I believe hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports

[Compoundlift83]

try and smash a tennis serve, bet u cant do that easy....

still not as tough as baseball

[EZ-Bar]

wrestling and boxing


/thread

[guest89]

Out of all sports I've always had trouble catching footballs, and playing basketball (always was short though).


Not very "athletic" though, don't care for teamsports.


I'd rather do action sports.

[ofarevolution]

I agree with the OP. All of that mentioned, most major league pitchers have sick movement on their fastballs. Along with that, you've got guys like Barry Zito with wicked curveballs, Brandon Webb with that sinker, Randy Johnson and his slider, and Eric Gagne changing speeds anywhere from 70-100 mph with the same exact delivery and arm movement. On top of that you've got to manage to hit the ball to a spot on the field where 9 fielders are waiting to make a play on it. Yeah right. Baseball owns.

[paul2121]

Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in pro sports.

try it out at your local batting cage,set it for 100 mph. and try to hit one.

[Monkey Helmet]

A hockey puck rests on an even, one dimensional plane, and is relatively stationary when it is being hit.

A baseball, for one, comes at you at 90+ mph, and is contained in a three dimensional plane. It can go up or down, left or right, and anywhere from the z-axis.

Imagine hockey being played where, instead of being able to rest in one position and hit the puck, the puck actually flew towards you at 90+ mph, whereupon you then actually had to hit it, and not with a 12 inch blade, but with one about 2-3 inches in width. That's baseball. And that's harder.

His example was pretty poor, but I do agree with him that there are aspects of hockey that take much more skill than hitting a baseball. I personally think hockey is probably one of the most difficult and all around most demanding sport out there. I might be biased though because I played it for most of my teenage life.

For instance, I'm willing to bet any amount of money that someone would be able to hit a fastball off an MLB pitcher more often than they'd be able to score a penalty shot on an NHL goalie. IF they could even skate from center ice to the blue line without falling I'd be amazed let alone actually making it to the goal and being able to put it past a professional. Just my opinion though.

[dan06lcm]

hitting a golf ball far, and STRAIT is not as easy as people think

[wsuwarrior]

hitting a golf ball far, and STRAIT is not as easy as people think

But any duffer can do it. Put most people against a major league fastball and they will be lucky to hit a foul ball.

[yanksbgood]

I agree with the OP. All of that mentioned, most major league pitchers have sick movement on their fastballs. Along with that, you've got guys like Barry Zito with wicked curveballs, Brandon Webb with that sinker, Randy Johnson and his slider, and Eric Gagne changing speeds anywhere from 70-100 mph with the same exact delivery and arm movement. On top of that you've got to manage to hit the ball to a spot on the field where 9 fielders are waiting to make a play on it. Yeah right. Baseball owns.

Ted williams (one of the greatest hitters of all time, hit .400 in a season), has called hitting a baseball one of the hardest things in all sports.

Youve got to realize that when we mean hitting a baseball, we do not merely mean making contact. That is not all that hard. We mean driving the baseball. In order to drive the baseball you have to be in total command of the pitch. You go into the cages and try and crank some 90mph fastballs. Even if you can do this (which I highly doubt), remember that in the majors even the fastball has movement, and guys will throw off speed pitches which are sometimes 20-25 mph slower than their fastball.

[wsuwarrior]

Ted williams (one of the greatest hitters of all time, hit .400 in a season), has called hitting a baseball one of the hardest things in all sports.

Youve got to realize that when we mean hitting a baseball, we do not merely mean making contact. That is not all that hard. We mean driving the baseball. In order to drive the baseball you have to be in total command of the pitch. You go into the cages and try and crank some 90mph fastballs. Even if you can do this (which I highly doubt), remember that in the majors even the fastball has movement, and guys will throw off speed pitches which are sometimes 20-25 mph slower than their fastball.

Exatly. And making contact is one thing, but hitting the ball and actually getting ON BASE is a totally different animal. Most people couldnt hit it out of the infield.

[Jenkins1997]

Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in pro sports.

try it out at your local batting cage,set it for 100 mph. and try to hit one.

What about a guy that is trying to physical beat you one on one. A MMA fight has to be the hardest thing you could possibly due, so much to train for, so many variables to lose and takes much more heart then just trying to hit a baseball, not saying hitting a baseball isn't hard it is extremly hard especially a 100 mph one but compared to a mma bout its apples and oranges.

[Budweiser]

I would say hitting a golf ball accurately and distance.

[joelz54_99]

Golf.


End thrad.

[Budweiser]

Golf.


End thrad.

you are in the red...

[coke]

Golf.


End thrad.

my 72 year old grandpa can hit a golfball 275 yards with accuracy. grandma is is extremely accurate and can hit around 200. I can hit around 320, and do it accurately if i'm not too out of practice.

golf isn't that difficult. Just have to learn the proper techniques and practice. Nowhere near as difficult as hitting a baseball.

