← Back to context

Comment by impossiblefork

1 day ago

Tennis is very difficult though. One of the highest barrier to entry sports skill-wise.

Non-athletic adult people can't step onto a tennis court and consistently get the ball back to you, even if you hit it to them.

I thought Padel was easy, but when I organized a Padel after-work I saw that that was not reality, and Padel is much easier than tennis.

11 comments

impossiblefork

Reply
lapcat  1 day ago

Non-athletic adults can't do anything consistently. Which sports do you think are easier? Certainly not baseball or American football. Perhaps soccer, but only because soccer is more generous about inconsistency: play doesn't stop if you lose the ball or kick it inaccurately, as long as it doesn't go out of bounds. On the other hand, non-athletic adults are going to tire very quickly constantly running around the field with no stoppage.

  • impossiblefork  1 day ago

    Soccer you play even if you badly, because the ball is on the ground, but playing soccer well is very hard.

    Tennis you can't play truly badly since the ball is in the air, so there's a skill floor, probably not too dissimilar from the skill floor required to play baseball.

    Some sports that have a lower skill floor than tennis are table tennis, pickeball, badminton, association football and ice hockey. The thing to understand is that it's not about fitness, it's the skill floor. It's that the beginner will miss the ball or not be able to control it.

    • lapcat  1 day ago

      > probably not too dissimilar from the skill floor required to play baseball

      I think baseball requires significantly more coordination than tennis.

      Moreover, baseball (as opposed to just playing catch with a baseball) requires two whole teams, whereas tennis can be played with only two people.

      > ice hockey

      [John McEnroe voice] You cannot be serious

      Ice skating by itself is difficult for beginners. They fall all over the place. Ice skating while trying to follow and control a moving puck is even more difficult.

      > it's not about fitness

      Ok, but in the current context, the ROI of exercise, it's all about fitness. What's the fitness ROI from table tennis or badminton? Even pickleball tends to be less exercise than standard singles tennis. And in baseball too, there's a lot of standing around and sitting (when your team is at bat). I would say that in terms of exercise, singles tennis has one of the best ROI. (Doubles not so much.)

      4 replies →