Why Tennis Is The Most Difficult Sport at the Professional Level

[Player/Stringer]

I can never seem to convince anyone that this is true... People seem to think running up and down a field kicking a ball and sitting out for half the game is more difficult than hitting a second serve on 30-40, or playing five sets in 100+ degrees... I figured maybe I could get some other reasons from other people. Anything works; mental difficulty, physical difficulty (the most overlooked), or difficulty with playing in one of the world’s most competitive sports. Say any points, just try to stay on topic [emoji6].

 

[Anton]

I think the toughest part is that only top 100 players are actually making any real money.

 

[Anton]

What does it have to do with rackets though?

 

[BounceHitBounceHit]

Tennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes, period. Further the sport is an individual one, with no subs, time outs, or coaching allowed. There are dozens of separate skills needed to play it well, and virtually NO REWARD for being Absolutely phenomenal at it. In order to earn a living, you must be a monks the top few dozen players in the world. Even then, the vast majority he earned nothing like players on such team sports are soccer, American football, basketball, baseball, at Cetera.


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[BounceHitBounceHit]

Tennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes, period. Further the sport is an individual one, with no subs, time outs, or coaching allowed. There are dozens of separate skills needed to play it well, and virtually NO REWARD for being Absolutely phenomenal at it. In order to earn a living, you must be a monks the top few dozen players in the world. Even then, the vast majority he earned nothing like players on such team sports are soccer, American football, basketball, baseball, at Cetera.


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[BounceHitBounceHit]

Tennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes, period. Further the sport is an individual one, with no subs, time outs, or coaching allowed. There are dozens of separate skills needed to play it well, and virtually NO REWARD for being Absolutely phenomenal at it. In order to earn a living, you must be a monks the top few dozen players in the world. Even then, the vast majority he earned nothing like players on such team sports are soccer, American football, basketball, baseball, at Cetera.


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[BounceHitBounceHit]

Tennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes, period. Further the sport is an individual one, with no subs, time outs, or coaching allowed. There are dozens of separate skills needed to play it well, and virtually NO REWARD for being Absolutely phenomenal at it. In order to earn a living, you must be a monks the top few dozen players in the world. Even then, the vast majority he earned nothing like players on such team sports are soccer, American football, basketball, baseball, at Cetera.


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[BounceHitBounceHit]

Tennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes, period. Further the sport is an individual one, with no subs, time outs, or coaching allowed. There are dozens of separate skills needed to play it well, and virtually NO REWARD for being Absolutely phenomenal at it. In order to earn a living, you must be a monks the top few dozen players in the world. Even then, the vast majority he earned nothing like players on such team sports are soccer, American football, basketball, baseball, at Cetera.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[BounceHitBounceHit]

Tennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes, period. Further the sport is an individual one, with no subs, time outs, or coaching allowed. There are dozens of separate skills needed to play it well, and virtually NO REWARD for being Absolutely phenomenal at it. In order to earn a living, you must be a monks the top few dozen players in the world. Even then, the vast majority he earned nothing like players on such team sports are soccer, American football, basketball, baseball, at Cetera.


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[topspn]

In terms of fitness level, pretty difficult to match a pro tennis player or soccer player. Especially given the great amount of flexibility and variety of movement.

 

[mad dog1]

So @BounceHitBounceHit, tell us what you think again one more time?

 

[RaiderRed]

Yes the ability to master tennis is one of the hardest sports to achieve because of all of the changing of grips for the perfect shot, and the margins for error being so small at the top of the game. One point in crunch time can swing the entire match. I grew up playing soccer, football, basketball, tennis, golf, and baseball both fall and spring for top select teams. I give great respect to all athletes at the top of their respective sports. With that being said I like my chances more to return a 130 mph serve and get myself into a point and possibly string some points together on my own serve to win at least a game off of some of the best tennis players in the world more than I would like my chances to hit a Clayton Kershaw curveball or an Aroldis Chapman 100 mph fastball (even if I knew it was coming) or win a single hole in a skins type competition against some of the best men's golfers in the world like Jordan Spieth, Jayson Day, Rory, or Dustin Johnson.

