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Is Tennis The Hardest Sport?
ESPN published an in-depth analysis and concluded that tennis was the 7th most challenging sport when considering their list of factors which included things such as endurance, speed, and power. Below is a list of the Top 60, and here you can see their comprehensive list with the factors explained. Do you agree with their results?
We wanted to take into account some other factors that we thought were relevant to tennis and when discussing a sport’s difficulty. Here are some of those factors:
1. Learning
As both a tennis coach and player, I am perhaps biased. I know for certain from my own experience, and I’m sure most coaches would agree, that tennis is one of the most challenging sports to learn. Sure hitting a ball about and having a 2-3 shot rally with some friends is not that hard. But, being able to serve and then rally the ball into the court with placement and spin is a different matter. Reaching a standard good enough to play an intermediate-level match takes at least 2-5 years of regular playing, depending on the player. So to advance to college and pro level takes years and 10s of 1000s of hours of dedication.
2. Dealing With Failure
Tennis is a game of mistakes. Most points won or lost in a match are from errors, not winners. Even when learning or training the percentage of mistakes is high. Having the perseverance to keep going and improving through this is often why most tennis players give up at the beginner level. Learning to deal with the failure of performance is part of being a tennis player. When you are playing a team sport, there is less pressure on the individual player, and it’s easier to cope emotionally.
3. Income
Sure, it’s glamorous at the top. Who wouldn’t want to be traveling the world to sunny and beautiful locations to play tennis full-time? But most fans only see the top players televised on the stadium courts. The other 98% of players (usually those outside the top 100) struggle daily to make ends meet and often load up credit cards just to pay for flights and travel. Players further down the rankings often have to share hotel rooms or sleep on couches just to be able to attend tournaments. They can’t afford full-time coaches or physical trainers to travel with them. Take other major sports like soccer and American football, and a minimum of the top 500 players are all millionaires!
4. Fitness
Tennis fitness requirements differ vastly depending on your style and whether you play singles or doubles. A leisurely beginner doubles game doesn’t need the same fitness level as an epic 5-hour singles match in the scorching heat! Other sports, such as soccer and basketball, require good fitness at all levels. But there’s no doubt that to succeed as a pro tennis player you need to be a high-level athlete. Here are some areas of fitness that are important for tennis:
- Endurance: The ability to keep working at a high rate for an extended period of time is crucial for pro tennis. Matches vary in length, but knowing you can last when a game is tight is critical for success.
- Strength and Power: Not as crucial as in other sports, but still a requirement for generating racket head speed and moving quickly around the court
- Agility: The tennis court is a relatively small area, so changing direction quickly from ball to ball is crucial at the pro level. Over a short distance of 10 meters, some of the fastest tennis players ever, such as Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic could rival the best sprinters in the world.
5. Coordination
Coordination and technique overlap somewhat. Primarily because if you have good coordination, developing the correct technical muscle memory is easier. But coordination is not just needed for technique execution. It’s essential for judging the ball’s flight path (incoming and outgoing), moving your body in response to that, and timing the swing with the ball to make a good contact point, all while controlling with spin and speed of the swing!
6. Technique
- Contact Point: Unlike other sports like golf, tennis has an infinite number of contact point requirements. No ball you ever hit on the tennis court will be the same. Your position on the court varies and the incoming ball changes in speed and spin. The weather affects the flight path, plus your opponent changes in height, fitness, and strength, which also affects the ball. Your ability to adjust to these variables is what sets you up as a solid tennis player.
- Skills: Another complex area of tennis is that there are multiple skills that need mastering. You can’t be a successful player if you can’t hit all of the shots well. Sure, you might get away with not having a slice or never going to the net to volley. But, it takes 1000s of hours of dedicated practice to hone all the skills needed to be a competitive player. And once you have mastered them, you also have to be able to adjust the speed, spin, height, depth, and placement of each of those skills depending on what you want to do with the ball!
