HARDEST SPORT

[nitro]

Looking at Becca's last post about the pole vault IQ I've always thought that pole vaulting is harder than baseball, since I've played both and was pretty good at both. I think that criteria that USA Today is using is off. Don't you think that there are thousands of people that can jump 15 feet? I mean being able to hit a major league fastball will make you a professional baseball player,at least AAA, and once you figure out that tricky curve and splitter one of the best players in the MLB. On the other hand... Jumping 15 feet... What does that get you? Here in Indiana that sometimes wont even place in our high school state meet. Of course hitting a major league baseball should be harder than being all state. I think that if they are going to make a fair comparison they need to put a height that high schoolers all across the nation aren't jumping... at least 17 maybe even 18 but that would be another discussion...

what does everyone else think

[powerplant42]

I think you're right... except for the fact that plenty of people will step up to a plate, but won't have the courage to step on the runway.

[VaultPurple]

I think you're right... except for the fact that plenty of people will step up to a plate, but won't have the courage to step on the runway.

Id much rather step on the runway, fastballs hurt!

not saying its harder, statisticly speeking pole vaulting is one of the hardest sports to make it pro in. Since there are what 10 pros that even make money and maybe 5 that can make a living. Where you have over a thousand professional baseball players nation wide who make a minimum 100K if they are minor league.

[H.I.S.]

that comparison doesn't make any sense.

15 ft is a great jump for high schoolers but not in the world of professional or elite pole vaulters.

You have to compare hitting a major league fastball to pole vaulting a minimum of 18.

if you throw in the ability to hit the curve and splitter then it should be equal to a 19 ft pole vault

a 15 ft jump is about as equal to what your best high school athlete will throw down the plate

I've done both sports as well, for me, jumping 15 ft is something I have yet to accomplish and I have been pole vaulting for a long time, even after high school, but I hit a lot of home runs on the baseball team

[joebro391]

you know, it's funny that this is a topic, because it's something i've pondered for a long while. i read the entire article about the hardest sports in the world and i kinda disagreed with "hitting a fastball" being harder than pole vaulting in general haha. now, the previous points made me ponder even further and agree that okay, hitting a fastball is something like vaulting around 16 - 17 feet. and my logic is a little different. it goes as follows: now, forget about the "fear factor" cause personally, i prefer to get rejected from a pole than hit with a fastball so that kinda cancels out

but think about this instead: how come there are thousands of people who can hit fastballs, evertime they play, but only a few hundread people to ever vault higher than 17, call it 18-feet for the sake of argument??? think about that?? now, of course, baseball's more popular so granted, more kids are drawn to it, but still. i think that vaulting over even 18 feet is still one of the hardest feats to achieve in sports

[powerplant42]

You're right, there are a lot more people who can hit a real fastball. There are a lot more people who play baseball...

[H.I.S.]

What about guys like Cecil Fielder or heavy set baseball plays who have had over 40 home runs in a season. They can hit fast balls but could never pole vault. I believe the diet and training to be able to pole vault are much harder than the workouts and diets of baseball players.

[VTechVaulter]

when i first saw the story, it seemed to me they meant for a female to jump 15 ft.

[kev44000]

There are 20 maybe 30 times the number of baseball players pros that can hit a fastball, but only a very few vaulters jumpimg 19 feet or even 18 for that matter. So vaulting is harder in my opinion or more would be jumping higher my take!!!!

[nitro]

Also go to remember everyone on here is going to be a little biased

[VaultMarq26]

I think you have too look at two other things.....the sheer number of people who play baseball worldwide. If you are talking percentages, I am willing to bet a smaller percent of baseball players can hit a fastball than the percent of male vaulters that jump 15'.

Also, take a raw athlete that has done neither. Dumb luck says that they could hit a fastball, but no chance they could jump 15' the first day out.

Conflicting arguments, but food for thought.

[VaultPurple]

that comparison doesn't make any sense.

15 ft is a great jump for high schoolers but not in the world of professional or elite pole vaulters.

You have to compare hitting a major league fastball to pole vaulting a minimum of 18.

if you throw in the ability to hit the curve and splitter then it should be equal to a 19 ft pole vault
a 15 ft jump is about as equal to what your best high school athlete will throw down the plate

I've done both sports as well, for me, jumping 15 ft is something I have yet to accomplish and I have been pole vaulting for a long time, even after high school, but I hit a lot of home runs on the baseball team

Na hitting a curve or splitter would be more like 17 if you want to go by statistics. Hundreds of Pro baseball players can hit those, but only 4 professional pole vaulters (in USA) have jumped 19' this year.