re: Rate these sports professions based on athleticism; your opinion.

basketball
football
tennis
nascar






baseball/golf

1. Baseball
2. Golf
3. Soccer
4. Hockey
5. Football
6. Basketball
7. Tennis
8. NASCAR

I won't discount NASCAR at all...some of those guys are in shape and probably good athletes. It does take a good bit of endurance to make it through the heat in those long races and fighting the wheel on those cars. But they are at the bottom of the list.

I always felt like baseball players, golfers and soccer players were the most athletic people in the world.

Your list is an absolute troll

Including Olympic sports in my list.

1) Wrestling- wrestling and swimming are very close, but wrestling gets the nod due to restrictive weight
2) Swimming - One of the most draining sports of all.
3) Tennis - Longevity is brutal. Few breaks
4) Soccer - Longevity again, but decent halftime break
5) Basketball - athletic freaks, but plenty of breaks
6) Football - physical as heck, but very little actual play
7) Hockey - lots of breaks, but very physical

hand-eye coordination is probably the most important "athletic" trait you can have, thus golf should be ranked pretty high

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Some of yal are really struggling with the basis for the term 'athleticism' IMO.

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The sport itself, or those who play it? It can't be based upon those who play it, because that would be arbitrary.

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Uncertainty and reaction is where you see the true athletes

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Yeah, Prince Fielder and Tim Duncan are more athletic than Michael Phelps....wait...

It is impossible to say a sport is "more athletic," but you can say which ones are more physically grueling or demanding.

NBA



The rest.

In the States:

1. Basketball
2. Football
3. Soccer
4. Tennis
5. Hockey

Baseball, Golf, and NASCAR fall somewhere below these.

If we're talking global:

1. Soccer/Rugby in a tie
2. Tennis
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Football
6. Baseball
7. NASCAR/Racing
8. Golf


It's pretty simple: The most athletic professional athletes (not in track and field or event driven sports) in the States are, on average, in Basketball. Football is probably a little high, given OTs, but the size and athleticism of a DE or LB is pretty impressive.

The most gifted athletes of any other country probably play soccer on average more than any other sport. That's the clear winner on a global scale. CRon, as much as I don't like him, is probably a better overall athlete than anyone not named Lebron, and he might be better. Bale, Zlatan, Neymar, Messi lineup very well athletically against any of the best athletes in any other sport and are probably better as an average.

In terms of overall athletic requirements, Rugby is a pretty tough contender, but they're not often as fast as other sports.

I think the problem is that track and field doesn't pay out 100 million dollar contracts so it is robbed of having all of the best athletes in the world. If pro sports were gone tomorrow the American track and field team would be filthy in 5 years.