It is undoubtedly one of the hardest sports to play and even learn. It has been said time and again that there are many skills you need in order for the game of tennis to be played. Ballet dancers train for hours upon hours for weeks on end, and each session is comparable to that of Olympic competitors. This amount of decision-making and shot selection, added to the ridiculously short reaction time to decide upon the shot, requires high levels of mental stamina and concentration. However, the rewards of playing tennis go beyond the physical and mental challenges. Same goes for the total number of points. Apart from when playing doubles, you are alone in tennis. Top 20 Hardest Sports In The World Ranked By Difficulty By Sam Dexter / April 16, 2022 / Sports Perhaps, the glory of overcoming difficulties prompted the creation of some of the hardest sports in the world. How Much Do Tennis Hitting Partners Make? One of the most challenging aspects about tennis has to be deciding how you should respond during a match. Your positioning and footwork on the court. I've been sports-mad since a very young age, and I channel everything I learn about my favorite games into this website. Text. What Baseball Teams Have Never Won a World Series? They need split-second reactions as they make hundreds of decisions every match. The hardest part of tennis isnt the physical strength and speed or mental ability to keep a cool head or reading your opponent. Hand eye coordination is something everyone needs in order to function, and professional tennis players have that skill mastered. 90 minutes of tennis places physical demands on the body, let alone five hours. Nonetheless, tennis does require mental skills as well, but the physical ones are more in demand. If you havent ever played tennis, your current level, and required training really depend on what you have been doing before. Therefore, tennis players should take steps to prevent injuries, such as wearing appropriate footwear, warming up adequately, and modifying their playing techniques. Tennis is not solely a game of speed and power, but also one where you need to be able to stay focused on every point. Rugby is one of the hardest sports that is played currently. It may be a surprise at first, but as each skill set is considered, the conclusion makes sense. Email it to Life's Little Mysteries and we'll try to answer it. In comparison to other sports, such as basketball or soccer, tennis players must perform multiple sprints and direction changes within a short period, leading to a higher workload on their joints, such as the knees and hips. It might be overwhelming to learn tennis at first, but with a good coach and enough time you will be hitting the ball like pros in no time. Although it might seem tempting, do not get too creative and try to stick with one pattern of playing. However, tennis really doesnt require THAT much nerve, and strength isnt super hard to master either. Unique to tennis is the different court surfaces players may experience. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. No clock or time limit. For example, while a sport like weight-lifting requires enormous strength and power , it requires little else, giving it a low overall score. In addition, tennis also requires an incredible amount of dedication, discipline, and hard work to excel. If you want to play tennis to a high level, you need to be physically fit. Additionally, tennis players must have a good balance of endurance, strength, agility, and flexibility to be successful. Tennis is also a tough sport to make a living in unless you are in the very top echelons of the game. It goes without saying that professional athletes who know their limits shouldnt be afraid if they ask themselves these questions- but should we go any further than this navel gazing or put aside thoughts on what constitutes an acceptable level of load at all levels from academy teams up through elite competition (whatever you might call them)? [Learning] What Is The Career Golden Slam In Tennis? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); There are so many difficult and different activities on this list that its literally impossible to compared them in any area for difficulty levels. Most points won or lost in a match are from errors, not winners. The best of five set games can last a little short of three hours on average. Lets take a look at how hard it is really to learn tennis. Youll find that there are three fundamental strokes involved: backhand, forehand and serve. Players cant rely on teammates to alleviate the pressure during crucial moments. However, nutrition throughout the day is just as vital in preparing for practice and matches. Compared to other sports, tennis is one of the hardest sports to learn. It takes an admirable level of determination and sacrifice to pursue a tennis career at that level of the tour circuit, and why there have been calls for a better distribution of prize money. In fact, its arguably the worlds 8th most difficult sport and the worlds second difficult when it comes to hand-eye coordination. Overall fitness is required if you want to endure and get through a full tennis match that often lasts at least 90 minutes if its a best of 3 and only longer if its a best of 5. Tennis is definitely difficult at an advanced level. We identified 10 categories, or skills, that go into athleticism, and then asked our eight panelists to assign a number from 1 to 10 to the demands each sport makes of each of those 10 skills. This is something we hear from professional tennis players themselves emphasizing how difficult this game really is. The survey creators, in order to avoid. