• CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    I don’t follow NBA but I do casually watch some hockey (including women’s hockey) and I’d be surprised if even the very best women’s hockey players could beat a team made up of lower ranked NHL players. The men will have better puck handling, higher speed, more weight, and they shoot more often opening up more plays.

    My anecdotal sports experience, for what that’s worth: when I was 14-15 playing soccer, women’s university teams would play against us for training. The women were taller than us on average, ran a bit faster, used more vocal communication, and were much more physically aggressive. The men had better endurance, ball-handling, and positioning. We never lost, and no one seemed surprised by this.

    It’s not just the obvious height and weight advantages at play, and I’m not sure how much socialization matters but I’d wager less than our biology in sports and other extreme athletic endeavours.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      So basically you have no idea. And I really don’t think it makes sense that every single women’s college soccer player in the country would not be able to beat your team. That’s not how athletics works. Just because women are on average less strong than men doesn’t make it a universal truth. It’s an average.

      • CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        Watching junior/college sports is enlightening because you can forget actual pro players, there is a small army of NHL hopefuls who could outplay the best pro women’s team.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          How many times have you actually seen this happen? Have you seen it happen with every single female hockey player?

          Because otherwise there might be a woman who plays hockey who is better than the worst NHL player.

          I’m guessing you haven’t seen it happen with every single female hockey player.