This article is dedicated to appreciating just how skilled professional hockey athletes are. Each sport of course has its own set of skills and physical abilities that are required to play the game. Even more so at a professional level. Today we will analyze perhaps the most skill demanding sport there is… ice hockey. The skill needed for hockey is wicked high.
Hockey is one of the big 5 sports in the U.S with it being perhaps one of the most unappreciated sports in America. This isn’t the case around the world however. Hockey requires significant skill. Now, this article isn’t necessarily talking about the toughest, as in who has the toughest players (but have you ever seen playoff hockey?). This series is talking about the toughest skill, as in time and difficulty to master a skill.
Imagine having a 4-6 foot stick with a curved end and I ask you to juggle a weirdly shaped cube called a puck. That would probably be difficult enough. Now, I’m going to ask you to run while doing it. Even tougher. Next, there’s a group of 5 other people that is trying to take that puck away from you.
Let’s say you mastered that. That’s more than the vast majority of the human population has done. Let’s kick it up a notch though. It’s a natural human motion to walk and run. What about skating… on ice… balancing on a thin blade. Now I’m going to ask you to do all of that while gracefully skating. Seems dang near impossible.
There’s a great old school commercial about “Bo Knows” and then fill in the blank. For you youngsters out there, Bo Jackson is arguably one of the most physically gifted athletes that ever existed. In that commercial they show a clip of Bo trying hockey and saying “Bo Knows” with the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, shaking his head no.
They’re joking of course, but it’s reality. Even great athletes have to learn how to skate and while doing so look like a newborn gazelle learning to walk. Skates are the great equalizer. A mediocre athlete that has exceptional skating ability still has a chance of doing well in the sport.
What other sports require immense skill? Let us know in the comments.
Share our Article!
Be the first to comment