Top 10 Most Painful Sports to Play

1. American Football

   Players get broken bones and even worse injuries from playing. This is a very brutal sport (though not at all times).

2. Rugby

3. Ice Hockey

   

   Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponent's net to score goals.

   The sport is known for its speed, physicality, and strategic play. It is especially popular in countries... read more

   I'm only 13 years old, and I've seen my teammate get his ankle cut open, and my friend broke her arm when we were even younger. Hockey can also be about heroics. Players jump in front of a puck and at least try to keep playing even if they are already injured. Even at a young age, you are still at risk of injury.

   I play as a goaltender for a travel team, and even though we have not yet experienced checking, which is slamming people into the boards, we can still get hurt. I've been hit in the throat with a puck many times and even got myself cut by the blade of a skate. They intentionally make younger kids' skates less sharp for that reason.

   It may only be my opinion, but from my experiences, hockey can be a very dangerous, painful, beautiful, and exhilarating sport. That's what makes this sport worth fighting through the pain and taking risks for.

4. Paintball

   Wear a face mask if you enjoy having two eyes.

5. Basketball

   

   Basketball is a sport played by two teams of five players on a rectangular court. The objective is to shoot a ball through an 18-inch-diameter hoop mounted 10 feet above the floor on a backboard at each end of the court. It is one of the most popular sports worldwide, especially in the United States... read more

6. Rowing

   It's also going against your primal instincts. In football, you're trying not to get hurt, and in boxing, you fight to hurt another.

   But hurting yourself to this extent is the most brutal. It's the pain of the sport itself and not the injury. Anyone can break their leg, but playing lacrosse normally or something is not nearly as painful until something goes wrong.

   A perfect race is the most painful and a mental battle. A perfect game of football should involve no pain because you don't get injured.

   People might say, "It's just putting an oar in the water and moving your arms." What it really is, though, involves putting great force into pushing off with your legs. Doing a 5k with coaches watching behind you to ensure your stroke rate goes up is terrifying. Going below a certain number will mark you as the weakling.

   Ergs are called a death stroller for a reason. Once you finish the warm-up, your coach assigns you workouts and meters to complete. When you get up from the erg and walk, your legs tighten up, and you will most likely fall, which could cause a serious injury. I lost 10 pounds in a month just from rowing. I now weigh 115 at 5'5", and I'm 13. This is not a sport to joke around with.

7. Snowboarding

8. BMX

9. Cross Country Track

   Running is so hard on your body. Most times after races people's bodies give up and they puke or collapse because of the amount of strain.

   It is also mental because you have to endure the pain and continue on where most would give up. And especially in cross country where you have to run over hills and tripping hazards in the cold and at high altitudes. It could be the harshest sport on your body.

   I am sorry, but most people will never know how brutal and unforgiving running and racing in cross-country and track are. You really do not have help during a race from teammates like in other sports. You are on your own. Running isn't a game anyway! It is only you and the clock. Training and racing are the same - always painful, always uncomfortable.

10. Skateboarding

    

    Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. It is also considered a recreational activity, an art form, a profession, and a method of transportation. Skateboarding originated in the United States during the 1950s and has grown into a global culture... read more

    My body is 12% scar tissue, not to mention the gnarly injuries I've endured.

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Powerlifting

12. ?

    Diving

    

    Diving - It hurts when you get it right. You can get instant bruising, broken ribs, cough up blood, concussions, nausea, and open cuts.

    And now let's move on to the serious injuries: shoulder dislocations, chronic neck pain, back problems, other dislocations, and serious head injuries (think Greg Louganis) if you hit your head on the springboard.

    And then, of course, there is probable death if you hit your head on the platform.

The Contenders

13. Airsoft

14. Horseracing

    I reckon horse racing can be really dangerous because a horse could crush you without proper training.

15. Boxing

    

    Boxing is a combat sport and martial art in which two people wearing protective gloves throw punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time in a boxing ring.

    It is governed by rules that include weight classes, scoring systems, and safety regulations. Boxing is an Olympic sport and has... read more

    This is a very bloody sport. I can't believe it isn't number one.

    Imagine getting punched in the face...

