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You guys all missed it but the sport is handball- either one-wall or four-wall. Sport requires everything boxing, tennis or triathlon requires but it also demands superior hand-eye coordination + ambidexterity. The ambidexterity really sets this game apart requiring the player to develop all of the same skills that are typically used on the dominant side on the weak side of the body.
When SI asked a bunch of sport scientists this exact question, boxing dominated all of the other sports. There simply aren't a lot of sports where a powerful athlete also has to have the H/E coordination to hit a moving target.
I was going to say martial arts.
Upper body.
Lower body.
Core.
Stamina.
Balance.
Aim.
Speed.
Jumping.
Rolling/falling/gymnastic moves.
Total control over your body movements.
I sort of remember an ABC junk sports show in the 70's when champions competed in sports other than their own. Sort of likr the IROC racing series It even included bowling as that was a weekend standard on TV. I just can't remember the name or have the time right now to do a proper Google search on my phone to find it and which sport produced the most winners
This is all true but handball provides the same athletic development as Martial Arts. Many of the same moves that are used to strike an opponent in martial arts are used to strike the ball in handball. Since the ball is small and fast superior hand-eye coordination is required. However I believe handball can further develop the athletes prowess as the participant can play intense games at the highest level of competition on a daily basis. A martial arts athlete in top level intensity of fights on a daily basis is going to end up with dementia pugilistica at an early age. Many top athletes such as Babe Ruth and Mike Tyson used handball as a hand-eye coordination perfecter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4
I was going to say martial arts.
Upper body.
Lower body.
Core.
Stamina.
Balance.
Aim.
Speed.
Jumping.
Rolling/falling/gymnastic moves.
Total control over your body movements.
I sort of remember an ABC junk sports show in the 70's when champions competed in sports other than their own. Sort of likr the IROC racing series It even included bowling as that was a weekend standard on TV. I just can't remember the name or have the time right now to do a proper Google search on my phone to find it and which sport produced the most winners
Bob Seagren, an Olympic pole vault gold medalist, was the first winner. However, it was heavyweight champion boxer Joe Frazier who nearly stole the show. In the very first event, the 50 meter swimming heats, Frazier nearly drowned, and only after he was retrieved from the pool did he admit to commentators that he didn't know how to swim. When a reporter asked him why he tried the race, Frazier replied, "How was I to know I couldn't unless I tried it?" He also famously opined, "That Mark Spitz," (who had won several gold medals for swimming at the 1972 Olympics) "is a tough ***********!"
Several athletes won the event two or more times. Among them:
Bob Seagren, an Olympic pole vault gold medalist, was the first winner. However, it was heavyweight champion boxer Joe Frazier who nearly stole the show. In the very first event, the 50 meter swimming heats, Frazier nearly drowned, and only after he was retrieved from the pool did he admit to commentators that he didn't know how to swim. When a reporter asked him why he tried the race, Frazier replied, "How was I to know I couldn't unless I tried it?" He also famously opined, "That Mark Spitz," (who had won several gold medals for swimming at the 1972 Olympics) "is a tough ***********!"
Several athletes won the event two or more times. Among them:
What are you emphasizing? Strength? Endurance? Stamina? Speed? Dexterity? Hand-eye coordination? Toughness?
That's the problem with the My Sport vs Your Sport arguments. Every sport has a physical aspect that the others can't match. I mean, heck, even within track and field, who is the better athlete? The sprinter or the marathon runner?
Or, let's look at the endless soccer vs rugby vs football debate, of which no one is right. Soccer and rugby players have to run all match long. Rugby players don't have pads. Whereas football players only run for short bursts and have armor.
Yet athletes are trained to excel within the framework of their particular sports. Football players have to play in short bursts, so speed is critical for some positions while brute force is more important for others. And given the higher velocity of football, along with the sheer weight of the players hitting one another, all that protection is essential.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that every sport brings a completely different set of physical challenges to the table.
I mean, would you say that a gymnast isn't an athlete because she couldn't stand toe-to-toe with a nose tackle? Or that a sumo wrestler isn't an athlete because he is incredibly slow in the 400 meter relay? Of course not.
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