Is billiards the toughest sport?
- Thread starter storke
- Start date
Aha, ESPN put together a list of the top 60 most difficult sports. You really need to figure out how to define "difficult" or "demanding" before getting anywhere, as they did.
I would have copied everything over to this post, but I'm a little too lazy to take screen capture their chart right now. Just check out the link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills
Here are some of the rankings they came up with:
Boxing ............ 1st
Ice Hockey ...... 2nd
Football .......... 3rd
Surfing ........... 23rd
Auto racing ..... 32nd
Skateboarding .. 37th
Golf ................ 51st
Billiards ........... 59th
One cool thing that the above website allows is to sort by the different categories. "Billiards" ranked somewhat high on "analytic aptitude" and "hand-eye coordination", but got creamed in categories such as "strength", "speed", "power" and "agility".
I would have copied everything over to this post, but I'm a little too lazy to take screen capture their chart right now. Just check out the link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills
Here are some of the rankings they came up with:
Boxing ............ 1st
Ice Hockey ...... 2nd
Football .......... 3rd
Surfing ........... 23rd
Auto racing ..... 32nd
Skateboarding .. 37th
Golf ................ 51st
Billiards ........... 59th
One cool thing that the above website allows is to sort by the different categories. "Billiards" ranked somewhat high on "analytic aptitude" and "hand-eye coordination", but got creamed in categories such as "strength", "speed", "power" and "agility".
Definitely Yes........
The mental toughness and ability to perform under pressure is, without a doubt, much more difficult in pool/billiards than in golf.
Golfers that suffer the "yips" get so nervous over short putts they shake and and sometimes can't even take the putter back.
Imagine a poolplayer so nervous he/she couldn't take the cue back.
The "full swing" of a golfer is not affected nearly as much as putting and he/she can still get around the course and shoot a decent score.
No "full swing" for the poolplayer - he/she has to rely on those tiny muscles and nerves in the hands to make things happen. You get the "yips" playing pool and start short stroking everything and bad things will happen.
I'm fortunate enough to have grown up with and still play golf with a well known PGA player that spent many, many years on the regular tour and is now on the Senior Tour. He's been a victim of the "yips" since his mid-thirties. He's often been touted as having the one of the best swings in golf in his younger years and even now. He didn't win many tournaments at all because of his inability to putt.
To this day, we still play and he still doesn't have the ability to putt.
He takes $$ from me on the course and I get it back on the putting greens.
Choking or not being able to handle pressure takes a much more severe toll on a top level poolplayer than it does on the same level golfer.
The mental toughness and ability to perform under pressure is, without a doubt, much more difficult in pool/billiards than in golf.
Golfers that suffer the "yips" get so nervous over short putts they shake and and sometimes can't even take the putter back.
Imagine a poolplayer so nervous he/she couldn't take the cue back.
The "full swing" of a golfer is not affected nearly as much as putting and he/she can still get around the course and shoot a decent score.
No "full swing" for the poolplayer - he/she has to rely on those tiny muscles and nerves in the hands to make things happen. You get the "yips" playing pool and start short stroking everything and bad things will happen.
I'm fortunate enough to have grown up with and still play golf with a well known PGA player that spent many, many years on the regular tour and is now on the Senior Tour. He's been a victim of the "yips" since his mid-thirties. He's often been touted as having the one of the best swings in golf in his younger years and even now. He didn't win many tournaments at all because of his inability to putt.
To this day, we still play and he still doesn't have the ability to putt.
He takes $$ from me on the course and I get it back on the putting greens.
Choking or not being able to handle pressure takes a much more severe toll on a top level poolplayer than it does on the same level golfer.
BPG24
Banned
In pool it is also much easier to stay in stroke. Once you are at the table you can stay there and hit shot after shot. In golf you can't do that.
There are no tangent lines in golf like there is in pool. When you play pool alot, you can easily visualize all of the possible paths of the cue ball after contact with the object ball. Again going back to all of the shots in pool that are almost exactly the same. Perfect shots happen in pool all the time. Almost never in golf. Why??? Because there are so many more variables to each shot.
There are no tangent lines in golf like there is in pool. When you play pool alot, you can easily visualize all of the possible paths of the cue ball after contact with the object ball. Again going back to all of the shots in pool that are almost exactly the same. Perfect shots happen in pool all the time. Almost never in golf. Why??? Because there are so many more variables to each shot.
BPG24 said:
Your right I can't break 80. I played the game when I was young very well for a short period of time. I enjoyed it briefly but as money became the issue and still is the issue I don't play regularly. If I would have had just some of the things Mr. Schmidt alluded to 80's would have been broken I am confident of that. But I or we will never know for reasons I won't go into here.
Physically again, a golf swing is repetition. I can put groups of golf balls in the same target area using all my core muscles, both arms, both wrists, both hands, all while keeping your legs, feet, and head still and keeping your spine and shoulders upright. I am not a pro, I wouldn't even gamble at the game. The swing isn't all that and a bag of chips. The ones with the problems are the ones who think too much instead of just doing it.
Now by adding age and the physical problems that come with it yeah your right tougher. But I guessed this was a prime vs prime thing.
I would say golf is like the Wagner Power painter on the white picket fence with the swing. It takes a lot to make it right and not make a mess.
Billiards you only move your arm and wrist...for tighter more delicate and exacting position. Billiards is like painting miniatures one mistake is a mess.
