Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Cycling and Tennis for Endurance


While cycling and tennis are both intense, tennis requires a wider variety of skills than cycling does. In 2009, ESPN determined that athleticism consists of 10 components. They then asked a panel of sports experts to evaluate how much athletes use each component in 60 different sports. According to the panel's rankings, tennis is the seventh-hardest sport, while endurance cycling came in at number 20 and sprint cycling at 27.
ENDURANCE CYCLING
On a scale of 1 to 10, ESPN's panel determined that long-distance cycling requires an endurance level of 9.63. Endurance cyclists can ride more than 100 miles in a day, sometimes for several days in a row, so they need great aerobic stamina. They may also have to climb hills or pedal against wind or rain. The repetitive motion of pedaling calls for strength, power and durability, and ESPN's panel ranked distance cycling between 6 and 7 out of 10 for each of these attributes. The sport does not require much flexibility, agility or hand-eye coordination.
SPRINT CYCLING
The demands of sprint cycling are slightly different from those of endurance cycling. A sprint cyclist must be strong and fast rather than strong and steady, so he needs more anaerobic conditioning than a distance rider does. ESPN's panel determined that sprint cycling requires more speed and power than distance cycling, but less endurance and durability. Sprint cyclists also do not need much agility, flexibility or hand-eye coordination. According to the panel's ratings, endurance cycling is somewhat harder than sprint cycling.
TENNIS
A game of tennis requires more varied athletic skills than cycling. Although a tennis player does not need as much endurance as a distance cyclist or as much speed as a sprint cyclist, he needs more agility, flexibility, hand-eye coordination and analytic aptitude. A long tennis match demands aerobic fitness, but a player's repeated bursts of speed and power demand anaerobic fitness, muscular strength and flexibility. Players must also maintain their balance while in motion, a skill not specifically included on ESPN's list.
DIFFICULTY
Cyclists need to excel in one or two athletic areas, but tennis players must excel in at least four and be competent across the board in order to succeed at their sport. However, the difficulty of a sport cannot necessarily be quantified accurately. ESPN's 10 elements of athleticism are not the only factors that determine how challenging you find a sport. Your particular temperament, body composition, strength distribution and level of enthusiasm make a difference as well. Tennis may be harder than cycling technically, but if you hate cycling and love tennis, you might find tennis easier.

 
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