The loneliest sports

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Most people won’t know the answer to this one, so we’ll start with a few more easier guess sport.  When we talk about a lonely sport were talking about on an elite level and an individual sport,  so we leave out team sports, unless of course all your teams mates dislike and never talk to you!

We’re also going to leave out some of the solo sports like surfing kayaking.  Were talking about sports where it’s just you versus someone else and no one else to rely on for support, company or advice.

Boxing

This is a classic lonely sport.  Once you get in the ring for a fight, it’s just you and your opponent in a primeval battle to knock or get knocked out.  Taunting can be both physical and mental so while boxers may be some of the fittest athletes in sports, they need to be incredibly mentally strong too.  The one upside is that you can still get advice from your coach while fighting and you can talk to them after the bell rings.

Long Distance Running

As the book, the movie and whatever else says – The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Your on your own in long distance running too, but different to boxing runner can sometimes use pace partners.  They say the person who starts a long-distance run is a different person to the one who finishes it, this is especially true for ultra runners.

Golf

This sport is famous as one if not the most mentally demanding sports.  How many times have we seen golfer crumble under the pressure?!  These moment have made for some cringe TV viewing

Golf is an individual sport that relies more on mental ability and skill than physicality.  You may have your caddy in your ear but that doesn’t stop the demons in and taking over!  When you are concentrating taking that shot, it doesn’t matter how many fans you have or how you’ve practised or what your caddy said to you before the shot – it’s just you out there.

Famous meltdowns in sport

€œThe whole secret to mastering the game of golf €“ and this applies to the beginners as well as the pro €“ is to cultivate a mental approach to the game that will enable you to shrug off the bad days, keep patient and know in your heart that sooner or later you will be back on top€. €“ Arnold Palmer

Tennis Serve

On a professional level, tennis is the loneliest sport there is.  A professional tennis player, similar to a golfer spends nearly the entire year away from family of friends for one thing.  But even worse, once your on court, you are completely on your own.  Yes you heard it..  tennis players are not allowed talk to their coach, in fact if they are even seen getting body language signals from their coach they can be penalised and fines.

There’s no communication with your opponent either.  Tennis has a lot of the mental aspects of golf and is another sport famous for meltdowns, but tennis is also a massively physically demanding sport, if not one of the most demanding on the body.  If you want some company in tennis, the only thing you can do is argue with the umpire or call a medical time out!

It can uniquely, cruel sport,  one of the greatest tennis players ever, Andre Agassi called the game €œclosest to solitary confinement”

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