What Gamers Have In Common With Top Athletes

nk497 writes "It's no surprise that professional gamers aren't quite as fit as elite athletes, but they do have something in common. According to a British academic, top-level players show similar psychological attributes as top athletes, such as the ability to manage anxiety, and have reaction times on par with fighter pilots. Dr. Micklewright said, 'When I first got asked to do [the study], my initial reaction was "don't be ridiculous, gaming is nothing like sport." But the more I thought about it, the more similarities [became clear], and I became more and more convinced that it was close in many ways to sport.' While sitting in front of a screen might not have the same physical demands as running a marathon, neither do playing snooker or darts. Still, while gamers show good reflexes, their health was worse than expected, with one 20-something professional player showing the same aerobic health as a 60-year-old smoker." This story is based on a BBC radio report which you can currently hear, although that link seems to say that it won't last.

Comments

Re:Unpopular answer

[vlm]

They both get overpaid to play a childs game.

Almost no one watches real athletes like mountain climbers, weight lifters, soldiers qualifications courses, or deep sea divers. No one watches real gamers like hard core strategic wargamers. Just big steroid addicts playing kids ball games, and twitchy shooters.

Another similarity is the media coverage is scripted to an intellectual level that makes a typical Noggin/Nick Jr/PBS Sprout cartoon sound like PHD thesis material. Ever catch some ESPN while working out in the gym? All simple one syllable words, lots of grunting.

Re:They meet girls through their hobby

[Locke2005]

Oh, in the case of my daughter who is constantly picking up men online, a 9-year old girl. But then, she actually is an AllStar cheerleader with muscle tone the other cheerleaders' moms envy, just a little young to be legal.

Re:Unpopular answer

[vlm]

I would counter your argument with "Try to play any of these kids ball games". It actually does take skill.

OK, I play kids games. My personal specialty, which happens to be "hide n seek", when compared to:

AmFootball, Baseball, Basketball, etc. and my personal favorite - soccer.

demonstrates the sillyness of adults taking a kids game too seriously. Its just a kids game.

Nothing wrong with playing kids games with the kids, or joining an amateur league to meet people and/or an excuse to drink some beer after the game and/or an excuse for cardiovascular fitness.

I'm making fun of something entirely different, the pro athletes and fans that take those kids games waaaaaay too seriously, the sports media that (exclusively?) narrowcasts at a room temperature IQ level, the dumb arguments that if it doesn't involve a ball like object flying thru the air its not a "real sport" etc.

Any time you hear someone live or on TV yelling and screaming about some sports related topic, hey, its just a kids game.