littlewaywelt
Registered
potential lethality has nothing to do with it.you sure? bowling and ice dancing doesnt kill you when you mess up.
I've been climbing for 20+ years and I don't consider that a sport either. It's a passtime/hobby.
Diving is Not a Sport???!!!
- Thread starter tasdiver
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
I've been climbing for 20+ years and I don't consider that a sport either. It's a passtime/hobby.
dive_lover88
Contributor
- Messages
- 3,692
- Reaction score
- 0
- # of dives
- 50 - 99
littlewaywelt:
okay i see where you're coming from. hope you didnt take any offence frm my post. Looks like the meaning differs from person to person.
cheers
- Messages
- 474
- Reaction score
- 34
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
I consider diving a fitness sport rather than a competitive sport. If you do it enough, you WILL get in shape, I promise. You can't carry tanks and equipment to the boat everyday through sand under sweltering heat and not lose some weight and strength train. ;-) And who know...maybe in the future we have teams of divers flying along in a strong current shooting through some sort of underwater obstacle course. How cool would that be? Sign me up!
sytech
Contributor
I can see why you'd say something as off base as that based upon your diving history, such that it is. If you mean by a "sport" some competitive physical activity between various parties and where scoring is done then diving certainly doesn't fit that definition.
However to dive seriously, safely and responsibly one had BETTER be in good shape both strengthwise and from a cardiovascular point of view. Try any type of challenging diving where you have to fight currents or enter or exit in certain stressful conditions, your lack of fitness could be catastrophic.
I hope your cavalier attitude doesn't cause you a problem one day.
Sy
However to dive seriously, safely and responsibly one had BETTER be in good shape both strengthwise and from a cardiovascular point of view. Try any type of challenging diving where you have to fight currents or enter or exit in certain stressful conditions, your lack of fitness could be catastrophic.
I hope your cavalier attitude doesn't cause you a problem one day.
Sy
- Messages
- 63,269
- Reaction score
- 16,548
freediving is actually very athletic
sport - noun
1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
2. a particular form of this, esp. in the out of doors.
3. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.
I'd say it's a recreational sport by definition. Ofcourse as many people have said it's what you want it to be
I myself can't put it on the level of poker and bowling though. In those 2 "sports" you can "safely" be drunk off your ****. I don't know if thats a good idea with diving
1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
2. a particular form of this, esp. in the out of doors.
3. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.
I'd say it's a recreational sport by definition. Ofcourse as many people have said it's what you want it to be
I myself can't put it on the level of poker and bowling though. In those 2 "sports" you can "safely" be drunk off your ****. I don't know if thats a good idea with diving
polysemous1
Contributor
Used to be we called hunters and fishermen "sportsmen" not so much anymore. (Of course "sportsman" was also a euphemism for a sexually profligate man as well.)
I think the dictionary definitions are relatively useless since everything I've seen on this thread is referencing operational examples.
For me, sport is competitive and athletic (so shooting pool isn't a sport, nor is softball or bowling--if participants regularly drink beer and compete, it ain't a sport to me). But I also think a sport has to have an objective measurement of winning/losing. Boston scores more runs, they win the game. Frank Shorter runs 26 miles fastest, he wins. The consequence is that I don't qualify things like bodybuilding, ice-skating, sychronized swimming or cheerleading as sports. None are objective, all require subjective judgments to award winners. This is not to say that these are not athletic activities, all require tremendous dedication, skill, and athletic ability. As for scuba, I dont' think so, to me there isn't an objective goal to scuba, we don't measure who stays down the longest or swims furthest on a tank. Indeed, we would vilify people who set that as their objective. Instead we celebrate slow and deliberate actions that reduce air consumption. So, while good diving involves much that is athletic, I don't see it as sport.
Best,
Dave
I think the dictionary definitions are relatively useless since everything I've seen on this thread is referencing operational examples.
