[Discussion] Is speedcubing a sport?

Is Speedcubing a Sport?

  • Yes

    Votes: 225 76.3%

  • No

    Votes: 70 23.7%
  • Total voters
    295
One thing is missing to consider speedcubing as a sport : a federation. But anyway, all the other requirements are filled.
 
With the word "sport" becoming more and more flexible everyday, I like to define the word sport as "any activity requiring physical activity with a competitive atmosphere within it."
 
This is a tough one. I don't want to call cubing a sport yet -- it doesn't have that level of respect outside of cubing community (not yet anyway).

If I ask a bunch of people who do not know how to cube, they all say cubing is definitely not a sport. Until some of those people start agreeing...
 
No, I don't think that speedcubing has reached the level of being called a sports yet. Some people quoted the dictionary.com definition of a sport, and said it fit all of the criteria. But you were missing one word. It says, "an athletic activity." The best definition of athletic that I could find was, "Of or pertaining to athletes or to the exercises practiced by them; as, athletic games or sports." So we as speedcubers would be considered athletes because we speedsolve, which is not true.

Also, I think that a sport is something that should take many many years to get really good at. There have been people who started cubing, and in 3 or 4 months average sub-20.

And lastly, I think a sport is something that the majority of a population believe is a sport. The majority of people would not believe speedcubing is a sport, so in my definition, it is not a sport.

It all boils down to your own opinions.
 
not all sports have athletic traits in them, take fishing, any fat guy could sit on his butt and fish, not much athleticism there, reeling in a fish shows no athletic ability at all

if they call stacking cups, sport stacking, speed cubing could just as easily be called sport cubing
 
I asked a non-cuber what he thinks

he says "just like Chess and Sudoku thinking "games" are not sports"

edit:

from non-cubers I now have one no and 2 yesses
 
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soccerking813 said:
Also, I think that a sport is something that should take many many years to get really good at. There have been people who started cubing, and in 3 or 4 months average sub-20.
Click to expand...

Sub-20 isn't that good, though. Assuming that the best cubers can get averages of around 11 seconds, a sub-20 average would be like running a 100-meter sprint in under 17.5 seconds. Not all that impressive compared to people who are really good at it, and definitely not world-class. Still, there ARE a few people who reach 11-12 seconds very fast (in 6 months or a year), but I think for most people it takes a few years to get really good.

Don't forget that cubing is still in its infancy, even if it doesn't feel like it. Perhaps in 20 years, when the fastest people are quite a bit faster, it WILL take several years to reach the top. So, just like how someone else said you need a federation to be a sport, don't say that speedcubing itself is not a sport just because people have not done it for long enough to establish incredible world-class times and a high level of organization. We haven't even been around long enough yet to have retired cubers getting paid to coach beginners! Just imagine what it will be like in 20 or 50 years.


PS: Wikipedia calls speedcubing a sport, but it does put it under the "mind sports" category along with competitive gaming and board games. On the other hand the first line of the "sport" article says "Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively."

PPS: Goddammit, I've looked at the word "sport" so many times that my brain is saying "that's not a real word Michael". **** you, English.
 
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That70sShowDude said:
not all sports have athletic traits in them, take fishing, any fat guy could sit on his butt and fish, not much athleticism there, reeling in a fish shows no athletic ability at all

if they call stacking cups, sport stacking, speed cubing could just as easily be called sport cubing
Click to expand...

Agreed 100%. But the only problem is that no one other than people who speedcube actually get what it is. Most people understand fishing.
 
That70sShowDude said:
not all sports have athletic traits in them, take fishing, any fat guy could sit on his butt and fish, not much athleticism there, reeling in a fish shows no athletic ability at all

if they call stacking cups, sport stacking, speed cubing could just as easily be called sport cubing
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say so.
But it's more than just a hobby, that's for sure.

luke1984 said:
If chess is considered a (thinking)sport than I see no reason why speedcubing shouldn't be.
Click to expand...

Chess requires much more actual thinking than speedcubing though.
After a while, your hands almost automatically execute everything for you.
Grandmasters can sometimes take half an hour or more for a move.
 
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soccerking813 said:
No, I don't think that speedcubing has reached the level of being called a sports yet. Some people quoted the dictionary.com definition of a sport, and said it fit all of the criteria. But you were missing one word. It says, "an athletic activity." The best definition of athletic that I could find was, "Of or pertaining to athletes or to the exercises practiced by them; as, athletic games or sports."
Click to expand...

an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature
Click to expand...

No one pick up on the or?
 
And here's the quote right above that:
"Requiring little or no physical exertion or agility mind sports are often not considered true sports. Some mind sports are recognised by sporting federations. The following list is intended to represent anything that is likely to be referred to as a mind sport, not to argue their validity as sports."
 
qqwref said:
Any definition of sport that involves golf or bowling (activities which are not that labor-intensive and don't require great physical strength to be good at) must also be open to possibilities of things like speedcubing. In fact, Wikipedia calls sport-stacking, curling, ballooning, angling, hamster racing, robot combat, MMO gaming, geocaching, arm wrestling, poker, solitaire, chess, the fifteen puzzle, and trading card games sports; I don't think anyone would claim that all of these require huge amounts of exertion on the part of the people playing them.

Basically, the amount of skill required in speedcubing (I'd like to see someone who hasn't spent more than a few weeks practicing get a sub-15 average...) and the competitive nature of it make it an obvious example of a sport, even if there are no teams, no coaches, and next to no physical exertion.
Click to expand...


I voted no, because as a sports nerd (or so I'm called...) cubing doesn't really require as many muscles or as much muscle power to do...
But if sport-stacking and all that other crap are considered "sports" than cubing is a definite YES!!!
 
Thieflordz5 said:
I voted no, because as a sports nerd (or so I'm called...) cubing doesn't really require as many muscles or as much muscle power to do...
But if sport-stacking and all that other crap are considered "sports" than cubing is a definite YES!!!
Click to expand...

Careful. Cubing requires more muscles than many sports (because of the huge number of muscles in our hands, as opposed to a few per leg), they're just smaller muscles and they have to put out less work. I do agree that cubing requires less *muscle power* than many other sports; however, there are comparatively few sports where a large amount of raw power is the goal or even necessary (for instance, powerlifting), and in fact there are many actual sports which don't require a high level of physical strength/exertion at all on the part of the athlete. Examples: archery/shooting, any kind of motor vehicle racing, bocce, bowling, billiards, any kind of equine sports, fishing, skydiving.

Sure, many of these sports require some physical ability, but it's nothing beyond what an average person could do with minimal training, and skill is a more important determining factor to success than physical strength or endurance. I think cubing falls into this category. It does require some physical strength - I think few people have the finger strength/speed necessary to get sub-12 times without a lot of practice - but not a huge amount. The most important thing is skill - knowing what to do and being able to recognize situations quickly and react to them. I'm beginning to think that maybe chess is a terrible analogy to cubing.
 
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