Best Sports for guys over 50 to beat guys in their 20s

mens league wrote:

Basketball.......There are some recreational 50+ men's league teams that can hold their own on the court. I would bet a team of retired pros that are in good shape could hold their own against a team of rookie pros in a single pick up game. No chance in an 82 game season though.

No way. Vince Carter was one of the greatest leapers of all time and he got hung trying to dunk at 39. At 50, even the greatest would be hard pressed to go full court for 40-48 minutes against a tournament caliber DI team. Yes, skills matter but if you can't elevate or turn the corner a quality 20 year old player will eat you up.

Ultradude wrote:

Chess

Actually, almost all chess grandmasters are surprisingly young. To echo a previous post

Earning potential

There are tons of sports out there.

Fishing

Golfing

Racing cars

Billiards

Bowling

Curling

Horseshoes

Gaming

Seriously, old guys dominate.

Russian roulette.

Triathlon. It's way too cost prohibitive for guys in their 20s.

Dont forget me...... wrote:

Croquet

Also including but not limited to:

Crochet

Jim Croce imitations

Croquettes consumption

Conch shell diving

La Cucaracha bands

BJJfan wrote:

My husband is 48 and he is totally competitive against guys in their 20s in Brazilian Jiujitsu. Great sport... he got me into it at the age of 45 (47 now). Love it... we runners have the flight down, but it's nice to learn the fight too.

Lol this sounds like exactly the kind of phrase you would here in a bjj gym

#nopainnogain #youronlylimitisyourself

GenXer wrote:

Full time employment

These two are correlated.

The more 50+ year olds who won't retire (because they spent all their money on their kids) the less 20-30s who can't get full-time jobs. Jobs are finite.

EpicQueen wrote:

Jerry Rice is 55. Try to beat him at 100m!

IMO, Jerry Rice was capable of 10.75 to 11.25 100m, age 20 to late twenties. I'm going to state J. Rice is a 13.5 to 14 100m person today. Including, men, women, children and ultra runners on Let's Run, J. Rice would beat (75 to 87.5)% percent of individuals on LetRun in 100m dash.

Poker it is a game but a sport the type of strategy and moves it takes to be a serious competitor is brutal. I took this up when I couldn't compete anymore. Things I have noticed you get the same feeling when you zap competitors out of a tournament and it is the same type of excitement when you win. The only difference is with poker if you get really good you could win tournaments that are worth $100,000 to $1,000,000. I was also a big wave surfer and one thing that was really exciting was trying to get out of the way of a 30+ ft roller and seeing some guy's not punch through right and get picked off it gave you a sick sense of pleasure when you made it through and the jet ski was picking up the causalities, poker is the same feeling you see all of there money in your pile.

think about it wrote:

GenXer wrote:

Full time employment

These two are correlated.

The more 50+ year olds who won't retire (because they spent all their money on their kids) the less 20-30s who can't get full-time jobs. Jobs are finite.

or they did a horrible job saving.

How has no one said racquetball? The better old guys figure out all of the angles and rarely even have to move during games while making their opponents scramble all over the court. Classic veteran savvy game.

I'd also say tennis, provided the 50 year old is in good shape. A young average skilled tennis player could get totally schooled by an older who has more variety, technique and game tactics. Typically younger players know how to do one thing and that is to hit the ball hard.

Archery

Video gaming

Foosball

The best 20 year olds will beat the best 50 year olds at EVERYTHING.

The only way an old guy wins something is if no decent young guys show up.

I say this as an old guy myself.

Tgirl wrote:

Ultradude wrote:

Chess

Actually, almost all chess grandmasters are surprisingly young. To echo a previous post

Earning potential

I'm fairly good at chess (ELO 2100) at age 54. I was better when I was younger. You can't hold the calculations in your head the same way you did as a youngster when you get to my age.

All the best players are young

mens league wrote:

Basketball.......There are some recreational 50+ men's league teams that can hold their own on the court. I would bet a team of retired pros that are in good shape could hold their own against a team of rookie pros in a single pick up game. No chance in an 82 game season though.

No way Jose. There were a "team of retired pros," many of whom were allstars, that played in the inaugural BIG3 nationally televised basketball league this past spring & summer. Most were over 40, a few 50+. They could only play half-court, many had lost their speed & endurance and looked slow & gimpy, and some even sustained major injuries. If you watched a few of these games there's no way they could match rookie pros in full court contest. 😁

The real answer here is road cycling. Plenty of 50y/o guys who ride and train a lot could trash a fit 20-something (ie sub-15 guy). It takes time and lots of miles and 50y/o can put that together.

Triathlon, as aforementioned, is also up there. I think the fitness is a little more in favor toward the 20y/o because of three sports, but the cost of getting fast and the ability to "buy speed" in the "sport" help the 50y/o a lot.

Young man's game wrote:

The best 20 year olds will beat the best 50 year olds at EVERYTHING.

The only way an old guy wins something is if no decent young guys show up.

I say this as an old guy myself.

The best 50 yr old powerliftter will destroy the best 20 yr old powerliftter.