Just my 2¢

 

[ollinger]

Tennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes

ennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes

Tennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes

Tennnis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes

......and evidently some of the most demented

 

[sureshs]

I think tennis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes

 

[sureshs]

Something tells me that tennis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes

 

[sureshs]

I may be going out on a limb here, but tennis players have repeatedly been demonstrated objectively to be among the most fit of all athletes

 

[CopolyX]

I think the toughest part is that only top 100 players are actually making any real money.

well..
even thou this a back few years..
Also I believe anyone touched on the mental side, which is huge..and so over looked.
Who here practices that...Another tie in is strategy...so much more...but these are few not mentioned here...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/miguel...e-demanding-world-of-pro-tennis/#27419b894754

 

[RyanRF]

Tennis is one of the most difficult sports at the pro level for a combination of reasons:

• Physical fitness (both strength and endurance) required is very high.
• Coordination required is very high.
• Mental toughness. No on-court coach or teammates to rely on.
• Financial difficulties at the lower levels. No salary guaranteed. If you get injured or go on a losing streak you don't get paid. Also you pay for your own travel and coaching.

I always thought this list was pretty good:
http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

So @BounceHitBounceHit, tell us what you think again one more time?

Eh, no worries @BounceHitBounceHit; this forum gremlin where it looks like the post hasn't gone through shows up every few months.

 

[mad dog1]

Eh, no worries @BounceHitBounceHit; this forum gremlin where it looks like the post hasn't gone through shows up every few months.

Last time this happened, we got a new board.

 

[Deleted member 120290]

The only proof you need that tennis is the toughest sport - Any sport in which Sureshs has failed to crack the world Top 100 has got to be the most difficult sport.

 

[Tennitus]

Can't quite agree with this unless you're really really specific about what aspects of fitness/difficulty you're measuring. As for difficulty at the highest level, most sports could make a similar claim. Take boxing for example. Ever gone 12 rounds? With someone literally punishing you for the slightest mistake? Cricket, where you have less than half a second to react to a 5oz hard ball that is aimed at your body. And you only get one chance to not feck it up. How about table tennis? Tiny little ball, small-ass table to aim at. Spinning, skidding etc etc

Pretty much a pointless debate since most sports have a symmetrical set up. Granted, tennis is played by a lot of people. But soccer is played by many more. Ever tried to keep up with a semi-pro in soccer? You're watching your opponent, you're watching the ball, you're running backwards, you're having understand where the remaining 21 players are on the field.

This debate pops up on every sports forum (boxers thinking boxing is the hardest etc etc). Different skills needed, different types of fitness needed, so lets just agree that it is one of the many hard sports (technical difficulty, anaerobic, aerobic, strength, co-ordination etc) and go back to talking about something more fruitful like Ivenisevic's serve.

 

[Tennitus]

Can't quite agree with this unless you're really really specific about what aspects of fitness/difficulty you're measuring. As for difficulty at the highest level, most sports could make a similar claim. Take boxing for example. Ever gone 12 rounds? With someone literally punishing you for the slightest mistake? Cricket, where you have less than half a second to react to a 5oz hard ball that is aimed at your body. And you only get one chance to not feck it up. How about table tennis? Tiny little ball, small-ass table to aim at. Spinning, skidding etc etc

Pretty much a pointless debate since most sports have a symmetrical set up. Granted, tennis is played by a lot of people. But soccer is played by many more. Ever tried to keep up with a semi-pro in soccer? You're watching your opponent, you're watching the ball, you're running backwards, you're having understand where the remaining 21 players are on the field.

This debate pops up on every sports forum (boxers thinking boxing is the hardest etc etc). Different skills needed, different types of fitness needed, so lets just agree that it is one of the many hard sports (technical difficulty, anaerobic, aerobic, strength, co-ordination etc) and go back to talking about something more fruitful like Ivenisevic's serve.

 

[norcal]

On the other hand, tennis players for the most part avoid playing anyone from a poor background from which most great athletes come. In that sense it's easy.

