Pick a mild sport superpower

[Chessic Sense]

Insert your own genie/radiation/super ring story here. Then pick a superpower based on the following rules:

1. Must be a superpower that improves just one facet of your game in any sport. So you can't say "I can make every single pool shot I ever try," because that's the entire game of pool. The rest of your game is still up to you.
2. Your superpower must be within the possibilities of physics and the human body. So no "I can jump 30 feet." or "I can kick a football 700 feet." Also, you're still you. If you're in a wheelchair, you still have the wheelchair unless you opt for functioning legs. If you're 62, you're still 62 unless you want to go back to the 25-yr-old you.
3. Your power can seem extraordinary or freakishly talented to outside observers, but not to a degree that people actually think you're magical. So you can't choose to always be dealt pocket aces, because people would start looking for your cheat method.
4. It must be a personal ability, not a fortuitous circumstance or group blessing/curse. You can't say "I'd score a touchdown every game," because your teammates would need to help you do that. You can't say "The pitcher always hangs a curveball on the second pitch," because that's cursing someone else. You can't say "It never rains on my court," because weather isn't a personal ability.


So what'll it be? Always throw the football precisely where you wanted it to go? Always catch a reachable line drive? Always correctly read a popup? Hit the ball on the sweet spot of the bat every time? Never get thrown out taking second? Never drop a pass? Always fire the puck at the top corners of the net? Never let a puck past your stick hand?

I'm personally going to choose "Never miss a putt from the green." I figure I can learn the rest of golf on my natural ability and still get a green jacket.

[steronz]

Never miss a field goal from within the 50 yard line. In a short while, I imagine I'd be the highest paid kicker in the NFL, which is somewhere around 5 mil/yr according to SI. I could retire after a decade or so and live a ludicrously fabulous lifestyle without taking too many concussions.

[Chessic Sense]

Never miss a field goal from within the 50 yard line. In a short while, I imagine I'd be the highest paid kicker in the NFL, which is somewhere around 5 mil/yr according to SI. I could retire after a decade or so and live a ludicrously fabulous lifestyle without taking too many concussions.

But that's basically your entire game. For kickers, you have to split it into short, medium, and long. So let's say from inside the 23, 23-35, or 35-beyond.

[mkecane]

I play soccer, so I'd want perfect touch with the ball. If someone passes the ball to me, I won't need to trap the ball first; I won't worry about the ball bouncing off my foot as if I'd just thrown a tennis ball againt a brick wall; I'll simply bring the ball in comfortably, and I'll be able to feel calm about what I'm going to be next. No more anxiety, wondering if I'll give the ball away before I even have full possession, etc. mkecaniesta!

[TruCelt]

Unreturnable Tennis serve.

[pancakes3]

i wish i could dunk. no dreams of making it to the NBA, i just want to do it for me.

[brocks]

How about just being incredibly fast? Then you could pretty much pick your sport and excel, whether the obvious like football or track, the slightly less obvious like boxing (if your reflexes are fast enough, you won't get hit hard), or even less obvious like golf (the swing analysts say that hip speed is what makes players like Tiger and McIlroy great).

[UFC Is Sux]

Be a baseball pitcher with pinpoint control, I guess. I'd have to get my left arm back into shape (80 MPH fastball, wicked slider, decent changeup in long-ago high school), but I could throw barely hard enough to bruise a baby's lips if I could control to the millimeter where it went.

[Jman]

Hockey player with impeccable stick handling skills (keep the Puck on a rope, more or less, doing exactly what I want with it while skating). The shot I could improve with practice, as could my conditioning and skating, but superhiman stickhandling would enable a tremendous amount of scoring chances and such.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Be a baseball pitcher with pinpoint control, I guess. I'd have to get my left arm back into shape (80 MPH fastball, wicked slider, decent changeup in long-ago high school), but I could throw barely hard enough to bruise a baby's lips if I could control to the millimeter where it went.From a batter's perspective, I'd love to be able to time my swing to connect with virtually any pitch in the zone so the ball leaves at whatever angle and force I desire. Like the "angles" guy in "Alphas". I'd be the perfect DH.

