badminton... harder than skateboarding???

this is what a panel of experts (a group made up of sports scientists from the United States Olympic Committee, of academicians who study the science of muscles and movement, of a star two-sport athlete, and of journalists who spend their professional lives watching athletes succeed and fail) would have you believe according to an espn article.

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these experts claim that sports such as badminton, soccer, field hockey, handball, and long jump are all harder than skateboarding. skateboarding ranks number 37 on the list.

i guarantee not one person from this panel of experts has ever attempted to ride a skateboard, let alone tried a trick on one. because if they did, skateboarding would be much higher on the list. these journalists no doubt watched some sessions of pros from x-games and thought "well that looks easy enough." not realizing that one trick can often take years of practice just to land. not realizing that professional skateboarders skate all day, every day for years and years (contrary to public opinion that skaters are just slackers and hooligans). not realizing how much balance, stamina, nerve, and coordination it takes to skate. from my own experience i have tried every sport on the list (except rodeo, pole vault, figure skating, fencing, bobsled/luge, autoracing, and cheerleading) and i can say without hesitation that skateboarding is by far more difficult than most of the others.

i challenge anyone to get a skateboard and try to ollie or drop into a ramp (two of the easiest tricks in skateboarding). then grab a badminton raquet and a shuttlecock and hit a few over the net. then you tell me which was harder.