Reply #49: athleticism

[paulsby]

you ask most coaches in most sports what are the ultimate things that define "that's an athlete" and they will be things like explosiveness, proprioreception, kinesthetic awareness, speed-strength, etc.

athletes that have that quality can excel at most sports, since most sports require these things - javelin, pole vault, discus, linebacker, hammer, even gymnastics.

for example, we have one athlete on my team (actually a few ) who are former gymnasts. as soon as they started training, their athleticism was instantly apparent. you can look at that person the first time they do a movement in another sport and go "now THAT's an athlete"

that's the kind of people that excel at discus and javelin.

to say that figure skaters are more athletic is ridiculous.

figure skating has a lot of highly refined skills and obviously requires great flexibility, balance, timing, and thousands of grueling hours to develop the artistry and coordination .

it's a subjective sport that does not place the kind of absolute athletic physical demands on an athlete that javelin or discus throwing does.

ice dancing certainly requires a lot less athleticism than classic figure skating, i will give you that.

let me put it this way. take a world class ice dancer and a world class discus thrower.

which athlete would you choose to (for example) be a decathlete (often viewed as the ultimate test of an athlete), or a weightlifter (viewed as the ultimate test of power and strength)?

or heck, to hit a major league fastball?

i know who i'd choose.