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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

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 1y 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.)
- koolba 1y ago
  > whereas tennis can be played with only two people. Or even just one and a brick wall.
- impossiblefork 1y ago
  I played ice hockey with the other children in my ordinary Swedish elementary school class. It went fine. The puck is mostly on the ice, so you can struggle over getting it and shooting at the goal. Those who actually played ice hockey obviously had a major advantage, but the others were able to play. In the current context fitness matters, that wasn't the context of my statement about what makes tennis hard: what makes tennis hard isn't fitness. It's that people can't control a ball with a racket that actually keeps the energy in the ball.
  - lapcat 1y ago
    > It went fine. > you can struggle We may have different criteria for "fine". In any case, the debate between hockey and tennis is largely moot, because the availability of ice skating rinks is vastly more limited than tennis courts, even in Minnesota and Wisconsin, though I can't speak for Sweden.
    - impossiblefork 1y ago
      Yes, but the struggle is against the other players-- they'll be in the way, taking the puck, etc. But everyone, even the foreigners, could skate. It was normal.

lapcat 1y 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.)

koolba 1y ago
> whereas tennis can be played with only two people. Or even just one and a brick wall.
impossiblefork 1y ago
I played ice hockey with the other children in my ordinary Swedish elementary school class. It went fine. The puck is mostly on the ice, so you can struggle over getting it and shooting at the goal. Those who actually played ice hockey obviously had a major advantage, but the others were able to play. In the current context fitness matters, that wasn't the context of my statement about what makes tennis hard: what makes tennis hard isn't fitness. It's that people can't control a ball with a racket that actually keeps the energy in the ball.
- lapcat 1y ago
  > It went fine. > you can struggle We may have different criteria for "fine". In any case, the debate between hockey and tennis is largely moot, because the availability of ice skating rinks is vastly more limited than tennis courts, even in Minnesota and Wisconsin, though I can't speak for Sweden.
  - impossiblefork 1y ago
    Yes, but the struggle is against the other players-- they'll be in the way, taking the puck, etc. But everyone, even the foreigners, could skate. It was normal.