 

[bitcoinoperated]

There are too many facets to "difficult" to answer this. Most difficult to be go pro is very related to how much money is in the sport and participation level rather than how hard to sport is to do (which gymnastics probably wins)

 

[bitcoinoperated]

There are too many facets to "difficult" to answer this. Most difficult to be go pro is very related to how much money is in the sport and participation level rather than how hard to sport is to do (which gymnastics probably wins)

 

[shazbot]

Tennis is one of the most difficult sports at the pro level for a combination of reasons:

• Physical fitness (both strength and endurance) required is very high.
• Coordination required is very high.
• Mental toughness. No on-court coach or teammates to rely on.
• Financial difficulties at the lower levels. No salary guaranteed. If you get injured or go on a losing streak you don't get paid. Also you pay for your own travel and coaching.

I always thought this list was pretty good:
http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

Yea, overall a pretty good list.

Not quite sure how tennis gets a 3 for Nerve when it's a solo sport. Yet team sports like American Football (where the WHOLE team shares being nervous/choking) scores higher.

 

[SinjinCooper]

I sincerely believe that if you stuck the entire ATP in a time machine, and trained them from birth in any major team sport, and you took the players from that sport and trained them in tennis, tennis would get far better, and the team sport would get far worse.

 

[SinjinCooper]

On the other hand, we kick bowling's ass.

 

[ChaelAZ]

There is golf, so we certainly are not the lowest.

 

[SinjinCooper]

Not quite sure how tennis gets a 3 for Nerve when it's a solo sport. Yet team sports like American Football (where the WHOLE team shares being nervous/choking) scores higher.

Accountability.

You pull a a Tomic in tennis -- just give up and go home -- and nobody cares except a bunch of message board honks.

Do it as an NFL placekicker and they'll find you in a dumpster with your limbs pulled off.

 

[Raul_SJ]

In terms of fitness level, pretty difficult to match a pro tennis player or soccer player. Especially given the great amount of flexibility and variety of movement.

In terms of cardiovascular fitness, strength and flexibility the average NBA player matches up well with the average ATP player. Would not be surprised if they were far superior in that regard...

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

In terms of cardiovascular fitness, strength and flexibility the average NBA player matches up well with the average ATP player. Would not be surprised if they were far superior in that regard...

I've always found full-court BB to be way more taxing cardio-wise than tennis.

 

[Bobby Jr]

I sincerely believe that if you stuck the entire ATP in a time machine, and trained them from birth in any major team sport, and you took the players from that sport and trained them in tennis, tennis would get far better, and the team sport would get far worse.

You are deluded af.

I would take any bet that could you time machine the top 20 most highly regarded NBA players back to their youth and put them into tennis instead one, maybe two, of them would achieve anything in tennis. Tennis, like all sports, self-selects based on a variety of factors - some of which are quite specific in terms of mental aptitude for a sport (focus, discipline, quick thinking, problem solving, tactics etc) which would deny most (even legendary) team sports players any chance of truly excelling. There are things you just cannot learn well enough if you're not cut out for a sport even if you might have great physical potential. Basketball is a skilled sport but is also extremely low in technical aptitude required by comparison to tennis. You can coach people all you like but many people simply never grasp things while they might be naturals at other stuff.

People vastly overstate the transferability (is that even a word? lol) of potential from one sport to another. Being tall and muscular aren't skills, they're mostly just luck-of-the-draw things which happen to correspond very well to the nature of basketball (the court size, hoop height, ball type/size, format etc). History has shown that tennis players who are even half way to being basketball player-like in height/build achieve little. The demands of tennis are just too different and carrying all that extra upper body muscle is mostly a liability, not a benefit, in tennis.

As an example I have personally seen. Across about an 8 year period one of rugby's most legendary former players get tennis coaching near me. He is dedicated, disciplined and not even that old but his tennis has probably only improved from 3.0 level to 4.0 level in all that time - still a total hack. In rugby he was considered one of the most all-round talented players ever but if you didn't know who he was and just saw him play tennis you'd think he was almost a beginner - despite having played tennis regularly since he was a teen. He even plays golf off a 6 or 7 handicap apparently so is no slouch in other sports. Thins just don't click when it comes to tennis.

 

[MotoboXer]

Because they have to travel more than any other athlete, and travel SUCKS.

 

[mcs1970]

You are deluded af.