For me, sport is competitive and athletic (so shooting pool isn't a sport, nor is softball or bowling--if participants regularly drink beer and compete, it ain't a sport to me). But I also think a sport has to have an objective measurement of winning/losing. Boston scores more runs, they win the game. Frank Shorter runs 26 miles fastest, he wins. The consequence is that I don't qualify things like bodybuilding, ice-skating, sychronized swimming or cheerleading as sports. None are objective, all require subjective judgments to award winners. This is not to say that these are not athletic activities, all require tremendous dedication, skill, and athletic ability. As for scuba, I dont' think so, to me there isn't an objective goal to scuba, we don't measure who stays down the longest or swims furthest on a tank. Indeed, we would vilify people who set that as their objective. Instead we celebrate slow and deliberate actions that reduce air consumption. So, while good diving involves much that is athletic, I don't see it as sport.
Best,
Dave
Jon C
Guest
My 2 cents....
First my opinion on what makes a "sport":
Competition (very important to this debate)
Physical requirements (strength, endurance)
Mental toughness
Rules that dictate how a winner is decided
Cool uniforms
Groupies (or cheerleaders..okay, this is optional)
**and one more ingredient mentioned below**
Without these, it is not a sport
Basketball: Sport (perhaps the best ever)
Football: Sport (best ever before Kobe Bryant and MJ...that's Marsha Janerson-original choreographer for the Laker cheerleaders)
Shuffleboard: Recreation
Sport Fishing: Recreation...misleading name.
Baseball: Boring Sport...at least this year.
Soccer: Entertainment...similar to a very long, boring opera. Call me when "random land mines" are introduced and a 1-0 result is NOT referred to as a "blow-out".
Hang Gliding: Recreation
Bungee Jumping: Death Wish
Flying: Recreation
Chess: GAME (not to be confused with "sport") based on same riveting philosophy of soccer. Maybe "random mousetraps" would help.
...and Scuba...Physical requirements, mental toughness, rules (okay, I concede that there are rules to keep you alive), cool uniforms (yes!), groupies (doesn't everyone have them waiting on shore?). Ironically, the KISS Rebreather girl is popping up on the left screen as I type....
You see where it starts to drop off...competition. (And bad things happen when it does get competitive.) Climbing Mt. Everest has been referred to as a competition between the mountain and the climber...and so could scuba diving be equally analogous, but my definition a sport (invented by humans) must include a minimum of 2 humans as well as all the other requirements above.
Just because its opinion...doesn't make it wrong!
First my opinion on what makes a "sport":
Competition (very important to this debate)
Physical requirements (strength, endurance)
Mental toughness
Rules that dictate how a winner is decided
Cool uniforms
Groupies (or cheerleaders..okay, this is optional)
**and one more ingredient mentioned below**
Without these, it is not a sport
Basketball: Sport (perhaps the best ever)
Football: Sport (best ever before Kobe Bryant and MJ...that's Marsha Janerson-original choreographer for the Laker cheerleaders)
Shuffleboard: Recreation
Sport Fishing: Recreation...misleading name.
Baseball: Boring Sport...at least this year.
Soccer: Entertainment...similar to a very long, boring opera. Call me when "random land mines" are introduced and a 1-0 result is NOT referred to as a "blow-out".
Hang Gliding: Recreation
Bungee Jumping: Death Wish
Flying: Recreation
Chess: GAME (not to be confused with "sport") based on same riveting philosophy of soccer. Maybe "random mousetraps" would help.
...and Scuba...Physical requirements, mental toughness, rules (okay, I concede that there are rules to keep you alive), cool uniforms (yes!), groupies (doesn't everyone have them waiting on shore?). Ironically, the KISS Rebreather girl is popping up on the left screen as I type....
You see where it starts to drop off...competition. (And bad things happen when it does get competitive.) Climbing Mt. Everest has been referred to as a competition between the mountain and the climber...and so could scuba diving be equally analogous, but my definition a sport (invented by humans) must include a minimum of 2 humans as well as all the other requirements above.
Just because its opinion...doesn't make it wrong!
Similar threads
