What is the hardest sport in the world? Top 10 list of the toughest sports

What is the hardest sport in the world? Top 10 list of the toughest sports

Naturally, sports are entertaining and relaxing to watch. Thus, different people enjoy watching and following various sports activities. However, at times, some fanatics tend to get mad when their favourite teams or players lose. Perhaps, they do not understand the effort, pain, and dedication it takes a player/team to keep them entertained. In this regard, what is the hardest sport in the world?

What is the hardest sport
Low-angle photo of two men fighting in a boxing ring. Photo: @sidesimagery
Source: UGC

The physical and mental energy involved in every sport differs considerably. As a result, some sports are more brutal to participate in than others. For example, the strength, endurance, and speed involved in boxing are not the same as baseball.

What is the hardest sport in the world?

Various experts have been seeking to answer this question for some time now. Interestingly, they have now come up with several factors to consider when measuring a sport's difficulty level. Those factors include speed, agility, power, flexibility, analytic aptitude, endurance, hand-eye coordination, nerve, durability, and strength.

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So, which is the most difficult sport in the world? The list below outlines ten sports ranked by difficulty, according to the factors mentioned above.

1. Boxing

What is the hardest sport
Two boxers in a ring. Photo:@cottonbro
Source: UGC

Boxing is arguably the hardest sport to play in the world. Unlike the rest, it requires a lot of skills to play. It involves players fighting in the ring, inflicting severe injuries on each other. This game requires a lot of nerve than car racing and ski-jumping, where the levels of risks are considerably high.

The majority of the attribute scores for boxing are above 8.0 – endurance (8.63), power (8.63), nerve (8.8), strength (8.13), and durability (8.50). On the other hand, flexibility and analytic aptitude do not seem to matter in boxing.

2. Ice Hockey

hardest sports
Ice hockey. Photo: @pixabay
Source: UGC

Most people can agree that ice hockey is among the hardest sports to play. Like boxing, it requires high eye-coronation, speed, and strength. Overall, tactical awareness and power are essential to play this game. Also, a lot of play-time is involved; hence the durability score (8.25) is the highest on the list.

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Overall, most of its scores are above 7.0 except for flexibility and nerve. Based on these factors, it is worth considering the group of the most challenging games to play in the world. What is the hardest sport to go pro in? Ice hockey is among those games. Others include boxing, football, and baseball.

3. Football

what is the hardest sport on your body?
A football player moving towards the goal. Photo: @pixabay
Source: UGC

American football (NFL) is among the most loved games in the US. However, the degree of its difficulty makes it the third hardest sport to play globally. If you thought rugby is the toughest one, you should reconsider your thoughts.

Interestingly, its endurance and flexibility attributes may be slightly low, but the strength, power, and durability involved in football are higher. They are all above 8.0.

4. Basketball

hardest sport in the world
Basketball game in progress. Photo: @pixabay
Source: UGC

What sport takes the most skill? Basketball might be one of the games that demand the most skills. Luck is not something to consider if you are planning to be a basketball player. To succeed in the game, your ability to check the direction quickly is necessary. It is, precisely, the first thing you should train your body for.

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In this regard, the agility score for basketball is the highest (8.13). On the other hand, the nerve score is the lowest at 4.13. The rest of the attributes are above 6.0. Notably, football is the only game that requires the highest strength.

5. Wrestling

what is the hardest sport on your body?
Photo of a wrestler jumping into a ring. Photo: @case-originals
Source: UGC

Is wrestling on the list of the hardest sports? Yes. Most professional wrestlers will agree that it demands a lot of tactical thinking, power, and endurance. Also, you must be courageous enough to face your competitors.

Even though wrestling is a theatrical performance, it is challenging to participate because physical energy is involved. The highest attribute scores on the list are strength (8.38), power (7.13), and flexibility (7.50). On the other hand, the lowest is hand-eye coordination (4.25).

6. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

What is the hardest sport
Mixed Martial Arts fighters fighting in a ring. Photo: @maza_fight_gallery
Source: UGC

Mixed Martial Arts is also one of the hardest sports in the world. Like boxing, MMA is a skill-based activity. Usually, it combines several skills such as grappling, striking, and fighting. Thus, the power, flexibility, and analytic aptitude of an athlete should be high.

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So, any time your favourite athlete wins or loses, you should understand the sacrifices they make in the fighting cage.

7. Tennis

hardest sport to play
A green tennis ball on a tennis court. Photo: @jill-rose-2779484
Source: UGC

Tennis is another exciting game whose origin is in the UK. Usually, only two or four players (a team of two athletes) can play the game simultaneously. It is also one of the most challenging games around.

What is the hardest girl sport? Tennis should probably be among them. Similar to basketball, it requires a player to have high hand-eye coordination skills. However, out of the top 10 most challenging games on this list, it has the lowest nerve score.

8. Gymnastics

What is the hardest sport
A young black lady performing gymnastic stunts. Photo: @timmossholder
Source: UGC

What is the hardest sport in the Olympics? Gymnastics is one of them. Gymnastics is not only physically challenging but also mentally demanding. First, it takes a lot of courage to be a gymnast. Secondly, apart from being talented, one must meet specific physical requirements to participate in gymnastics. Lastly, it is a hazardous game with high risks.

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Flexibility and agility are necessary here. Interestingly, the flexibility score of the game is 10.0. Based on these factors, what is the hardest sport for your body? Probably, gymnastics should come at the top of the list. Also, boxing, ice hockey, and American football cannot be missed here.

9. Baseball/Softball

which is the most difficult sport in the world?
Close up photography of four baseballs on green lawn grasses. Photo: @steshkawillems
Source: UGC

Baseball/softball is another thrilling sports activity. The game has its origin in the United States. It requires considerably high skill levels to hit a baseball. Out of all the existing sports activities, baseball has the highest hand-eye coordination score (9.25).

10. Soccer

What is the hardest sport
Soccer is among the most-cherished sports in the world. Photo: @pixel2013
Source: UGC

Soccer is among the most-cherished sports across the world. The majority of its fans respect and adore soccer players. However, some do not understand what the players go through when they are on the field.

It takes a lot to become a soccer player. A good player should be fast, strong, and flexible. They should also be able to play for a long time without getting tired. The sport is ranked as follows in terms of the attribute score: endurance (7.75), strength (4.50), power (5.13), speed (7.25), agility (8.25), flexibility (4.75), nerve (3.63), durability (6.25), hand-eye coordination (6.50), and analytic aptitude (7.50).

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What sport is the easiest? Some of the ones mentioned in this list can also be classified under this section. Such include baseball and basketball. Other easy sports you should know are running, table tennis, volleyball, cycling, and running.

The degree of difficulty of a sport varies on several factors, such as agility, flexibility, strength, and endurance. So, what is the hardest sport in the world? Boxing is the toughest of all the sports discussed above. It requires a combination of skills and strength, making it hard to play.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Rodah Mogeni avatar

Rodah Mogeni (Lifestyle writer) She is a content creator with more than 4 years of experience. She graduated from Chuka University with a BA degree in Journalism and Mass Communication (2023). She joined Briefly in 2019. Rodah has been working as a health/fitness writer at BetterMe (since 2020), London Brokers, The Hoth, and Ardor Content. In 2023, Rodah finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. Her email is rodahmugeni998@gmail.com