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. You will usually have less than a second to react to your opponents shot, make your own shot choice and position the body to play that shot. When it comes to speed, agility and power, Badminton is harder to play than any other sport. Tennis requires speed, agility, strength, power, flexibility, and balance so that it will drain a lot of energy and effort physically. Players need to master the technique for all strokes as a weakness on just one will be punished heavily as you play better players. I will use a few facts and statistics to help illustrate the points. The playing conditions It can be windy, sunny, rainy, it all can influence your ability on the day you play your match. Novak Dkojovic would meet his Novak Djokovic. So, the most interesting debate at the bar may be between the tennis fan and the boxing fan. Finally, the toughest sport to participate in is boxing . Tennis is undoubtedly one of the most challenging sports in the world. Tennis fitness requirements are unique and different from those of other sports, making it one of the toughest sports globally, both mentally and physically. Players need to master a variety of courts in order to be the best player they can. [Interesting] What Is A Normal Weight For A Tennis Player? We have all seen the occasional tantrums, often unseen in other sports to the extent it is seen in tennis. 2023 TopspinPro Ltd | Company Reg 09206858 | VAT 198786914. The more time put into the sport means that progress comes faster with each training session. I'm Martin, the Founder of Sports Centaur. Learning to manage your emotions rather than having them control you will allow you to reserve your energy for other areas of the game. When two players are equally matched, they play until theres an outcome: the first may play aggressive enough to win enough sets or their opponent can be tied in each set but make one unforced error when theres a set point. Still, when we examine them in general and use the 10 skills mentioned above as factors, we can get really close to determining the difficulties of the sport. 4 Responses. Players must be able to think strategically, stay focused, and be highly adaptable. From the quick footwork to the powerful swings, tennis players must give their best to overcome their opponents. Mlb Teams Who Have Never Won a World Series? Enough already, what is the No. How Many Players are There in a Soccer Team? But before that, is tennis hard compared to other sports? Answer (1 of 3): I believe Tennis is the hardest sport. Home Health The 3 hardest Olympics sports, according to sports medicine experts Anna Medaris Matthias Hangst/Getty Insider asked six sports medicine professionals to name the hardest summer Olympic sports. Tennis calls for a strong mindset and positive attitude in the face of constant adversity. In most sports you have one surface you always play on, possibly two with synthetic pitches. Many originally viewed sports from the perspective of recreation, fitness, entertainment, and other benefits. Well, the answer to that question depends on your perspective. of Peak Performance? Players must have excellent physical stamina in order to hit the ball over and over again without feeling tired, as well as mental fortitude. Tennis is a hard sport to learn and a hard sport within which to compete. You can see why when you watch it live. Your email address will not be published. 3 spots, respectively. Additionally, tennis is a sport that is full of surprises, and players need to be able to adjust to their opponents changing tactics and react quickly to unforeseen circumstances. Tennis players need the endurance to compete through five-hour matches while covering 5km in sprints around the court. Sure, its glamorous at the top. Top-level professional tennis players spend hours every day honing their physical and mental skills, both on and off the court. Tennis Windscreens and Court Privacy Screens. There are no other teammates or coaches to help guide you through. Precision Timing To have success in tennis, precision timing is needed in all aspects of the game. You have to make approximately 200 300 decisions per set, and every one has to be made within a half second! Clive Brunskill/Getty Images. If you havent ever played before or arent in good shape currently then the learning curve will correspond. Age, weight, heart function, and muscle mass are some of the factors which influence your VO2 max. Its combination of skill, agility, endurance, and strategy makes it a grueling and demanding sport. It sounds like a brutal sport, with good players often not letting others touch the ball. 8 most difficult sports, respectively. The type of court surface can influence the way a match feels, creating different speeds of play, different levels of bounce, and affecting how players move across the surface (source). 