You can stand and scream Golf is the one but I know that you know that everyone knows that I know Billiards is tougher!
By the way golf carts, caddies, cold drinks, take that other physical to the way side. Humidity on a pool table now thats killer!
JOHNjohn schmidt said:
You shot a hundred rounds of golf with scores in the sixties and decided to go the POOL route. OUCH!Too bad we all could'nt go back in time and know what we know now.$$$$$$.P.S.no insult intended John,your a true champion.
Good post John, But pool and golf are apples and oranges.One is a gamejohn schmidt said:
with a revered, well structured institution.The apprenticeship involved in golf, (Q- school,college,amateurs,seniors,etc.)is second to no other sport.
Our sport will probably never come close to that of golf. Just remember one thing. Golf and all it's sponsors have contributed a gazillion dollars to charity,wheras pool has always had a "whats in it for me" mentality.
Maybe we need to work on that. Do ya think?
Amen brother!!!! The shrink strikes again.renard said:Your right I can't break 80. I played the game when I was young very well for a short period of time. I enjoyed it briefly but as money became the issue and still is the issue I don't play regularly. If I would have had just some of the things Mr. Schmidt alluded to 80's would have been broken I am confident of that. But I or we will never know for reasons I won't go into here.
Physically again, a golf swing is repetition. I can put groups of golf balls in the same target area using all my core muscles, both arms, both wrists, both hands, all while keeping your legs, feet, and head still and keeping your spine and shoulders upright. I am not a pro, I wouldn't even gamble at the game. The swing isn't all that and a bag of chips. The ones with the problems are the ones who think too much instead of just doing it.
Now by adding age and the physical problems that come with it yeah your right tougher. But I guessed this was a prime vs prime thing.
I would say golf is like the Wagner Power painter on the white picket fence with the swing. It takes a lot to make it right and not make a mess.
Billiards you only move your arm and wrist...for tighter more delicate and exacting position. Billiards is like painting miniatures one mistake is a mess.
You can stand and scream Golf is the one but I know that you know that everyone knows that I know Billiards is tougher!
By the way golf carts, caddies, cold drinks, take that other physical to the way side. Humidity on a pool table now thats killer!
PKM said:
Thank you for answering.
More people have tried or played Billiards than any other sport period. The amount of competition is there, some refuse to seek it for various reasons. Sports with $$$ earnings siphon off the talent pool in Billiards. Many just use it to relax as they enjoy it and don't have to shower afterwards.
What would Billiards be like if it paid like golf? Staggering huh!? The longevity in itself...
Team sports are the naturally gifted athletes with Basketball players at the top as athletes. Physical attributes play a very big aspect in them. But given if "Talent" was the same in every given sport; say if Efren could be even money in one on one with James Lebron. In the instance in both Basketball and Billiards what would separate the boys from the men; the mental game.
If you lived in the Phillipines you would take quite a different view on this subject I assure you.
Either way its apples to oranges!!! Fun to talk about!
i do not see billiards as a sport i see it as a chess/math game . iwould list it as
golf
auto racing
worlds toughest man contests
triathlons
billiards is a mind / math game . take a look at alot of pool players most are out of shape IMO.
golf
auto racing
worlds toughest man contests
triathlons
billiards is a mind / math game . take a look at alot of pool players most are out of shape IMO.
I can't believe, that you believe that ESPN has a clue about anythingCuebacca said:
relating to sports. They are a "for profit" enterprise that goes wherever
the money is. The only thing they know for sure is "ratings"
And thats OK. This is a free enterprise system.
BPG24 said:
I am not world class in either Billiards or Golf are you? I'll repeat, I am not world class in either Billiards or Golf are you?
I your answer is "yes" then I'll back Mr. Schmidt against you. If your answer is "no" then your point is built upon the same sand as mine. Thus your point is not as valid as mine.
Cuebacca said:Also, in order to figure out which sport is the most difficult, some definitions need to be established as to what factors are used to measure the difficulty level of a sport.
Otherwise, we could just say something like competitive blindfolded bomb diffusing with a beer pounding requirement is the most difficult because it carries the highest risk out of any other sports. (Although I'm sure someone more creative than I am could come up with a more dangerous hypothetical or real sport.)
Yeah, I was going to say cliff diving into a rock basin. It's pretty dangerous and doesn't pay much. That's probably why it's not that popular.
ericdraven said:
I'm Kewl with that post.
If I had God given talent in any sport that I could chose I wouldn't pick one that ravages the body or threatens to end your life. Billiards has the most longevity. Billiards often gets classified as a "Game" because of this aspect of less physical. Games to me are more like board games not having to use finely tuned motor skills to achieve jam up results.
What Am I tonight the defender of pool? Somebody stop me!
Attachments
SJDinPHX said:
Well, it's not like their marketing department did the study. Here's their "panel" of judges:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=degree/bios
I would think these people would have some kind of clue, but sure if the marketing people really wanted to pick a panel to suit their desired outcome, I'm sure they could.
I think the approach they described was alright. Again, the results all depend on how you define "difficult", which they at least made an effort to do.
I never gave my opinion on their findings though. Personally, I don't particularly like their results, but it's the only study I found and figured it was worth putting up for whatever it was worth. If you know of one by a more credible organization, it would be interesting to see it.
