On Demand, This Sport Is Tops : High schools: Eight exercise physiologists say water polo is the most grueling of all.

It’s a question of sporting superiority--a subject of debate on the high school scene:

Which sport requires the best overall athletes?

Go ahead, take a shot.

Football?

Sure, some positions need athleticism. But what about those linemen? How tough is it to push someone around when you weigh 300 pounds?

Baseball?

Yawn. Wake me up when that outfielder breaks a sweat.

Basketball?

You’re getting close. The game requires a soft touch, sweet moves and quickness, but the best athletes don’t stop for free throws.

Cross-country? Sure, runners know they’re the fittest around, but how much coordination does it take to run three miles?

Volleyball? No. Tennis? Nope.

Golf? Are you kidding?

Need a hint?

H.

2.

O.

Water polo?

Water polo.

Physiologically speaking, it’s tops. At least that was the majority decision of eight exercise physiologists surveyed. Water polo makes a combination of demands unlike any other high school sport.

A few points to keep in mind:

--The question--”Which sport requires the best overall athletes?”--should not be confused with “What sports do the best athletes play?”

A naturally gifted athlete will excel in nearly any sport he or she chooses. But because the largest numbers of athletes participate in the “major sports,”--football, baseball, basketball--you naturally tend to see more gifted athletes in them.

“You see a lot of good athletes in baseball,” said Dr. Richard Coast of Texas A&M;, “but baseball does not make you a good athlete.”

--The aim was to find the sports that require the most diverse athleticism in competition. Because programs vary greatly, the amount of training put into a sport was not a major consideration.

Sports scientists say it is virtually impossible to come to an indisputable conclusion--there are many variables--but using a number of criteria, an opinion can be formed.

The criteria included eight physiological demands:

--Aerobic endurance, the ability to utilize oxygen over a long term. The longer an activity lasts, the more aerobic endurance you require. Cross-country runners, for example, depend on this more than any other factor.

--Agility. Dexterity, coordination, fancy footwork. A quarterback on the scramble, a tennis player at the net.

--Anaerobic endurance. Anaerobic means “without oxygen.” This is the ability to produce many rapid bursts of energy over time without tiring. A lineman requires great anaerobic endurance.

--Body composition. The body’s ratio of fat, muscle and bone. Generally, the more fat your body is, the less efficient it is at work. Body composition matters greatly in wrestling but little in golf.

--Quickness. Usually paired with agility. A running back wishing to dart around would-be tacklers needs quickness.

--Skill. A learned response through practice, practice, practice.

--Speed. In football, it’s measured by the almighty 40. The most crucial factor in the 100-meter dash.

--Strength. Either overall--as in a linebacker--or specific (a punter’s leg).

Using these factors, exercise physiologists made the following observations on high school sports in Orange County. (If the whole country were considered, cross-country skiing would have received the top vote from some surveyed).

BADMINTON

Most gave medium to low marks to the sport overall--though it ranks above tennis. In singles, players develop quickness and agility but little else. Endurance becomes a moderate factor between evenly matched players during long rallies.

BASEBALL

Voted low by all who were surveyed. Of course this sport varies by position more than any other, and has tremendous demands of speed, skill, strength, quickness and agility--but only in sporadic moments.

“Except for the pitcher and catcher, the other players are basically tourists,” says Dr. Jack Daniels of New York State University at Cortland. “They have moments when they’re expected to perform at extremely high levels. Baseball players are probably some of the very fastest athletes, but how often do you see it?”

As Coast mentioned earlier, baseball attracts top athletes--it doesn’t make them. Still, it’s one of the highest skill sports. A good curve is not easy to hit.

BASKETBALL

Dr. Steve Davis of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo picked basketball as his No. 1. Davis says it balances all the criteria.

Others, such as Dr. Peter Van Handel of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, said he’d rate it in the middle, especially because size is so significant.

“If you’re 7-6, you don’t have to do much else,” Van Handel said. “The smaller person certainly has to exhibit a lot more.”

Most saw basketball among the middle to upper echelon because it has the potential to develop nearly all of the required criteria.

The problem? Generally, too many stops--timeouts, free throws, etc.--kill what could be a terrific endurance sport.

CROSS-COUNTRY

Racing three miles as fast as one can develops an athlete’s cardiovascular and respiratory systems as few other sports. Hence, it gets big points for aerobic endurance.

But cross-county requires virtually no skill, little upper body strength, and agility is tested only on a course that has a variety of terrain--a rare find in days when a course is often a paved path around the school.

