Sports have been a common debate topic with many variations with some being on which is the best or which is the most fun. Another interesting topic that can be thrown around is: What sport is the hardest out of them all? Some people may use the argument of physical endurance being the end all factor for what makes a sport difficult, while others point out the mental toughness and endurance is what makes a sport stand out from the others. The wild card that people love to use to argue a sport’s extremeness is how much strategy is needed for the sport itself. All of these points together will be discussed and analyzed to see if there is truly a “most difficult sport”, or if the difficulty of a sport is more perspective based.

First, the majority of people love to use the physicality of the sport argument on the topic of difficulty. The biggest argument for people that play contact sports versus those that play non-contact sports is that there aren’t any big hits or damage you can get from playing a game of tennis or track. While injuries can obviously still happen in these sports, the chances of a serious injury, like a concussion or a serious muscle tear or broken bone, are increased when contact is involved. The sports that are the highest in rate of serious injuries are football, basketball, wrestling, and soccer. All of these sports require a certain amount of physical training and endurance to withstand the constant contact and force put on by other players to avoid any extreme injuries. 

Freshmen and Pahrump Valley High School football player, Kayden Derouin strongly insists that the summer conditioning helps out greatly to prepare the body for the football season. “I thought summer conditioning was annoying, until we went into season. Then I realized how much it’s needed, so I’m not destroying my body going straight into pads,” Derouin states. From a physical standpoint, these sports come in at the top of the difficulty scale in the physical aspect.

Next, another essential part of sports that many use to claim theirs is the most challenging, which is the mental angle. The ability to have impeccable concentration and mental toughness is something that some sports demand more than others. Precision and focus is essential in sports like tennis, golf, acrobatics and mixed martial arts. In these sports, a simple mistiming or error could change the game and its outcome completely. 

Sophomore and PVHS tennis player, Jace Eichner, believes that even the smallest misread in tennis can create huge consequences. “I have seen balls come at me during crucial moments of a match that, if I had read right, I could’ve won. That’s how precise tennis is,” Eichner states. There is no “hail Mary” or “buzzer beater” to make up for any mistakes that were made previously in these types of mental focus and concentration sports. 

Then, strategy and tactics become a key argument piece. Strategy is a must in every sport there is, whether it’s what position someone plays to every play in the playbook. This all can become complicated when there are so many players in one team, rather than an individual sport. Baseball, rugby, and volleyball can be noticed as some of the most strategic games played due to the combination of formations and players that have to coordinate together to make a play work. 

Sophomore and PVHS baseball player, Keith Lawrence, believes the defensive side of baseball is where strategy can be super complex. “Defense is for sure the most strategic part of baseball, especially against teams like Faith Lutheran, because we’re always switching up our formation against them. They have so many different types of hitters it’s wild,” Lawrence exclaimed. Strategy can come down to the littlest details, which is what makes it so complicated to perfect.

In conclusion, the “true difficulty” of a sport is based on people’s beliefs on what aspect they think is the hardest about sports. If you ever get into an argument about sport difficulty, make sure to use points that are fair and balanced!