[UFC Is Sux]

From a batter's perspective, I'd love to be able to time my swing to connect with virtually any pitch in the zone so the ball leaves at whatever angle and force I desire. Like the "angles" guy in "Alphas". I'd be the perfect DH.

Interesting quandary: what if your superpower met my superpower? I suspect yours would prevail because no matter where I placed the ball in the strike zone, you would be able to tee off on it. I'd probably pitch out on you then try to double you up (unless of course you pulled a Roy Hobbs and slammed a pitchout into the cheap seats).

[Omniscient]

The easiest one would be to be incredibly fast. Like a 4.0 40 time. However, I'm 35 and unless it came with a caveat that it wouldn't degrade over time and I wouldn't be able to be injured, it wouldn't really be that lucrative since I doubt I'd be drafted all that high at my age even with that speed and I'd still have to develop the vision, hands, elusiveness that NFL players need or the ball handling shooting that a NBA player needs. Not many other sports value speed that much. I could run track, and make a decent living, but I couldn't give two shits about track and the money isn't that good.

My first instinct is to be an amazing FG kicker. Powerful leg, 65 yard range, reliably straight. Saying "never miss" feels like a violation of the rules. That's like saying you "make every pool shot", however the OP violated his own rule with the "make every putt". I know there's more to golf, but it seems to be against the spirit of it. I'd rather be a great QB, but like the speed thing simply having a powerful, accurate arm only get's you 25% of the way there. Having an awesome kicking leg, I could rake in $5M per year and kick well into my late 40s and have little risk of injury and not have to work particularly hard between games.

The most profitable skill would probably be the hand-eye coordination to always make solid contact with a baseball. If you can always put the ball in play you can reliably play in the MLB until you're in your late 30s and make $5M+. If you hit the gym and stay in shape you could make $20M when you develop the power and speed to apply that skill as a all around player. Still, there's a lot of variables in baseball and longevity is an issue.

[John DiFool]

Hockey player with impeccable stick handling skills (keep the Puck on a rope, more or less, doing exactly what I want with it while skating). The shot I could improve with practice, as could my conditioning and skating, but superhiman stickhandling would enable a tremendous amount of scoring chances and such.

Obligatory video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDdRAFBypOc).

[notfrommensa]

I'm personally going to choose "Never miss a putt from the green." I figure I can learn the rest of golf on my natural ability and still get a green jacket.

My immediate thought was putting as well. But I thought your restrictions were too vague.

Making every putt from the green is akin to making every field goal inside 50 yds.

[Spoons]

My immediate thought was putting as well. But I thought your restrictions were too vague.

Making every putt from the green is akin to making every field goal inside 50 yds.My putting is okay, and my approaches are also. There is room for improvement on both, but I'd really love to be able to hit the ball 300 yards into the centre of the fairway.

[Roland Orzabal]

Never mind, just figured out why my answer wouldn't work. Will come back later with pie. :smack:

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

How about just being incredibly fast? Then you could pretty much pick your sport and excel, whether the obvious like football or track

Makes me wonder a bit about the OP's "can't be the entire game" stipulation. I mean, let's say I want to help along my knack for catching touchdown passes by running a bit faster than humanly possible; the quarterback may well fumble the ball away or get sacked before he gets off a throw, and I might fail to make any given catch despite outsprinting defenders to get into the endzone, so it's not "the entire game" by any stretch.

Can I then, in the off-season, show up to play track star at the Olympics, racking up gold medals whenever "the entire game" really is just running fast?

[Lanzy]

I would like to accurately predict exactly where a thrown ball will land.