1st known 'Trojan' planets discovered locked in the exact same orbit around a star. Accurately hitting a moving ball with your racquet while aiming at an even smaller target than usual might seem like too much, but it can actually become second nature with enough practice and effort put into mastering these necessary skills. It's no wonder that many people consider it to be the hardest sport in the world. This makes quick thinking an essential part of being successful at tennis. How Many Balls Do You Need to Play Quidditch? For example football is played on just one type or court grass while basketball has many options including hardwood and concrete which are virtually identical with only small differences such as rebounding ability when compared side by side. Explained (Advantage, Types), All Rights Reserved 2022 My Tennis Outfitter. Of those, only 480,000 go on to play a sport at an NCAA school. Amid the mental stress, professional tennis players have to play with precision and coordination, using a bevy of different swinging and serving techniques to topple opponents. Tennis is often considered one of the most physically and mentally challenging sports in the world. Djokovic would relinquish the throne, as kings eventually do. So to advance to college and pro level takes years and 10s of 1000s of hours of dedication. Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter. Just to mentoin a few things. Austin Crumble Ballet is seen by most people to be easier than football, however this is not the case. Is tennis the hardest sport in the world? As tennis fans, we know that tennis is the most challenging sport. Repetitive motions, such as serving, can result in overuse injuries that may develop into chronic pain or tendinopathy. 33 Tennis Advantages and Disadvantages. This reaction time can come down to under half a second when facing a big serve. [The Basics] What Do Tennis Court Lines Mean? Tennis not only requires self-awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, but you also have to be able to analyze your opponent and pick out some areas to attack. There are other skills that require the skills listed above, such as delivering an accurate and powerful shot. Players must master different shots and learn the mental side of the game, which is considered the hardest part. Tennis is just too intense! Post-match recovery will involve lean protein, as well as complex carbohydrates and vegetables. I believe if you can understand why tennis is hard to pick up, you'll gain a greater appreciation for the sport. The regulations are very strict in this regard, but you can find that most sports usually allow for some type of support from coaches who have the opportunity to provide advice at halftime breaks as well as throughout the game itself where they might come over and offer tips while on break time with players. It has been said time and again that there are many skills you need in order for the game of tennis to be played. A leisurely beginner doubles game doesnt need the same fitness level as an epic 5-hour singles match in the scorching heat! What wasnt really a surprise to me personally but still quite fascinating to see in a test was that tennis is the second hardest sport when it comes to hand-eye coordination. Ons Jabeur becomes the latest player to be overcome after defeat in a Wimbledon final as she labels Saturday's loss the "most painful" of her career. However, tennis is the second hardest sport in hand-eye coordination right after table tennis. This guide is to prepare players for the dedication they need to become a pro. We wanted to take into account some other factors that we thought were relevant to tennis and when discussing a sport's difficulty. Tennis is a very fast-moving sport, which is something well dive deeper into when discussing coordination. Players must get used to the different speeds and bounces and factor in the changing environment and climate accompanying those court changes. Now, lets take a closer look at how difficult sports tennis actually is when taking all the skills into consideration. What might be a bit comforting to read is his next statement: No one is born with those abilities, those abilities come with time, that does give hope to those who want to master this sport. This section of the article will discuss injury rates in tennis, the common injuries experienced, the potential long-term physical consequences, and a comparison of injury rates among other sports. is a game requiring precision and accuracy. To prepare your body to quickly reach the ball and send it to the other side of the court, personal fitness is crucial. The survey creators, in order to avoid endless, vague arguments about the toughest sport to play, identified 10 skills to measure. According to a recent survey conducted by ESPN, tennis ranks as number 7 on the list of toughest sports globally, with gymnastics following at number 8. Whether you come from the football pitch or the basketball field, tennis has quite a few differences that make it harder than the rest of the sports, here we count 14 of them. I read somewhere that researchers says that 'tennis is the hardest sport ' to get good at. 7 per 1000 player-hours. They are not allowed to receive outside help. Check out this list of 15 sports that require plenty of strength, flexibility, speed, power, & agility. Youre constantly fighting against mental challenges but as long as you focus on what went wrong in your last game or match instead of moving forward to improve for next time then these moments will lead to periods where you doubt yourself-which isnt good when playing competitively. Start watching a lot of tennis matches and see how the pros play. Sometimes you need something more than just winning statistically, like rising to big moments or taking chances not always going by what seems logical