Which sport requires the most talent/skill.

In my opinion, Baseball requires the most talent/skill. You must have great coordination, reflexes, strenght, speed(not always, but the ideal player would have it) and just over all skill.
Arm strenght - you gotta be able to throw the ball long and hard, or just long or hard, depending on the position you play. As a pitcher you need the ability to throw different kinds of balls(curve, fastball, slider, slurve, knuckle, screw ect...) its difficult enough to learn and master a curve ball, well even a fast ball is difficult for people who just start playing and the curveball isn't near the most difficult pitch to learn. If your an outfield you gotta be able to throw the ball a long distance, throw it hard and accurately. Try hitting a person 350 feet away with a ball that will tend to drift in the wind. You need great reaction time and hand eye coordination when it comes to batting, for example. Your expecting a fastball(for u non-baseball fans, thats a pitch that is really fast and is pretty much thrown straight) but then he comes at you with an 82mph curve. You gotta be good to adjust to an 82mph curve ball when expecting that 97 mph fastball.
Overall speed(running to catch a pop fly in the outfield, or running to snag a grounder in the infield. Trying to steal a base, or just trying to beat out the throw at first.
All sports require great skill, but your a helluva athelete if your good at baseball, especially if your good enough to play in the big leagues.

Quite a limited amount of options so I simply voted for football

I have no idea but I vote Soccer

Going through the list

SunTzu has made a good case for baseball but as far as I can see it is primarily about athletic ability and fast reactions. Batting lacks the finesse of cricket for example where spin and bounce are much difficult to judge. Pitchers have variety but are essentially the same.

Footie - well of course there is skill here but lets face it its a running and kicking game only.

US Football - again primarily athletic - pace and strength

Basketball - a game dominated sadly by physical freaks. Of course Jordan is amazing but its not a game that can be dominated by a skillful five footer.

Ice Hockey - technique, hand -eye coordination, strength, pace, individual brilliance and team awareness. Best yet.

But my winner is :


Cricket! In no other game can such a variety of physical types perform at the top level. Fatty batsman (and bowlers Shane), strong fast pace bowlers, subtle spin bowlers. In what other sport can someone handicapped by polio tunr out to be one of the sports top performers (many bowlers from Chandra through to Murali). The skill level of batsmen and bowlers is higher than any other sport. Mistakes are instantly punished. No three strikes here. The genius of some players is not too strong a word.

Cricket it is then.

SunTzu has made a good case for baseball but as far as I can see it is primarily about athletic ability and fast reactions. Batting lacks the finesse of cricket for example where spin and bounce are much difficult to judge. Pitchers have variety but are essentially the same.

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I don't think that's quite true--batting in baseball is very much a finesse issue. For one, the bat is round and rather narrow, making solid contact that much more difficult. Batting safely 30 percent of the time is excellent in baseball--batting safely more than 40 percent of the time for an entire major league season hasn't been accomplished since 1941. That alone suggests it's a supremely difficult task.

Pitchers in baseball vary much more than you seem to think--pitchers use at least eight different grips on the ball to achieve different types of spin and curvature, their pitches can vary in speed from 50 to 100 miles per hour or more, and they have a variety of windups, deliveries, and release points to choose from. Certainly, few human activities have been shown to put greater stress on one's arm (and to cause more injuries) than throwing a baseball. Batters must learn to read the pitcher's release point, arm motion, and the spin on the ball, as well as guessing approximate intended pitch location and gauging that against the strike zone. Successful hitting in baseball takes years to learn, and many exceptional athletes never master it--Michael Jordan never did learn to hit a curve.

Honestly, though, the highest skill level in baseball may be displayed in fielding the ball--an exceptional defensive shortstop must have the agility, reflexes and intuition to respond instantly to the ball upon contact, as well as a strong, accurate arm to deliver the ball to first base, even when off-balance, in mid-air, or moving away from the target.

football.... (soccer for you Americans.. )

football (soccer) requires skill for everything but hands. It's not only a matter of kicking. And if you consider the various roles of baseball, then you should consider goalkeepers.
I don't know baseball very well, but AFAIK some of the players for example don't have to run because they become specialized in doing one thing only. Or not?

Tie between Cricket and Aussie Rules Football.

I have to agree with Col. Staying out in bat for hours on end facing a vast array of different balls each requring maximum concentration and all the while having to run with heavy pads on. That requires a tremendous amount of skill. Then you have to factor in fielding, which perhaps requires more concentration because you could have nothing to do for a long time and then have to catch a ball moving very fast through the air with your bare hands. Overall I would say the wicket keeper is perhaps the most talented of all cricket players, especially if they are a top of the order batsman like Alec Stewart.

I keep getting an invalid session error when I try to vote, but I would have opted for baseball of the ones offered.

I think soccer requires a far narrower range of skills, and while cricket could allow a very wide range of skills to be displayed, frankly most non-Aussies are one trick ponies who get found out pretty easily by anyone prepared to watch repeated footage of their batting/ bowling.

But this does look like a very American orientated list of sports...

Originally posted by col

Footie - well of course there is skill here but lets face it its a running and kicking game only.

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You wouldn't happen to be English, would you ?

I like the cases presented for cricket and baseball, even if I don't care much for either sport. Call it a tie

Originally posted by col
Cricket it is then.

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Yes.

Originally posted by MrPresident
especially if they are a top of the order batsman like Alec Stewart.

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A top order batsman maybe, but hardly a top order wicket keeper these days.

Football (soccer).

Not that it matters but in the old Superstars competitions,Hockey players dominated followed by Soccer players.But Hockey players never were around for the finals due to their sport's seasons and Brian Bud always won(soccer player).
Footballers were poor performers and even worse were Baseball players.They have no cardio.
Basketballers were seldom invited for obvious reasons.Their overall athletic ability is very poor with the odd exception like MJ.They are just too big to play anything else.

Overall,I would say Soccer players.Great coordination.Great cardio.Explosive speed.They are the best overall athletes.Don't put them in weight lifting though
I don't if I can say most talented and skilled though.Thats relative.Put a ball on their foot and amazing things happen.Put skates on them or a bat in their hands and something else happens.
Talent and skill might fall into something like golf,tennis,bowling,darts,snooker etc.

Either Football or Hockey, the second needs the skating skills but the first has more tactical diversity.

Hockey because you have to shoot, pass, skate and many other things all at the same time.

Ever see those commercials for hockey? Try to do your job on ice

Football (Soccer)

After reading what everyone has said I would probably have to say cricket. The mental strength required to bat for hours on end without making one single mistake is incredible. Every shot requires split second time.

Likewise bowling takes a lot of skill. Top bowlers are expected to bowl on target every time.

And fielding is a lot harder than in Baseball as you'll find you don't get a huge glove on one of your hands

Nice to have my prejudices confirmed by sound arguments from others. I agree that the amount of time and thus the concentration needed tips the balance in favour of cricket from baseball.

Two other points: imho athleticism completely different from skill, and golf - hitting a stationary ball must rule that out surely.

When (how) does cricket get added to the poll?

You cannot add new items to a poll, although that may have changed since my times playing the demo games. Anyway what about Chess?