[Cheesesteak]

My putting is okay, and my approaches are also. There is room for improvement on both, but I'd really love to be able to hit the ball 300 yards into the centre of the fairway.I'd go with the ability to put the ball on target. That is, straight at my intended target, or with the desired amount of hook/slice. With direction and spin out of the way, I'd still have to work on getting the right length, and choosing the right direction/spin for the situation. I see those as reasonably conquerable, to let me be competitive on the tour.

[Stanislaus]

Anticipation. I want to know exactly what my opponent's(s') next move will be.

I still have to develop the skills to respond, but knowing even something as simple as "left" or "right" will be a huge advantage.

[Chessic Sense]

Unreturnable Tennis serve.

That's cursing your opponent. Just because you're awesome doesn't mean the other guy sucks. You can choose to have the fastest serve in the game, though, or to always put it on the chalk slightly less often than would look like cheating or magic.

From a batter's perspective, I'd love to be able to time my swing to connect with virtually any pitch in the zone so the ball leaves at whatever angle and force I desire. Like the "angles" guy in "Alphas". I'd be the perfect DH.

Ah, but there's an interesting catch there. If you're a regular baseball player, you can take either the power or the timing (you can still use your natural power, though, with the timing perfect), but if you're the DH, then hitting's your sole job. I don't know if that's a 'mild' superpower anymore.

The easiest one would be to be incredibly fast. Like a 4.0 40 time. However, I'm 35 and unless it came with a caveat that it wouldn't degrade over time and I wouldn't be able to be injured, it wouldn't really be that lucrative since I doubt I'd be drafted all that high at my age even with that speed and I'd still have to develop the vision, hands, elusiveness that NFL players need or the ball handling shooting that a NBA player needs. Not many other sports value speed that much. I could run track, and make a decent living, but I couldn't give two shits about track and the money isn't that good.

My first instinct is to be an amazing FG kicker. Powerful leg, 65 yard range, reliably straight. Saying "never miss" feels like a violation of the rules. That's like saying you "make every pool shot", however the OP violated his own rule with the "make every putt". I know there's more to golf, but it seems to be against the spirit of it. I'd rather be a great QB, but like the speed thing simply having a powerful, accurate arm only get's you 25% of the way there. Having an awesome kicking leg, I could rake in $5M per year and kick well into my late 40s and have little risk of injury and not have to work particularly hard between games.

Which is it, power or accuracy? Can't take both. If you take throwing accuracy, that's fine, but you'll only be able to throw, like, 15 yards unless you practice. If you took kicking power, you can git it to the goal from the 50 yard line, but it'll be 30 feet wide.

I was initially going to just penalize you yardage, but since you used "caveat" to mean 'stipulation' instead of 'warning', I'm ejecting you from the game. We don't need your kind here.

My immediate thought was putting as well. But I thought your restrictions were too vague.

Making every putt from the green is akin to making every field goal inside 50 yds.

No, it's akin to making every field goal from inside the 25, which is legal. I'd make 18 putts, but what about the other 52 strokes? I'm on my own for those.

Makes me wonder a bit about the OP's "can't be the entire game" stipulation. I mean, let's say I want to help along my knack for catching touchdown passes by running a bit faster than humanly possible; the quarterback may well fumble the ball away or get sacked before he gets off a throw, and I might fail to make any given catch despite outsprinting defenders to get into the endzone, so it's not "the entire game" by any stretch.

Can I then, in the off-season, show up to play track star at the Olympics, racking up gold medals whenever "the entire game" really is just running fast?

You can take the speed, sure, but once you step on the track, your powers are useless. For some reason, your power always fails you when you're trying to win other competitions.

[Chessic Sense]

Oh, and I should say that technically, the putting power is not to "make every putt" but to "be able to perfectly analyze my potential putt", such that I always know the right angle and strength to hit it. And the "make it inside the 25 yard line" power is really something like "Always have perfect accuracy inside the 25" and I figure you could learn to kick that hard.