FOOTBALL

When asked about this sport, most of those surveyed groaned. Like baseball, football does not make great athletes--most are great athletes when they get there.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper of the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, says football is at the bottom of his list. “Well, just above baseball, really,” he said.

Cooper, one of the nation’s most prominent exercise scientists, is a pioneer in aerobic research, and football is almost purely anaerobic, thriving on quick, explosive movements.

Like baseball, football varies greatly by position. Generally, it can be broken down to skilled and unskilled positions. Quarterbacks, running backs, etc., rely mostly on agility, speed, quickness and varying amounts of strength. Linemen rely mostly on strength.

GOLF

One of the highest skill sports, but little else.

“Body composition doesn’t matter,” said Dr. Craig Cisar of San Jose State. “Strength’s not particularly important, aerobic capacity helps if you carry your own clubs. It’s mainly skill.”

Said Coast: “A little too slow to make one much of an athlete.”

SOCCER

One of the fastest-growing sports gets very high marks all around--unless you’re the goalkeeper.

Soccer demands repeated bursts of speed (anaerobic endurance) as well as continual running (aerobic) along with tremendous skill, agility and quickness. Most surveyed said soccer ranks very close to the top.

Its only weakness is the lack of upper body strength--unless you’re the goalkeeper.

SOFTBALL

Similar demands as baseball. Softball pitchers tend to dominate the high school game, so if you’re not a pitcher or a catcher, you’re generally an onlooker for the most part.

A big need for skill, very little need for endurance.

SWIMMING

Because it works the overall body, unlike soccer or cross-country, Cooper rates it as one of his top choices. It combines both anaerobic and aerobic conditioning and overall body strength.

And while some might not see it as a skill sport, stroke technique is very important for efficiency in the water.

TENNIS

A good skill sport, but it’s not nearly as beneficial in an aerobic sense as most think. There are too many interruptions to make it an endurance sport. It requires quickness and agility, but strength and speed demands are only so-so. Many rank it a notch below badminton.

TRACK AND FIELD

Some surveyed said the decathlon and heptathlon would receive their top vote, but because those multi-event disciplines are not included in regular high school track competition, it was broken down into field events, sprints/hurdles and distances.

Field events such as the shotput and high jump demand strength, skill and agility. Sprints are purely anaerobic--add hurdles, and you need skill and agility--and distances require aerobic conditioning.

Put it all together, as the decathlon seems to do, and you’ve got the makings of a superior overall athlete, experts say.

VOLLEYBALL

If it were a two-man beach game, high school volleyball would rank much higher than it does. With six players on each side, though, experts say there’s not enough action to go around to make it an aerobic sport.

But volleyball gets high marks elsewhere. Strength, in legs for leaping and arms for spiking or blocking, is very important. It requires an athlete to develop skill, quickness and agility.

WATER POLO

Combine basketball and swimming and you have something that compares to water polo, the sport that demands it all.

Quarters are six minutes in length, not counting the multitude of clock stoppages. During that time, players must continually swim or tread water (aerobic), make quick bursts to the ball (anaerobic), catch and pass the ball in one hand (skill, agility, quickness), and use their lower body to propel themselves above the water to shoot (strength). And they must do so with their opponents clutching, grabbing, kicking and poking all the while.

“That’s a tough combination,” San Jose State’s Cisar said. “Water polo’s probably the best overall sport in terms of physiological demands placed on the athlete.”

WRESTLING

To get a better understanding of what they go through in a match, wrestlers suggest clenching your fist as hard as you can for three minutes. Now imagine every muscle of your body feeling the same way.

Wrestling is nearly 100% anaerobic--every move is pure strength. Quickness, agility and skill are important, and body composition is probably more important in this sport than in the others.

But wrestling requires very little aerobic endurance. Most wrestlers have it--through lots of running and drills during practice--but experts say there’s little use for it during competition.

So why incorporate aerobic endurance when you’ve got all the rest?

Because someday, you might want to play water polo.

OUR PANEL

Physiology experts surveyed for this story:

Dr. Craig Cisar, associate professor of exercise physiology, San Jose State Dr. Steve Davis, professor of exercise physiology, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the Cooper Clinic, Dallas, Tex. Dr. Jack Daniels, associate professor of exercise physiology, State University of New York at Cortland Dr. J. Richard Coast, assistant professor, Human Performance Laboratory, Texas A&M; Dr. Peter Van Handel, senior physiologist, U.S. Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs Dr. George Brooks, professor of exercise physiology, University of California Jeff Zachwieja, doctoral student in exercise physiology, Human Performance Laboratory, Ball State