoid being pushed into my cue or William's fists.

I left after things cooled off. Then William started arm wrestling the people that had thought they wanted to fight. That is where I got the count, he beat twenty-four guys back to back, many twice, no losses!

I have always had a ton of respect for boxers. Outstanding physical conditioning and hand/eye coordination second to none.

Hu