[Omniscient]

Which is it, power or accuracy? Can't take both. If you take throwing accuracy, that's fine, but you'll only be able to throw, like, 15 yards unless you practice. If you took kicking power, you can git it to the goal from the 50 yard line, but it'll be 30 feet wide.

Says the guy who wants to "never miss a putt".

[pancakes3]

i would argue that never missing a putt isn't an ability but rather a consequence. the ability would be to read the green, and even then you'd have to adjust how much power to putt with.

[brocks]

Oh, and I should say that technically, the putting power is not to "make every putt" but to "be able to perfectly analyze my potential putt", such that I always know the right angle and strength to hit it.

Then you wouldn't be that great a putter, certainly not 18 per round like you said. Putting is usually what keeps the top players from winning as they pass their prime. Guys like Palmer and Watson, and most recently, Tiger, stopped winning majors in their mid-30's, and putting was probably the most important factor.

It stands to reason that the older you get (within limits), the better you get at reading greens, so the reason for the decline in putting has to be the loss of the ability to hit it exactly the way you want to. At their worst, the "yips" kept guys like Hogan from being able to make any semblance of a smooth stroke.

It's kind of like that dumb show a couple years ago, "No Ordinary Family" or something like that, where the scrawny kid suddenly became a brainiac and could see the exact angle to throw a football. In the show, he was throwing these perfect passes. In real life, knowing where to put the ball is a lot different from actually being able to put it there.

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

Always catch a reachable line drive? Always correctly read a popup? Hit the ball on the sweet spot of the bat every time? Never get thrown out taking second? Never drop a pass? Always fire the puck at the top corners of the net? Never let a puck past your stick hand?

Can I pick some variation of "always make a possible parry," such that actually hitting the other fencer is still up to me?

[mikenj]

I'd agree that putting is at least two different skill. One being able to read the green and the second being distance control. Maybe even a third, being able to accurately hit the ball on the line that you read. (I bet some caddies can read the line of a putt better than some golfers, but that doesn't make then better putters unless they can put the ball on the right line and hit it the right distance.)

Plus I'd also say that similar to your long, medium and short range punts there are at least 2 different length putts in golf: lag putts from long range (say 30' +), and putts inside of that (and maybe a 3rd category for putts inside say 8').

I don't think I have the athletic ability in any sport where just a single improvement will make me competitive with the professionals. The only thing I could think of would be speed for running, biking or swimming or accuracy in shooting and make a living off olympic endorsements.

So instead I'd pick the same as Cheesesteak- the ability to hit a golf ball with a chosen trajectory and leave distance control and other aspects to my own abilities. I still couldn't make it in the pros but I could shoot in the mid 80's right now with the skills I have and probably shoot in the 70's with just some improvements in the rest of my game.

[Chessic Sense]

Can I pick some variation of "always make a possible parry," such that actually hitting the other fencer is still up to me?

I don't really know enough about fencing to say. Is there more than one way to defend yourself other than "parry"? Or are you trying to make yourself a perfect defender? Can you make a possible parry but still be hit anyway?

If it doesn't automatically make you an unstoppable behemoth in the sport, then it's legal. But if you're asking to never, ever be hit, well...that's not mild.

[Spoons]

I'd go with the ability to put the ball on target. That is, straight at my intended target, or with the desired amount of hook/slice. With direction and spin out of the way, I'd still have to work on getting the right length, and choosing the right direction/spin for the situation. I see those as reasonably conquerable, to let me be competitive on the tour.Actually, that ability would probably be more useful to me, too--yes, I'd have to go with that, instead of what I originally put.

[Gagundathar]

Speed. I'd have to go with that.
It has always been my best physical attribute and I could understand how to use it.
Center fielder in baseball or in American football: cornerback or even wide receiver.
If I got shoulder surgery to fix my partially torn rotator cuff (you'd be surprised how common this injury is) I could still throw a ball back from center field.
Well... maybe.

This is a hypothetical, right?