Harder Job: Professional Athlete or Professional Dancer

[DrakeWurrum]

So yesterday I got into an arguement with my girlfriend

Learn to let one go, imo. In the end, does it really matter which one is harder?


I could share my opinion, but I don't know anything about either career track.

[TechnoKronic]

I'd like to see a dancer hit a ball smaller than a chicken egg 450 yards and get into a hole the size of a coffee mug in a single stroke.

90% of golfers look like they spend most of their time at the buffet...
dancers, just like any other pro athlete, have to keep their body in shape in order to perform.
a golfer, hits a ball. of course it requires extreme accuracy, however it's neither physically demanding, nor a high risk sport. golf is so boring.

[Kasierith]

Dancer, if you look at the absolute, absolute best in their fields. I've yet to see any athlete compare to professionals in groups such as Cirque du Soleil. As an athlete, you have an inherent drive to succeed. You have competition with others, ranked positions, the potential for fame and fortune. Professional dancers are relatively very personally motivated. You don't practice to beat the person across from you... you practice to become better, and better, and in many situations going through years of areas that you have no interest in to gain the ability to enter the particular area you desire the most

[BatteredRose]

All things considered, professional dancer.

[TechnoKronic]

if a football or basketball player can pull this off.. then i would say they're pretty equal

[Ginantonicus]

I'm going to compare dancing to a sport i know, cycling. In cycling there is a saying "It never gets easier, only faster". What this means is you will always be pushing as hard as you can for your career. Cycling is also a 10+ year sport, this means you wont hit your top speeds ect. for 10 years or over. With dancing however you are limited to the dance routine. Obviously the stronger, more flexible you are the easier it will be (I do say easier not easy). When you say profession athlete you compare a whole heap of jobs to one. I think being a pro cyclist would be harder than being a pro dancer but being a pro bowler would be easier still (assuming you have the talent to do it in the first place).
When it comes down to it, it doesn't really matter as long as you enjoy what your doing.

[Torstein]

You do realize that "pro athlete" also includes things like golfers, bowlers, handballers, etc, right?

Some sports are very hard on the body. Others...not so much.

Why isn´t handball hard on the body ?

[Razkul]

if a football or basketball player can pull this off.. then i would say they're pretty equal

Id like to see one of them take a hit from a 300+ pound man running full speed. Let alone every week for 6-15 years

[TechnoKronic]

Id like to see one of them take a hit from a 300+ pound man running full speed. Let alone every week for 6-15 years

see how we're comparing apples to oranges. you cant compare two sports/athletes unless they play in the same sport.

a football player cant do a pirouette, and a dance cant take a tackle. this argument is pretty much invalid.

[Kapper117]

Id like to see one of them take a hit from a 300+ pound man running full speed. Let alone every week for 6-15 years

First of all you're all wrong and hockey is the greatest sport ever also the hardest, football pussies just get a break every 10 seconds, soccer is a joke, and basketball you get a foul for poking somebody. Don't even get me started on baseball or any other sport...lol

Either way harder job i would say athlete, which is also better. Most people also would rather watch any sport other than dancing...who watches it?!

[Kasierith]

First of all you're all wrong and hockey is the greatest sport ever also the hardest, football pussies just get a break every 10 seconds, soccer is a joke, and basketball you get a foul for poking somebody. Don't even get me started on baseball or any other sport...lol

Either way harder job i would say athlete, which is also better. Most people also would rather watch any sport other than dancing...who watches it?!

A few billion people around the world... its only been an integral part of almost every culture even before recorded history.


And to the earlier point, I'd love to see an athlete like a tennis player, swimmer, or skier get bull rushed by a 300 lbs person take a hit. Or seeing as strongmen are sometimes incorporated into dances in various circuses and groups... don't forget not all dancers are small and lithe.

[belfpala]

Wait... what? I didn't read through the thread (sorry)... but aren't professional dancers a subset of professional athletes?

ath·lete/ˈaTHlēt/
Noun:
A person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.

Just saying.

[TechnoKronic]

First of all you're all wrong and hockey is the greatest sport ever also the hardest, football pussies just get a break every 10 seconds, soccer is a joke, and basketball you get a foul for poking somebody. Don't even get me started on baseball or any other sport...lol

Either way harder job i would say athlete, which is also better. Most people also would rather watch any sport other than dancing...who watches it?!

wow you're ignorant. dancing probably takes the most skill out of all of these.
Not only are these men and women performing complex routines, they HAVE to be in sync 100%.
Football: throw ball hope someone catches it.
Baseball: hit ball hope someone doesn't catch it
Basketball: throw ball hope it doesn't make it
Soccer: kick ball hope it makes it into the net
Hockey: hit puck thingy hope it makes it into the net


Danceing: multiple routines, stances, perfect balance, synchronization, performing in front of thousand of people that critique you on every move you make. you throw a dancer in the air you cant not catch her... i dont know why this is being discussed with males when of course they would see sport as more demanding when NEITHER CAN BE COMPARED. Its all a matter of opinion. not only must you perform perfectly you must dress the part.

[Kapper117]

You are still all wrong.

[Clevername]

Does it really matter? All this thread will turn into is an argument of The sport or activity that I like is better / more difficult than all others because of X, Y, Z. Dancers are technically athletes which makes the question invalid. A valid question would be Professional Dancer vs. Professional Golfer but that is just as stupid since they require completely different skill sets.

[Deleted]

I find it ridiculous that either can be considered a real job.

I said it.

[Fahrenheit]

Two words. Bill Buckner.

For those of you who are nerds and don't know a lick about anything other than WoW & spores, molds and fungi (bonus points to those who can name that reference). One error during the World Series basically ruined a guy's life. I can't think of a dancer that screwed up once... not because it hasn't happened, but because nobody cares.

Limiting this to purely physical workload, both are pretty equal, though certain sports positions don't require as much athleticism. Dancers don't have to deal with rabid fans bases calling up sports talk radio ripping them should they have a few bad games in a row. They don't have to change their life due to the public knowing what they look like.

Can you imagine Derek Jeter or Tom Brady or Tiger Woods just going out to a local store, in NY or Boston? It would be insanity. I'm pretty sure the world's most famous dancer could walk by 99+% of the world population and no one would know who they are.

I've got two more words for you. Andrés Escobar, look that up. If you think the US is crazy about sports...

[Liara]

I think the correct answer would be that this entire comparison isn't objective, nor fair.
First of all, because "Athlete" incorporates so many different sports (including dancing).
Secondly, because even when you compare a specific sport to dancing, they can require completely different things (or similar things, but no two are alike etc etc).

Which of course makes the answers people give entirely subjective (not that there was any doubt).

[BLCalliente]

First of all you're all wrong and hockey is the greatest sport ever also the hardest, football pussies just get a break every 10 seconds, soccer is a joke, and basketball you get a foul for poking somebody. Don't even get me started on baseball or any other sport...lol

Either way harder job i would say athlete, which is also better. Most people also would rather watch any sport other than dancing...who watches it?!

Are you serious? Everyone with a TV watches professional dancing.

[Clevername]

Football: throw ball hope someone catches it.
Baseball: hit ball hope someone doesn't catch it
Basketball: throw ball hope it doesn't make it
Soccer: kick ball hope it makes it into the net
Hockey: hit puck thingy hope it makes it into the net

The way you just broke down these sports is pretty hilarious, I bet you were always picked first on the playground.