[Discussion] Is speedcubing a sport?

[Stefan]

Carrot!...

 

[Lord Voldemort]

chess is a terrible analogy to cubing.

Yeah. Unless you're talking about Bullet chess or something.

 

[d4m4s74]

It is definitely a sport according to the almighty "list of sports" on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports#Speedcubing

nice IP
67.142.162.27

 

[luke1984]

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

If chess is considered a (thinking)sport than I see no reason why speedcubing shouldn't be.

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.

Agreed, but it was just an example. What I meant was that sport doesn't always necessarily involve physical labour. Speedcubing, of course, does involve finger dexterity, but it is, in my opinion, mostly a product of logic and memory.

 

[Ellis]

Whoever just added that 2x2 to 7x7 on wikipedia is dumb.

 

[JTW2007]

DEFINITION:

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.

activity - cubing
skill - remebering algorithms, turning the cube, looking ahead
physical - finger tricks
competive natures - wanting to get better then everyone else

So yes i think its a sport. =)

DEFINITION:

an athletic activity

Hmmm... I voted no.

If speedcubing is a sport, so is cup stacking. Speedcubing is an intellectual hobby/entertainment device that does have physical aspects of coordination and timing involved, but that doesn't qualify it as a sport.

 

[Deleted member 2864]

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.

Ahem... I'm an avid golfer and it's many people's ideas that golf doesn't take very much energy at all. i play golf twice a week and it's not like it takes no labor when you walk 18 holes with weight on your back (and somewhat slopy here in ohio).


But to answer the real question, yes, it is a sport that many believe it's not. Though you're not neccesarily sweating just by turning the cube, it is competitive and does in fact, take tons of skill.

 

[qqwref]

Ahem... I'm an avid golfer and it's many people's ideas that golf doesn't take very much energy at all. i play golf twice a week and it's not like it takes no labor when you walk 18 holes with weight on your back (and somewhat slopy here in ohio).

Permit me to disagree. The reason is that the walking around does not have anything to do with the sport ITSELF. Being better at walking around will not make you better at golf - your skill in golf is measured only by your ability to hit the ball the right way, which does not require much energy at all. Basically what I am saying is that you are putting the work in of your own accord, and not because the work IS the sport. (If you're willing to pay a bit more, you could always get a caddy and/or golf cart, and thus do much less work, whereas in a sport like basketball there is no way to get out of running around the court without being much less skillful.) Saying golf takes a lot of energy because you have to walk from hole to hole is like saying cubing takes a lot of energy because you have to get up on stage for each solve at a competition.

 

[Deleted member 2864]

Ahem... I'm an avid golfer and it's many people's ideas that golf doesn't take very much energy at all. i play golf twice a week and it's not like it takes no labor when you walk 18 holes with weight on your back (and somewhat slopy here in ohio).

Permit me to disagree. The reason is that the walking around does not have anything to do with the sport ITSELF. Being better at walking around will not make you better at golf - your skill in golf is measured only by your ability to hit the ball the right way, which does not require much energy at all. Basically what I am saying is that you are putting the work in of your own accord, and not because the work IS the sport. (If you're willing to pay a bit more, you could always get a caddy and/or golf cart, and thus do much less work, whereas in a sport like basketball there is no way to get out of running around the court without being much less skillful.) Saying golf takes a lot of energy because you have to walk from hole to hole is like saying cubing takes a lot of energy because you have to get up on stage for each solve at a competition.

hmm... I can't disagree with you on the first part... you're right, the walk has nothing to do with your game. But it's not like golf takes no energy when hitting. For one part, it take a heck of a lot more than doing a T perm >.< but as for the caddy/cart, maybe some people do that, but it:

1. wastes your money
2. only proves you're lazy
3. if you get a caddy, that is often pretty pricy
4. you have to deal with a bad caddy's terrible ideas



Edit: i think in retrospect i got a little carried away because i'm a hypocrite for some of those...

 

[eastamazonantidote]

I define a sport as involving some sort of athletic talent: running, jumping, throwing (the ancient definitions of sport), as well as flexibility. Finger turning falls under none of these categories.

However, that doesn't go to say that it isn't difficult. Speedcubing is like getting really good a Super Smash Bros: it takes skill, time, and quick thinking, but there is no way one could consider it a sport.

Some other common non-sports I can think of:
Poker: no physical prowess needed, despite being on ESPN
Golf: it's a GAME, not a sport, despite being on ESPN
NASCAR: the only true difficulty I see is holding in your bowels for that long

While these activities may require skill (driving a car can be harder than it looks), they are not sports by any stretch of the imagination (well, my imagination). Golf is a game: a sport should leave your body spent by the time your 40 (if you play professionally). Poker requires no physical ability other than the poker face and the ability to stay put for so long. While some have a talent for non-sports and you can get better at these non-sports, it does not make it a sport. Hell, I have an extraordinary talent for wolfing down pounds of food, but that doesn't make it a sport, nor does the fact that I can get better at eating gargantuan portions.

