Most tactically complicated sport?

[suzzer99]

I think any sport's "tactical complication factor" can be fairly easily estimated by the number of cocahes needed and the amount of sideline consultation that goes on during the game. Using this measure football is far and away compared to any sports I can think of. Compare to baseball where you have some old guy and his buddy spitting sunflower seeds and shooting the breeze 90% of the game.

These are also borne out by common sense analysis of the nature of each game. In football you have 22 people on the field and almost all of them can make a difference on any given play. And more importantly you have a few seconds off after every play to decide more stuff. I can't think of another sport that combines these two elements.

So does cricket really have that many coaches and decision-making going on during the game? Are there other sports out there that do?

[MicroBob]

part of why football needs more coaches is because there are so many players on the team and so many different positions where the skills are different.

So you need a coach to work with the O-line on blocking technique, different coach to work with the defense on tackling, a coach to work with the receivers on running their patterns and catching the ball, etc.


Of course, they also need to work on the actual X's and O's and not just the skills required for those plays and this isn't to say that there aren't a lot of tactics involved in football.
But I think the number of coaches involved is more due to the variety of skills that are mostly unique to the different positions.

[Oski]

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Sailing is not a sport. I mean, flying a space shuttle is pretty goddamn complex, let's put that #1!



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It is when you are racing another boat, jackhole.

If you were racing against another space shuttle, then I suppose that would count as well.

[oe39]

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1) American Football
2) Soccer
3) Hockey
4) Baseball
994) Basketball.

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ever watched the nba playoffs?

isn't soccer entirely dominated by the "fake injury" strat?

[suzzer99]

And when to apply the magic spray that turns a writhing-in-agony, unable-to-move injury into complete recovery in about 10 seconds. Just imagine if you could steal another team's magic spray. Total and utter carnage.

[adsman]

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So does cricket really have that many coaches and decision-making going on during the game? Are there other sports out there that do?

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There are quite a few specialist coaches in cricket, batting, bowling, fielding, fitness, etc. But during a game the decisions rest for the most part with the team captain.

The fielding side captain has to decide which bowlers to use, (normally he has about 5 to select from), and the fielding positions to take up based on the two batsmen currently on the field. Teams study video footage of opposing batsmen to identify their weaknesses and exploit them. There are 11 players on the field from the fielding team and there are over 30 different fielding positions that can be utilised.

Which bowlers to use also depends on the state of the pitch. Is it a fast pitch, a wearing pitch, a crumbling pitch etc. Then there is the state of the outfield, if it is fast or slow. The weather then comes into play, as high humidity can effect the state of the pitch and vice versa. All of these factors come into play before chosing which bowler to use and we still haven't brought into play the batsman that is currently on strike.

Now, combine all this with the fact that one game lasts 5 days and play takes up 8 hours a day and you're beginning to see the complexities inherent in cricket. And I haven't even touched on what the captain has to take into account when the roles are reveresed and his side is batting.

[junglewarfare]

cricket is the nascar of the british empire. its a really, really good analogy, good enough for me to write a history paper on. whoot

[Abramovic]

No one has said snooker. The player has to do all the tactical thinking, as opposed to a manager.

Also, I think F1 is a lot more tactical than people think, as is cycling.

[thatpfunk]

"So you need a coach to work with the O-line on blocking technique, different coach to work with the defense on tackling, a coach to work with the receivers on running their patterns and catching the ball, etc."

once you get past HS football almost everything is Xs & Os. When breaking down tape coaches notice tiny technique stuff to work on but for the most part it is studying playbooks.

[Yads]

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And when to apply the magic spray that turns a writhing-in-agony, unable-to-move injury into complete recovery in about 10 seconds. Just imagine if you could steal another team's magic spray. Total and utter carnage.

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Aren't those leg cramps?