Which Sport Produces the Best Athletes?

Off Topic
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Back in middle school, there was a group of kids who would often argue about which sport was the most difficult, and which one required the most athleticism to excel in. Some of the kids were soccer players only. Others of us played football. There was a crossover group of kids who played both.

I have been doing some research on what’s required to compete at the highest levels of the various popular sports around the world. I am about to publish an article entitled “Which Sport Produces the Best Athletes?”

I started with this definition of athleticism…

Athleticism: the physical qualities that are characteristic of athletes, such as strength, fitness, and agility.

Athleticism by its definition is typically viewed through the lenses of strength, fitness, and agility.

I created an athleticism criteria scorecard. In addition to raw strength, fitness, and agility, I also threw in a few other metrics, including:

  • Flexibility & Mobility
  • Balance & Stability
  • Explosiveness
  • Mental Resilience
  • Cross-Sport Adaptability

With this set of criteria in place, I ran the numbers.

Here are the results of the model I came up with. I know that this forum leans a lot towards bodybuilding and strength training, but I’d be interested in having your feedback on the model and athleticism comparisons before I publish the article and draw conclusions.

Would you add or remove any of these criteria?

Are there changes you’d make to the weights assigned to any of them?

Criteria
Category Weight Why it matters
Strength 24 Drives jumping, striking, grappling, and change of direction.
Fitness / Endurance 24 Sustains output, supports repeat efforts, improves recovery.
Agility & Coordination 20 Governs quick cuts, footwork, reaction, and body control.
Speed 15 Linear burst, separation, and chase-down capacity.
Explosiveness 5 Rate of force development for jumps and first steps.
Flexibility & Mobility 3 Range and movement economy with fewer snags.
Balance & Stability 3 Postural control under load or chaos.
Mental Resilience 3 Composure and execution under stress.
Cross-Sport Adaptability 3 Carryover of tools into new arenas.

Here is the list of sports included in this assessment:

  • Gymnastics
  • Track and Field
  • Basketball
  • Soccer
  • MMA
  • Rugby
  • Wrestling
  • American Football
  • Volleyball
  • Swimming
  • Tennis
  • Handball
  • Cycling
  • Baseball/Softball
  • Boxing
  • Badminton
  • Table Tennis
  • Cricket
  • Golf
  • Motorsport
  • Bowling
  • Powerlifting
  • Bodybuilding

After running the numbers, based on this model, the most athletic are…

Track & Field (Decathlon/Heptathlon): 88.5
Near-perfect blend of power, endurance, agility, and speed.

Soccer: 87.0
Speed, conditioning, and footwork yield balance between agility and fitness.

Gymnastics: 86.5
Ultimate control athlete: strength, coordination, speed-to-body mastery.

Rugby: 85.0
Explosive power athletes with superior grit and functional endurance.

MMA: 84.5
Strength and fitness dominate, agility and mental control push it up.

Bodybuilding came in with a score of 68.0. Powerlifting came in with a score of 62.0

Rank Sport Score Visual
1 Track & Field (Decathlon/Heptathlon) 88.5 ███████████████████░
2 Gymnastics 86.5 ██████████████████░░
3 Soccer 87.0 ██████████████████░░
4 Rugby 85.0 █████████████████░░░
5 MMA 84.5 █████████████████░░░
6 Basketball 83.0 ████████████████░░░░
7 American Football 83.5 ████████████████░░░░
8 Boxing 83.5 ████████████████░░░░
9 Swimming 83.0 ████████████████░░░░
10 Handball 83.0 ████████████████░░░░
11 Wrestling 82.5 ████████████████░░░░
12 Cycling 82.0 ████████████████░░░░
13 Badminton 82.0 ████████████████░░░░
14 Volleyball 81.5 ████████████████░░░░
15 Tennis 80.0 ███████████████░░░░░
16 Baseball / Softball 77.5 ██████████████░░░░░░
17 Table Tennis 76.0 ██████████████░░░░░░
18 Motorsport 68.5 ████████████░░░░░░░░
19 Bodybuilding 68.0 ████████████░░░░░░░░
20 Cricket 65.5 ███████████░░░░░░░░░
21 Powerlifting 62.0 ██████████░░░░░░░░░░
22 Golf 59.0 █████████░░░░░░░░░░░
23 Bowling 53.5 ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░
4 Likes
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Pretty interesting stuff! Not surprised to see gymnastics in top 3, would have put them at #1.
I also remember reading an article showing how water polo is the “toughest” sport to play based off some metrics. Would be interesting to run water-polo through your metrics and see where it comes.

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Damn. Interesting.

Shame that chessboxing was not in the list.

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I suppose that I will cause a mess, BUT soccer doesn’t even register on the POWER meter.

Power = ft-lbs/sec

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I have consistently heard that hitting a baseball is the most difficult athletic movement. But hitting a baseball is not a sport in itself.

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If we talk only about difficulty Golf has to be mentioned.

God damn.

It got score 59. It’s understandable since it’s not very demanding physically compared to other sports in the list.

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Id be interesting to see how Weightlifting would rank along with Strongman.

Im honestly surprised Bodybuilding is on the list.

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I’d put wrestling and gymnastics at the top of the list.

I think the drawback here is that most opinions will be speculative as the majority of people haven’t played all the sports to really know.

Like I’d put soccer below golf but I’m sure 75% of the world disagrees. And track shouldn’t even be on the list. It’s literally how other sports exercise to be good at said sport.

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No ice hockey?! Pssh.

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Other than “because I think so” I don’t see how you can evaluate the crossover elements to other sports without actually testing it.

Football has multiple physiques on the field at the same time, and wrestling has a wide range of weight classes. Swimming isn’t even ground based, and I have no idea how you could quantify or analogize that to other sports.

2 Likes
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Add in pitching, fielding a 100+ ball hit at you and it adds additional traits.

I’d say judo or submission grappling (the modern version not gi based BJJ) should be up there. Judo particularly, at the Olympic level is unbelievable.

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I remember reading an article about how pole vaulting had the greatest transfer to the largest number of other sports.

But I can’t find it on page one of the google, so I stopped looking.

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13

On a sports broadcast, many years ago, I heard a discussion between announcers about which sports required the most athleticism. Motocross ranked up there pretty high with basketball and wrestling. I don’t know what the criteria they used to pull that out of their ass… but, there it is.

I once met a recently retired Motocross pro… His VO2 max numbers were in the high athletic range. He also said when it came to adrenaline, he was only envious of fighter pilots and F1 drivers.

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I was a wannabe pole vaulter in high school and freshman year of college. I used what little athleticism I had to transfer it to bodybuilding, which isn’t a sport at all.

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I’d put most college defensive backs up against just about anyone.

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That tracks exactly with my experience hanging out with a bunch of amateur to semi pro MX’rs.

They were freakin bonkers man. There was enough dopamine and adrenaline in any one of them to send a whole football team to the moon. :rocket:

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As soon as I saw the title I thought, Boxing and mma.

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Holy crap, yeah. That’s gotta be in there.

1 Like
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Easy….athletes who compete in the -cathalons, with I guess the biggest one requiring the MOST all around athleticism, the Decathalon!

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I tend to agree, but what the Decathalon lacks athletically is the skill the react to a movement of their competitor. Decathletes compete against a time or standard. There is no direct reaction with their competitor.

A good example is any defensive American football player, but that occurs in every team sport where the defensive team protects against an action by the offensive team.