I would take any bet that could you time machine the top 20 most highly regarded NBA players back to their youth and put them into tennis instead one, maybe two, of them would achieve anything in tennis. Tennis, like all sports, self-selects based on a variety of factors - some of which are quite specific in terms of mental aptitude for a sport (focus, discipline, quick thinking, problem solving, tactics etc) which would deny most (even legendary) team sports players any chance of truly excelling. There are things you just cannot learn well enough if you're not cut out for a sport even if you might have great physical potential. Basketball is a skilled sport but is also extremely low in technical aptitude required by comparison to tennis. You can coach people all you like but many people simply never grasp things while they might be naturals at other stuff.

People vastly overstate the transferability (is that even a word? lol) of potential from one sport to another. Being tall and muscular aren't skills, they're mostly just luck-of-the-draw things which happen to correspond very well to the nature of basketball (the court size, hoop height, ball type/size, format etc).

I have personally seen, across about an 8 year period, one of rugby's most legendary former players get tennis coaching. He is dedicated, disciplined and not even that old but his tennis has probably only improved from 3.0 level to 4.0 level in that time. In rugby he was considered one of the most all-round talented players ever but if you didn't know who he was and just saw him play tennis you'd think he was almost a beginner - despite having played tennis since he was a teen. He even plays golf off a 6 or 7 handicap apparently so is no slouch in other sports.

There's nothing incredibly special or more difficult about Tennis as compared to other sports. I'm not saying Tennis is easy. Each sport has its own unique challenges. In Basketball you have to create space in a split second and shoot while another tall athletic freak is trying his best to stop you. Try scoring when multiple folks are hand checking you and tell me again how you can get away with low technical aptitude. If Serena and Venus had played basketball you'd have said the same thing regarding how neither of them would have cut it out in Tennis. I'm not saying anyone can become a champion, but if you look at the top 20 guys, what separates them from the pack is consistency, work ethic, athleticism and mental toughness. Quite a few of them would have done very well in Tennis if that's where their focus was from the start. We look at Monfils and marvel at his physical abilities. There are many more athletic and taller players than him in the top 20 in basketball with mental toughness to boot, which Monfils never had. So if he could go this far, how far could some of those other players have gone?

 

[topspn]

In terms of cardiovascular fitness, strength and flexibility the average NBA player matches up well with the average ATP player. Would not be surprised if they were far superior in that regard...

An NBA player, unless they were some little guard would die on a tennis court or a soccer pitch putting in the same amount of work. I will happily agree on the strength part.

 

[NuBas]

You are deluded af.

I would take any bet that could you time machine the top 20 most highly regarded NBA players back to their youth and put them into tennis instead one, maybe two, of them would achieve anything in tennis. Tennis, like all sports, self-selects based on a variety of factors - some of which are quite specific in terms of mental aptitude for a sport (focus, discipline, quick thinking, problem solving, tactics etc) which would deny most (even legendary) team sports players any chance of truly excelling. There are things you just cannot learn well enough if you're not cut out for a sport even if you might have great physical potential. Basketball is a skilled sport but is also extremely low in technical aptitude required by comparison to tennis. You can coach people all you like but many people simply never grasp things while they might be naturals at other stuff.

Great post. I do not agree with either and no way any other athlete would produce the same majestic tennis as Federer.

 

[NuBas]

- Extreme conditions
- Impact of hard courts on body
- Crowd sway, loneliness
- Travel and grinding schedule
- Rapid decision making under pressure
- Immense concentration
- Mental dedication
- Blends strength with finesse
- Mastering a racquet
- Hours long matches
- Week after week tournaments
- Your will against the opponents, every single point
- Different surfaces played
- Must keep emotions in check, could lose point
- Using one arm for strokes
- Short off-season
- Balls can vary
- Lose a match and done from tournament
- Serving without seeing service box
- Unpredictability of shots
- Perfecting multitude of strokes thousands of times at high speeds
- Takes lifetime dedication
- Seeing Ana Ivanovic with another man

http://www.businessinsider.com/olympic-decathlete-ashton-eaton-most-athletic-sport-2016-5
http://www.**************.org/tenni...rdest-sport-you-sacrifice-almost-everything-/

 

[sureshs]

Tennis is the easiest sport for unathletic people

 

[Knox]

People who say things like 'tennis is the hardest sport' tend to forget fighting is a sport.

