How old is "old" in sports?

[Guest Redhawk]

From what I see and hear, it looks like...

 

Baseball = 40

Basketball = 32

Football = 32

Hockey = 40

Boxing = 40

Track and field = 30

Pro wrestling = 40

Gymnastics = 18

Tennis = 30

Golf = 70

[Guest Vitamin X]

I'd say that seems just about accurate, except that in football it varies wildly by position and by player. WRs and QBs don't take the same amount of pounding that say, RBs, LBs, and linemen do, and so that prolongs their longevity. Also depends on playing style and size. Larger players in the NBA rarely have as much longevity as the smaller ones.

[Guest Redhawk]

I'd say larger NBA players have more longevity. I can think of more 40-year-old Centers (Robert Parish, Dikembe Mutombo, Herb Williams, Bill Cartwright, Pat Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem) than I can 40-year-old point guards (Stockton, Mark Jackson?)

[Masked Man of Mystery]

I generally define athletes as old when they turn 35. That's when they generally start to slow down and generally lose skill(expections like Randy Coultre always exist, of course)

[MikeJordan23]

You old way before 30 in tennis. and way before 40 in boxing. You lose your speed before you hit your early 30s if you started at 21. Your body wears down in that sport quicker than anyone by far.

 

Wrestling depends. People would argue Flair didn't hit his prime until about 37 from there he had a 5 year run of excellence.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Usually the aging process starts at 30, and accelerates from there.

[Guest Vitamin X]

28-32 is prime, 33+ you decline, DO YOU ACCEPT

[Damaramu]

28-32 is prime, 33+ you decline, DO YOU ACCEPT

NO! FUCK YOU! STOP IM'N ME FROM YOUR 30 AIM ACCOUNTS! ARGH!

 

Sorry but I have flashbacks from that time.

[Guest Vitamin X]

That guy was the best troll in the history of this board. He annoyed EVERYBODY. And he was impossible to argue against, even worse than arguing against MikeSC.

[Murmuring Beast]

In soccer it's pretty much 40. It all depends on the level of competition of course. In our league there was a guy who was 43 playing and he was as fit as many half his age. I don't know whether he'll play again next season. On the other hand we just released a guy who was 38 and he was pretty much the slowest player I've ever seen. So immobile he could hardly stay on his feet when he tried to kick the ball. He was still good in the air though.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

28-32 is prime, 33+ you decline, DO YOU ACCEPT

Heh. He was mistaken. You have to move up the time frame two years.

[razazteca]

28 (7*2*2) and 32 (2*2*2*2*2) are not PRIME! While 31 is PRIME with the decline accelerating from there on.

[CanadianGuitarist]

70 in golf? Certainly not old.

 

If the Champions Tour starts at 50...

 

Jay Haas' success and wins by Stadler and Jacobsen on the PGA tour in recent memory kinda trump that, however.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe]

I wouldn't say there is a definite, clear cut, absolute window of time for the prime years of a players career and exactly when they will decline. It differs from player to player.