No, speedcubing is not a sport, but rather a competitive puzzle solving community.

 

[somerandomkidmike]

DEFINITION:

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.

activity - cubing
skill - remebering algorithms, turning the cube, looking ahead
physical - finger tricks
competive natures - wanting to get better then everyone else

So yes i think its a sport. =)

I was going to say no until I saw this.

 

[bamman1108]

It's not a sport the way most people use the term. It is a sport, however, in a similar way to how gaming, billiards, and, yes, speedstacking are sports.

 

[Odin]

I say yes. "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."

I just cant wait until speed solving gets a T.V. show on ESPN !

 

[bamman1108]

DEFINITION:

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.

activity - cubing
skill - remebering algorithms, turning the cube, looking ahead
physical - finger tricks
competive natures - wanting to get better then everyone else

So yes i think its a sport. =)

I was going to say no until I saw this.

Really? I could've sworn skill was involved in cubing.

 

[Deleted member 2864]

I define a sport as involving some sort of athletic talent: running, jumping, throwing (the ancient definitions of sport), as well as flexibility. Finger turning falls under none of these categories.

However, that doesn't go to say that it isn't difficult. Speedcubing is like getting really good a Super Smash Bros: it takes skill, time, and quick thinking, but there is no way one could consider it a sport.

Some other common non-sports I can think of:
Poker: no physical prowess needed, despite being on ESPN
Golf: it's a GAME, not a sport, despite being on ESPN
NASCAR: the only true difficulty I see is holding in your bowels for that long

While these activities may require skill (driving a car can be harder than it looks), they are not sports by any stretch of the imagination (well, my imagination). Golf is a game: a sport should leave your body spent by the time your 40 (if you play professionally). Poker requires no physical ability other than the poker face and the ability to stay put for so long. While some have a talent for non-sports and you can get better at these non-sports, it does not make it a sport. Hell, I have an extraordinary talent for wolfing down pounds of food, but that doesn't make it a sport, nor does the fact that I can get better at eating gargantuan portions.

No, speedcubing is not a sport, but rather a competitive puzzle solving community.

but golf requires flexibility! It's not a walk in the park on comfortability for most to get an 85° shoulder turn, 16° waist, swing plane on right spot, whilst making sure not to fall back on impact. What is your def of "wasted?" You can play baseball at 40 if you wanted to and are you implying that a sport can't last you past 40? Even if you still play past 40, it's still the same sport. You throw, catch, swing, etc. still. Or are you implying that 40+ year olds who were pro are lazy bums who can't play a sport?
Yes, Im stubbornly debatin

 

[Hadley4000]

Some other common non-sports I can think of:
Poker: no physical prowess needed, despite being on ESPN
Golf: it's a GAME, not a sport, despite being on ESPN
NASCAR: the only true difficulty I see is holding in your bowels for that long

Poker. Agreed.

Golf. A sport. It takes a lot of physical effort. The countless hours of training, plus the tournaments themselves take a ton of work. Look at Tiger, he is absolutely ripped, and that upper body strength helps him a lot.

NASCAR. Though I do not consider it a sport, there is a lot more to it. It is a very exhausting activity, and it is ot uncommon for a driver to lose up to 10 pounds of water weight due to sweat.

 

[soccerking813]

DEFINITION:

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.

activity - cubing
skill - remebering algorithms, turning the cube, looking ahead
physical - finger tricks
competive natures - wanting to get better then everyone else

You guys keep missing one of the things a sport needs (according to this definition).

DEFINITION:

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.

activity - cubing
skill - remebering algorithms, turning the cube, looking ahead
physical - finger tricks
competive natures - wanting to get better then everyone else

And cubing is not an athletic activity.

 

[JTW2007]

Yep. I agree.

 

[blgentry]

This whole debate boils down to "what is a sport?"

Rather than try to define it (which you can find many different opinions on), I'll just ask this to anyone that wants to answer: Why do you care if cubing falls into some definition of "a sport"? Are you going to try to compare your cubing skill to a football player or something?

It's a challenging activity that we all enjoy. Some compete against each other. Some only compete against themselves.

Anything else is just labels, semantics, or word games.

Brian.

 

[JTW2007]

It's a challenging activity that we all enjoy. Some compete against each other. Some only compete against themselves.

Anything else is just labels, semantics, or word games.

Yes.