and probable. Technical tennis skills include serving, striking the ball, accuracy, errors, timing everything right, and things like that. It's a bullshit metric. Tennis is an exhausting sport for professionals, with many complaining about the calendar. The sport with the highest average was named the toughest sport to play by the experts. There are over 8000 sports games in the world, so its a wide world out there. Adapting to different court surfaces is a challenge in itself without throwing in other natural factors such as temperature, humidity, and wind. But, being able to serve and then rally the ball into the court with placement and spin is a different matter. These factors, combined with the high-intensity nature of the game, make tennis one of the toughest sports globally, both mentally and physically. You need to analyze whats happening on the court and quickly come up with answers as well as execute them before time runs out. As you would expect with any professional sport, you must put the hours in and sacrifice pretty much everything else to reach the top. Did you sleep well? That said, the fitness requirements alone arent what make tennis the hardest sport to learn because others, like football, soccer, and hockey, certainly call for strength and endurance as well. Top 12 Hardest Sports in the World. The difference between football is that it requires more than just moving up the field; instead, a good player will need be able to move side-to-side as well. Strokes are a vital part to master in tennis as well, and thats a difficult task to do. Having the perseverance to keep going and improving through this is often why most tennis players give up at the beginner level. Posted on Last updated: September 10, 2021. And most of the time, you have to do this alone or with your doubles partner. Tennis Athleticism: High Tennis players are very quic. Tennis is certainly one of, if not the hardest of sports. Every sport has its own challenges before you can be considered an accomplished player, but the range of skills needed to play tennis can set it apart. With the help of a home court, tennis players can hone their skills in their very own backyard. Its combination of skill, agility, endurance, and strategy makes it a grueling and demanding sport. If youre willing to put in the work to become an exceptional player, consider investing in a home tennis court to provide you with the perfect practice space. Great players can overcome this mental battle on the court, but it requires a lot of practice, passion, and effort. That is . Playing tennis requires not only strength, speed, and stamina but also precision, focus, and . Overall, tennis is a fantastic sport that requires unparalleled discipline and skill, making it a truly challenging and rewarding experience for players of all levels. There are countless moments when weve been playing poorly because we hit too early or too late. Soccer At ninth spot in the list of hardest sports to play will definitely be soccer. For example, serving, striking, hand-eye coordination, and endurance take time to master. There's also the repetitive nature of tennis that contributes to certain types of overuse injuries - back, hips, shoulders, etc. Many juniors over train for tennis from a very young age. Apr 30, 2022 Admin Table Tennis Room Lights English Squash is the toughest racket sport in the world and one of the healthiest as well. Who wouldnt want to be traveling the world to sunny and beautiful locations to play tennis full-time? At No. A comparison of heart rate responses in racquet games.The present study investigated the heart rate response to playing tennis with special reference to the . On average a tennis player can expect to burn between 440 to 560 calories an hour playing tennis. Copyright 2023 Sports Centaur | Trellis Framework by Mediavine, Tennis is a hard sport to learn and a hard sport within which to compete, carpet (although this is a surface hardly ever used in pro tournaments). By Jason Gay. Many other individual sports and team sports also demand significant levels of mental resilience and composure. You need speed and agility for the skill of footwork, strength, power for serves and strokes, flexibility for receiving your opponents strokes and hitting them back, and good balance to play tennis, keep things together and enchance other skills. has trouble with slices? Whichever comes first to claim the most important points, wins. document.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_6" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Is tennis the hardest sport? Tennis fitness requirements differ vastly depending on your style and whether you play singles or doubles. I've always known this to be true,because there are so many variable that must be achieved to excel in tennis.. one must have good solid techniques,physical,mental,and emotional disciplines to really. Tennis and gymnastics were both ranked as the 7 and 8 most difficult . These 500 shots will consist of a variety of different strokes, with forehands, backhands, serves, volleys, and lobs just some of the basic ones. Got a question? Even at 30 years old your mind is still flexible so learning anything should not prove too hard for you. With the sport being so demanding, professionals only get to rest in December and all of their energy goes into preparing for January until early February when they can finally take a break before starting again at the Australian Open.