7. Mental Strength
The shifts in momentum and constant failures (as discussed above) make mental toughness a requirement for tennis. Most matches are an inevitable emotional rollercoaster. To excel in tennis means dealing with adversity. Tennis, like life, can be very unfair. Learning to manage your emotions rather than having them control you will allow you to reserve your energy for other areas of the game. Plus, being able to rely on your mental strength to stick in a match is crucial for success. To look more in-depth into this subject, you can read our blog on: 10 Life Lessons From tennis
8. Surface
Most sports are played on one type of surface or something very similar. Tennis has multiple surfaces, with three main ones at the Pro level: grass, clay, and hard court. Players must get used to the different speeds and bounces and factor in the changing environment and climate accompanying those court changes.
Check out this great video that explains the main differences between the three main surfaces:
9. Analysis
ESPN labels this analytic aptitude. 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. The ever-changing momentum and situation of a tennis match requires tactical point-by-point planning to try and outsmart your opponent. And most of the time, you have to do this alone or with your doubles partner. There are no other teammates or coaches to help guide you through.
Summary
Perhaps the best way of comparing sports is to break them down into categories of similar types, such as racket sports. Comparing Ice Hockey to Tennis seems ludicrous as there are virtually no similarities! Passionate sports fans and players will also inevitably want their own sport to be the hardest!
Which sports do you think are as hard as tennis? Do you think we missed out on any important factors? Let us know in the comments below!
Also, share to your social pages if you think of anyone who may benefit from reading this article.
FAQs
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Is tennis considered one of the hardest sports?
According to an ESPN analysis, tennis ranks as the 7th most challenging sport, considering factors like endurance, speed, and power. However, opinions on this can vary, and many believe additional factors should be considered.
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How difficult is it to learn tennis?
Learning tennis is quite challenging, especially if you aim to play at an intermediate level or beyond. It can take 2-5 years of regular practice to reach a decent standard, and advancing to higher levels requires years and thousands of hours of dedication.
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What role does mental strength play in tennis?
Mental strength is crucial in tennis due to the constant shifts in momentum and frequent failures. Excelling in tennis requires managing emotions effectively and relying on mental toughness to persist through challenging matches.
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How does fitness impact tennis performance?
Fitness is vital for tennis, especially for pro players who need high levels of endurance, strength, power, and agility. The fitness requirements can vary based on playing style and whether you’re playing singles or doubles.
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Are there different surfaces in tennis, and how do they affect play?
Yes, tennis is played on multiple surfaces, primarily grass, clay, and hard courts at the pro level. Each surface has different speeds and bounces, requiring players to adapt their game and strategy accordingly.
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3 comments
There are so many difficult and different activities on this list that its literally impossible to compared them in any area for difficulty levels. Tennis is definitely difficult at an advanced level. It takes many years to groove sound strokes techniques and tens of thousands of repetitions done correctly to be a good player. Where tennis stands in a list like this is impossible to judge.
I completely agree with everything that was said about tennis. It’s a very complex sport, and mentally it is like a chess game. When you can get to that level, it’s an amazing game. It fires off everything your brain can handle with lightning-fast reflexes and strategy, and everything in-between! As far as where tennis belongs on that list…not accurate. I played at an early age four of the sports ahead of tennis, and to me, tennis belongs ahead of them, which leaves Boxing and Martial Arts. One thing is for sure, if you learn a sport early in life, you are way ahead of the curve. I learned tennis starting at age 5. Tennis is a chess game for me, even at 69. When you have all the shots, you have to decide which shot will be the most effective instantaneously at that moment. Your brain can’t delay. Tennis is such a great sport!
To take ESPN’s ranking of hardest sports is pointless. ESPN is biased in a way to pretty much everything they do. First comparing team sports againt individual one right there is wrong. Obviously team sport is easier because on any bad day your teammate can make you look good. No such a thing in individual sports. I played and trained as a kid soccer, basketball and tennis. So i know thing or two about it. Last, tennis schedule at pro level there is nothing like it. Basically no off season and no actual exact time schedule of matches played. You can play at 3am. Not to mention travel schedule and distance and time change etc..So in all honesty tennis is probably hardest to succeed not even close in my opinion.