Lose in tennis?

To the hotel.

Lost a fight?

To the hospital.

 

[Bobby Jr]

People who say things like 'tennis is the hardest sport' tend to forget fighting is a sport.

Lose in tennis?

To the hotel.

Lost a fight?

To the hospital.

That doesn't make it difficult. I can use the logic your using to show that stupid people make the best sportspeople. The evidence? Because of the number of illiterate people with very low IQs who excel at fighting sports - the likes of which you never see in tennis, or golf, or Formula 1, or in key positions in rugby/American football, or the majority of other sports.

The chance of being hurt doesn't make a sport harder to be good at, it just raises the stakes for being outperformed more than most. When you're not a person who fights you can't properly comprehend that those top fighters are no more afraid of competing than tennis players or golfers are of losing. They see the threat of being smacked around differently to the rest of us in the same way Formula 1 drivers don't consider what they do to be overly risky while the rest of us see the danger and think it must take nerves of steel to drive a car that fast. It doesn't, it just takes years of experience to acclimatise to drive cars at a level beyond what is comfortable to the vast majority of people.

The difficulty of sports is mostly in the skills required, not the risk of ending up with a black eye or how tall you are.

 

[Tennitus]

That doesn't make it difficult. I can use the logic your using to show that stupid people make the best sportspeople. The evidence? Because of the number of illiterate people with very low IQs who excel at fighting sports - the likes of which you never see in tennis, or golf, or Formula 1, or in key positions in rugby/American football, or the majority of other sports.

The chance of being hurt doesn't make a sport harder to be good at, it just raises the stakes for being outperformed more than most. When you're not a person who fights you can't properly comprehend that those top fighters are no more afraid of competing than tennis players or golfers are of losing. They see the threat of being smacked around differently to the rest of us in the same way Formula 1 drivers don't consider what they do to be overly risky while the rest of us see the danger and think it must take nerves of steel to drive a car that fast. It doesn't, it just takes years of experience to acclimatise to drive cars at a level beyond what is comfortable to the vast majority of people.

The difficulty of sports is mostly in the skills required, not the risk of ending up with a black eye or how tall you are.

I think it is a pretty pointless debate overall. Sure, let's compare what assets are needed to excel in different sports. But the original question was about difficulty, which is basically impossible to answer.

Boxing at the highest level is incredibly technical. You're right that getting hit doesn't necessarily make it harder. It just adds a different dimension of difficulty.

I'd argue that batting against Shane Warne is more difficult than receiving a serve from Federer, but again, a pointless comparison. They're both stupidly hard things to do. And that's as far as we can say.

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[Raul_SJ]

I've always found full-court BB to be way more taxing cardio-wise than tennis.

Kyrgios excelled equally in basketball and tennis until age 14. Could have gone either way. He would know best but I have never heard him comment about which of the two is more difficult.

 

[nvr2old]

I think it is a pretty pointless debate overall. Sure, let's compare what assets are needed to excel in different sports. But the original question was about difficulty, which is basically impossible to answer.

Boxing at the highest level is incredibly technical. You're right that getting hit doesn't necessarily make it harder. It just adds a different dimension of difficulty.

I'd argue that batting against Shane Warne is more difficult than receiving a serve from Federer, but again, a pointless comparison. They're both stupidly hard things to do. And that's as far as we can say.

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Bingo!! Every sport at the pro level is difficult. Which is the most is entirely subjective. I personally think tennis is easier than other sports I try to do (golf for example) probably because I learned tennis at 8 yo along with baseball, both of which seem fairly "easy". While I'm no pro at either, I did have pro baseball tryout and find either simple in execution limited only by my age and declining abilities. Golf on the other hand, which I picked up in my early 20's, continues to befuddle me some. I can play and have a great time but not with the ease of either tennis or baseball. To be honest there are precious few professional athletes in ANY sport overall. They all have honed there abilities to their specific sport to the "nth" degree and to try to stratify which is most difficult is pure folly IMO.

 

[Username_]

- Blends strength with finesse

There's no such thing as finesse with the upcoming gen. Just ball bashing.