[LVI]

The thing is we are looking at this as "us the avg joe" vs pros. A pro, who has played his sport his whole life makes there sport look easy. Each sport is difficult in there own way. As an avg person, id rather play goalie in Hockey and try to stop Prongers 115mph slap shot than go to bat against any MLB pitcher. Does this mean that baseball is harder, no. Just that i use to be a goalie and am not afraid to face that task.

I guess my point is every sport is hard in there own way and there really isnt a true way to guage which is the hardest to do.

[FutureFoe]

The thing is we are looking at this as "us the avg joe" vs pros. A pro, who has played his sport his whole life makes there sport look easy. Each sport is difficult in there own way. As an avg person, id rather play goalie in Hockey and try to stop Prongers 115mph slap shot than go to bat against any MLB pitcher. Does this mean that baseball is harder, no. Just that i use to be a goalie and am not afraid to face that task.

I guess my point is every sport is hard in there own way and there really isnt a true way to guage which is the hardest to do.

Agreed. I believe that hitting a baseball probably requires the fastest reflexes and coordination, but I would imagine running a 100 yard kick return back is extremely difficult in it's own right, defending the goal in soccer or hockey would be difficult as well. Hitting a golf ball is one thing, but getting it where you want is another.

[nickrut]

They way I look at it is, what sport would all other pro-athletes struggle with the most. And I'd have to say hitting a baseball takes the cake. Golf isnt really a sport since you arent directly playing any1. I.E. the guy you are playing with cant directly influence the way you hit the ball unless he tackles you as you swing, but how often does that happen...

[THE-BEEF]

Dont get me wrong in every every you have to have strength, endurance, skill, and explosiveness, but I truly believe hitting a baseball is much harder than catching a football, or making a basket. I truly believe this

if that is true then why are there so many more pro baseball players than other sports... I think that baseball is on of the only sports were if you practice enough you can make it to the pros.. sports like football and basketball require natural size, strengh and speed that cant be made up for no matter how hard you practice (yes, you can say there are exceptions like being a kicker or punter but I am talking about being a major factor on your team)

[GrizzleBazzle]

If hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports, then why does it happen about 50 times in every game? No doubt it is difficult and takes a lot of skill, but something that happens this many times can't be the hardest thing in sports.

BTW, the reason this is even talked about is because of the Ted Williams quote. No bias there, I'm sure.

[Greg1983]

I guess my point is every sport is hard in there own way and there really isnt a true way to guage which is the hardest to do.

\thread

[ba199]

i've played baseball for about 15 years now and still think hitting is the hardest thing in sports to do. a pitcher can throw so many different speeds/pitches/locations and you have to hit a round ball with a round bat with less than a second to react. usa today thinks its the toughest thing too...

USA today 10 hardest things to do in sports -

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ten-hardest-splash.htm

[trojannation]

meh to each his own I guess. I find hitting a baseball to be fairly easy as long as you aren't facing a dominating pitcher.... then again, I played baseball most of my life (since age 6, stopped because I just got bored with it)

You obviously didn't play at a very high level... you get to a point where every pitcher is dominant.

[Compoundlift83]

if that is true then why are there so many more pro baseball players than other sports... I think that baseball is on of the only sports were if you practice enough you can make it to the pros.. sports like football and basketball require natural size, strengh and speed that cant be made up for no matter how hard you practice (yes, you can say there are exceptions like being a kicker or punter but I am talking about being a major factor on your team)

So any guy that practices alot can make it to the pro's?Theres guys that play their whole lives and put hour after hour into the game and "just" make it to college or single A ball

[Monkey Helmet]

i've played baseball for about 15 years now and still think hitting is the hardest thing in sports to do. a pitcher can throw so many different speeds/pitches/locations and you have to hit a round ball with a round bat with less than a second to react. usa today thinks its the toughest thing too...

USA today 10 hardest things to do in sports -

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ten-hardest-splash.htm

Well if USA Today says it's the hardest then I guess that's that. Pack it up boys, it's official. USA Today has proved us wrong.

[wsuwarrior]

If hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports, then why does it happen about 50 times in every game? No doubt it is difficult and takes a lot of skill, but something that happens this many times can't be the hardest thing in sports.

BTW, the reason this is even talked about is because of the Ted Williams quote. No bias there, I'm sure.

You must not watch much baseball because 50 hits in a game happens about never. Most games have about 10-15 hits at the most, and thats out of hundreds of pitches.

[Budweiser]

You must not watch much baseball because 50 hits in a game happens about never. Most games have about 10-15 hits at the most, and thats out of hundreds of pitches.

I think he was just talking about actually hitting the ball, not getting an actual hit.

[GrizzleBazzle]

You must not watch much baseball because 50 hits in a game happens about never. Most games have about 10-15 hits at the most, and thats out of hundreds of pitches.

I watch plenty of baseball and I am a fan. Yes, an average game has about 10-15 "hits", but the players "hit the baseball" far more than that. Close to 50 times a game. Thats what the thread is about.

[Budweiser]

I believe that throwing a perfect game in bowling is the hardest thing to do in sports.

[ofarevolution]

I couldnt roll a perfect game, but I know a few total douchebags that have. I'd love to see any of those clowns even hit a free throw in an empty gym.