Hard to play: a look at the toughest sports in the world

The debate that out of all the sports we know, which sport is toughest can go for hours. Each sport is unique and special in its own way. Every sport needs a different skill set and cannot be measured under the same parameter.

Some sports need muscular strength, while some needs flexibility; some need speed while some need patience. Here we take a dive into some toughest sports around depending on multiple factors.

Gymnastics

Whenever we switch on a sports channel and happen to catch a glimpse of a gymnast showing some jaw dropping moves, we get awe-struck, isn’t it? Gymnastics is a game that demands great physical agility and reflexes.

The combination of the two results into an incredible balance. Not only physical fitness, but mental strength is also required in a mammoth proportion to focus and sustain the gymnastic moves. The professional gymnastic athletes put years of toil in honing their moves and vaults.

However, one has to agree that Gymnastic athletes have a god gifted skill since their birth to have a flexible body which is apt for performing such feats. The need is to identify the strength and hone the skills to come out with flying colors.

This sport one of the most awaited and watched game in the Olympics.  What makes this sport relatively tougher is that the scoring system rewards highly difficult and dramatic moves.

A gymnast’s score depends on both how challenging a move is and how well it is executed. You must have recently come across one of the most difficult moves in gymnastics, the Prudonava also called the death vault, performed by our very own gymnast Deepa Karmarkar in the Rio Olympics.

Wrestling

So many movies have been made on wrestling, which have already given us a brief idea about the blood and the toil that goes into preparing for this challenging sport. This one is the most demanding and the most dangerous sport in the world. Though

Wrestling has its own rules but the wrestlers do suffer a lot of blood bath at times. This sport needs the wrestler to have a tough body, unmatched strength, unending stamina, agility, presence of mind, great fitness, and fast reflexes. Speed combined with the power is required to topple the opponent so that he doesn’t get up until the win is declared.

Swimming

Swimming looks fun, right? But professional swimming is not as easy as it looks. Swimming is yet another demanding sport. The swimmer must use every single muscle of his body to create an effective and successful stroke and kick. And mind you, there is no other sport in the world that demands something like this. The training goes on for years, and only after huge endurance has been developed and a lot of practice, the necessary skill set is developed.  During swimming competitions, the lower body i.e. the legs and the upper body i.e. the arms and the shoulder are constantly in motion and thus great cardiovascular endurance is required for competing professionally.

Sometimes, too much swimming can make the back of the swimmers so sore that they can barely lift their legs and hands.

Bull riding

Bull Riding is a very popular Rodeo sport in some parts of the world. It basically involves rider attempting to stay mounted while a strong raging the bull attempts to throw him off. As per the rules, the rider needs to stay atop the bull for a minimum of eight seconds and since the risks involved are huge these few precious seconds are often referred as “the most dangerous eight seconds in sports.”

Staying on top of a humongous bull which is basically pounds and pounds of muscles can definitely not be easy, the rider even faces the risk of death if he comes under the bulls legs.

Horse riding

This is sport where you expect someone else also to perform as well as you – your horse. But the horse is not the one who does all the work. It is the player who has to keep the heels down, toes up, control the horse, keep the back straight, and shoulder kept back at the same time, and pulling the horse just as much as needed.

Maintaining the speed and a perfect position is the key. A rider has to rely more on his gut feel and judgment. If one action goes wrong, you are on the ground, all this while managing a 1000-pound animal with a mind of its own, wow!

Rowing

The rowing stroke needs a unique technique and a muscle power. The rowing power requires the presence of strong leg drive and a huge back strength. It is an interesting sport that needs muscular power, speed and quickness, cardiovascular endurance, and durability.

In order to remain till the end of the race, the rowers need to have an amalgamation of body power with an incredible mental endurance and patience. This is the sport that can test the physical and mental stoutness of athletes.

Water Polo

Water polo is a water sport where the two teams score their goals by throwing the ball into the opponent’s net and all of this in the 1.8 meters deep pool of water. This game needs double competency since the players must master the skill set needed for swimming and also the expertise required for catching and shooting the ball using just one hand of theirs.

Cross country racing

Cross country running may not have gained as much respect as many other Olympic level sports, but is is a really hard sport. It requires the runner to have speed and endurance and amazing muscle power.

This is a rare sport where runners do not even get timeouts or halftimes and no water breaks. Runners have to run over 3 mile distances, many a times over very difficult terrain. Apart from immense physical stamina it requires a lot of mental strength to tell your body to keep going even when it is physically exhausted.