Is Tennis the Most All-Around Demanding Sport?

Question

140 mph serves. Hours on court in 100 F heat for days straight. Skills that you need to start developing with a coach at age 5. Speed, endurance, skill enough to return a 140+ mph projectile within a few inches of the lines.......not even knowing which side of your body you will have to take your swing from when it comes in.

I've never seen a fat slob tennis player like I have with baseball ( David Ortiz), or like in American football (take your pick of any lineman)

And they are on call for every play!. No coaching, no down time. No jogging around when not involved in the play.

No other sport demands as much endurance, athleticism, reflexes, movement, and skill.

The average daily tennis tournament practice and match schedule would send most pro athletes to the hospital. Let alone being good enough to keep it up daily for two weeks and win a major title.

And facing the top competition in the "World". And not just Americans

5 hour matches sometimes. Who else could handle that?

Follow-up.... I'm not considering all of the barbarian things like boxing, kick boxing, and ultimate fighting. You only need to be an animal cro-mag to excel in those areas.

Follow-up follow up. Also not considering motor sports where some machine does all the work, and a good mechanic and machine is more important than a fit and talented athlete.

Another follow up. Triatlons, marathons are 95% endurance....5% skill and athleticism. They don't count. A mouse on a treadmill can do that too.

Ozer -

I was a varsity laxer in high school. Made the starting V-squads in basketball, soccer, swimming, baseball, and football too by the time I was a soph.

Answer 1

I agree, though I played competitively throughout highschool, so my answer may be a wee biased, lol. But in all seriousness, tennis is a most demanding sport. Your physical conditioning must be excellent, stamina must be that of a race horse, hand/eye coordination and reflexes must be fast on a split second level. Distractions such as people moving about behind your opponent, errant sounds, winds etc, can mess up your entire game. And it takes a moment, just one moment to lose it all.

But, the trickier part is the mind game. I honestly believe the mental game involved in tennis is much harder to master than stamina and conditioning. Though of course, raw talent plays a big factor as well. For instance, Roger Federer is perhaps the most talented and gifted player to have graced the sport in quite some time. But the mental part of his game is nearly flawless. He hardly ever panics, nor does he have meltdowns on court when things just aren't going his way (ahem, Andy Roddick I'm looking at you).

I remember all too well, sitting with a comfortable 6-0, 5-0 lead and saying to myself, "I'm gonna win!" and promptly going on to lose every single game and the eventual match. You have to play out each point, without looking ahead to the possibility of going up a few games or sets.

I have so much respect for tennis players. Aside from doubles tennis, it's a match between two people going toe to toe. Unlike golf, they don't have the luxury of having a caddy help them with their putting strategy. Tennis players go it alone, without so much as an 'eye signal' from their coaches, who are sitting in the stands. Above all, tennis players endure harsh temperatures (c'man...they play the Australian Open in 130+ temps...enough to kill people who are simply lying around)...I couldn't imagine having to actually hit/chase a ball around under such conditions!

Answer 2

This is a joke question, right? There is absolutely no comparison between the physical demands of tennis and golf. Golfers get to walk slowly around the course, taking a break here and there whenever they choose and once they get to the hole, they have more than enough time to recover from the "strain" of a light strole. In tennis, players are pretty much running non-stop for the whole match. So, to even try to compare the two sports is ridiculous. Just looking at the bodies of the pros tells you something. Woods is fit, but his competition? Roger Federer is NEVER going to troubled by anyone built like Phil Mickelson, let alone John Daly. Nuff said?

Answer 3

Have u ever tried to play women's lacrosse?

I agree that in tennis, u quick reactions, but being a midfielder in lacrosse is even more difficlut.

We dont have timouts and the field is like 50 times bigger than the side of the tennis court u need to play on.

Im not saying tennis isn't tiring, i play it too, but theirs so much endurance, agility, hand-eye coordination, quick reflexes, perscision, quick thinking and teamwork required in women's lacrosse.

tennis requires a lot of that too, but there is no teamwork at all. Unless ur playing double which hardly counts.
U have to be constantly communicating on offense and D at lacrosse. Double teams, picks, and watching for open cuts is something very different than tennis.

Honestly, i think both sports are very difficlut, but u only face 140 mph serves in the pros. In lacrosse u deal with all those things in high school, even on JV.

And lacrosse tournaments last more than 5 hours.

Also are u forgetting how football players train all day? I think that would be more difficlut than a 5 hour tennis game.

Answer 4

I would say either Kick Boxing or Boxing would be the most demanding. With concentration, the amount of practice from punching and getting punched, dancing around your opponent, running, trying to keep your stamina up for twelve rounds.

Plus your getting the crap beatin out of you at the same time.

even though tennis may have five hour matches, you probably still put out more energy in four rounds in boxing than you would an entire tennis game.

Answer 5

In my opinion motorcycle racing requires more skill, endurance, and muscle than tennis players. I can't even imagine what the motocross guys put themselves through.

Ride a motorcycle, feel your abs, gluts, and thighs the next day and think about it.

Answer 6

have you ever heard of the ironman triathlon??????
here are the distances ( in a ONE day race)

-3 km swim ... in the sea
-180 km in the road bike under the 110 degree temperatures of the volcanic area of australia
-45 km run