16. Wrestling

    

    Wrestling is a combat sport involving grappling techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins, and other holds. There are different styles, including freestyle, Greco-Roman, and professional wrestling. Olympic wrestling consists of freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines and... read more

    The goal of the sport is to immobilize another person using techniques that cause intense pain. For example, imagine having someone bend your arms, back, neck, and legs in ways they're not designed to bend in order to force you to submit because it hurts too much.

    Wrestling… the pain is horrible. Let's say you're playing football with your friend, and you get nailed. That hurts pretty bad, right? Imagine that happening to you for an hour and a half straight, with no water breaks, and the heat turned all the way up, for three months straight.

    To top it off, you have to starve yourself to cut weight. Then the next day, you go to a tournament, waking up at 4:30 a.m. to wrestle five matches.

17. Competitive Dance

    You do NOT understand the pain! Bleeding from your toes becomes routine. And if you do not think it's a sport, you're right - it's like a sport, only harder. So, boom.

    Try putting all of your body weight onto two big toes (pointe), and you'll know the pain. Also, it's really easy to get stress fractures in dance - I would know.

18. Gymnastics

    

    Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises that require strength, flexibility, balance, and control.

    It includes various disciplines, such as artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline, and acrobatics. Gymnastics is a core sport in the Summer Olympic Games and is governed... read more

    Bro, I do gymnastics, and it's not only physically painful but also very mentally painful. You get rips, split the beam, and land on your neck a bunch. I don't even know how this isn't in the top 3.

19. Biking

    Just watch the climbs in the Tour de France. The winners can take the most pain.

    A constant 3-5 hour effort puts you through the most suffering ever.

    It's the most painful sport - climbing mountain passes, which can exceed a 22% gradient, with lactic acid running through your legs, and your heart rate constantly nearing 200 bpm. This is the most competitive sport.

20. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

    

    Mixed martial arts is a full-contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques while standing or on the ground, drawing from a variety of other combat sports and martial arts.

    It gained mainstream popularity through organizations such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship... read more

21. Motocross

    Motocross, I think, is one of the most painful sports on the planet. You have to invest a significant amount of time, work, and money into it. Moreover, a single crash could ruin your life or prevent you from doing certain activities.

    Additionally, it is possible to sustain such severe damage in this sport that the chance of death is relatively high. I believe these factors contribute to making motocross one of the most painful sports on the planet.

22. Lacrosse

    

    Lacrosse is a contact team sport played between two teams using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick.

    The objective is to score by shooting the ball into the opponent's goal. Lacrosse has several variations, including field lacrosse, box lacrosse, and... read more

    I've played box lacrosse my whole life. It's different from regular lacrosse in that everyone is a little more violent than in lots of other sports. We can hit way more and get into fights often. Along with the fact that most players can shoot 70+ mph with a heavy rubber ball, I've seen four people get hit in the throat by shots in one season alone. Most of them took a quick water break and went back in.

    Once, I got hit by a shot right on my chest, and ever since then, if I sit in a strange position too long, my ribs start to hurt. In just 28 years, 23 people have died in this sport.

23. Soccer

    

    Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players each. It is played with a spherical ball. The objective is to score goals by getting the ball into the opposing team's net. Soccer is the world's most popular sport, governed internationally... read more

24. Running

    

    Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion that allows humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground. Running is also a fundamental form of cardiovascular exercise and a key discipline in athletics, with... read more

    People don't understand how painful it can be. You've got to push yourself to your limit until you just can't move. After a while, you might even get bruised.

    It takes all your force, agility, and teamwork. You have to make sure not to switch lanes or pass the baton too late. It's a lot of stress because, even though you're on a team, when you're running, you're alone. I have a team, and I am the fastest, so my team depends on me to win. It's stressful, like a lot of sports.

25. Wrestling WWE

26. Swimming

    

    Swimming is an individual or team sport and recreational activity. Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports, with events in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. It requires strong cardiovascular fitness and proper technique and is also widely practiced as a low-impact... read more

    I have done swimming all my life, and it hurts so much. I feel like I'm suffocating all the time. Don't even get me started on butterfly or long-distance. You can feel the lactic acid building up, and your coach yelling at you for needing to breathe just to live.

27. Baseball

    

    Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each who take turns batting and fielding. The game is widely considered the national pastime of the United States. Major League Baseball (MLB) is the sport's highest level of professional play in North America.