Athleticism Defined

Last year, I dedicated two issues of the Hard 2 Guard Player Development Newsletters to athleticism. I argued that Roger Federer was the best athlete in sports right now, that Steve Nash was a phenomenal athlete and that too often, we limit our discussion of athleticism to how fast someone can run or how high they can jump, rather than taking a broader view and incorporating many different athletic skills. 

On Vern Gambetta’s blog, he defined athleticism as:

the ability to execute athletic movements (run, jump, throw) at optimum speed with precision, style and grace while demonstrating technical competency in the context of your sport.

Is there a more athletic movement in sports today than Federer returning a backhand down the line? Is there a more athletic movement in basketball than Nash sprinting down court with the dribble and throwing a left-handed bounce pass cross court to a strekaing teammate and hitting him in perfect stride?