The thrill of competitive sports fills stadiums with crowds and brings emotion to diehard fans rooting for their favorite team. While every sport is designed as recreation, sometimes a debate arises of which sport is considered to be "the hardest." Volleyball and baseball are two sports that are commonly debated as regards both individual and collective skill levels and abilities.
Skills
According to a study by sports scientists at the U.S. Olympic Committee and reported on ESPN.com, the most challenging sports to master were evaluated based on 10 different categories. The criteria included skills and athleticism that could accurately predict which were among the hardest sports. In the study, baseball ranked as the ninth hardest sport, while volleyball tied with cycling for the 20th hardest sport.
Calories
Some individuals measure the hardest sports by the number of calories burned per hour. As a general rule, baseball players burn more calories per hour than volleyball players. A volleyball player weighing 160 lbs. burns about 292 calories per hour while a 160-lb. baseball player burns about 365 calories per hour.
Metabolic
The metabolic demands of volleyball and baseball differ based on the specific elements in each sport. Volleyball players use short, high intensity movements that require about 90 percent of energy coming from the phosphagen system and only 10 percent from the glycolytic system. Baseball players, however, use moderate intensity movements that require only 80 percent of the phosphagen system and 20 percent of the glycolytic system.
Conditioning Programs
The strength and conditioning programs for volleyball and baseball have several similarities, and as a result, the intensity level is nearly identical for each sport. The programs focus on agility, power and rotational mobility for overhead swinging and throwing movements. Volleyball programs focus specifically on explosive power, jumping and agility while baseball programs focus on plyometrics and ballistic movements. With the nature of each sport, the training programs also focus on injury prevention in the shoulders.
Synopsis
While both sports vie equally in terms of athleticism and agility, baseball wins the argument for toughest sport as far as agility, flexibility, athleticism, skills and acumen are concerned. Interestingly enough, according to the informal study performed by ESPN which rated the toughest sports in the world, boxing emerged as most difficult, followed by ice hockey and football, while fishing and billiards rounded up as easiest to master.
References
- ESPN.com: Sport Skills Difficulty Rankings
- The CrossFit Journal; What is Fitness?; Greg Glassman; October 2002
- Mayo Clinic; Exercise for Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour; Mayo Clinic Staff; December 2009
- Sports Fitness Advisor; Volleybal Training Section; Phil Davies
- Sports Fitness Advisor; Baseball Training Section; Phil Davies
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