The top 10 rankings of IQ among ball sport athletes—can you guess where badminton ranks?

Lately, a hot topic in the sports world has been the battle of IQ among athletes in ball sports.

The stereotypical image of athletes as "brainless but physically gifted" has been completely shattered—revealing that some sports stars boast IQs even higher than those of renowned geniuses like Einstein, now standing proudly in line to bask in their fans' admiration.

In statistics published by a U.S. magazine, scientists conducted a systematic evaluation—using methods like sampling surveys and sample analysis—to rank the "smartest" among 10 selected ball sports. Find out which sports have gathered the "brightest minds" in the world of athletics!

Alright, enough talk—bring it on! Let’s see how they manage to be "smarter than everyone else."

According to some reports, U.S. experts, after conducting research and testing the IQs of athletes across various sports, concluded that golfers have the lowest IQs! This rumor has dealt a serious blow to the golf community, with many firmly dismissing it as nothing more than malicious slander—a vicious attack on both the sport of golf and its passionate enthusiasts!

In fact, this result might actually be quite reliable—but it doesn’t suggest that golfers are low-IQ idiots. Instead, it simply indicates that their IQ tends to be slightly lower compared to athletes in other sports. Then again, that hardly seems like a big deal. As Ben Hogan once famously said, selecting golfers is incredibly straightforward: all you need is big hands, big feet—and a relatively simple mind. Clearly, his point was that playing golf doesn’t require sky-high intelligence. After all, one of the sport’s unique features is that you have ample time before each shot to carefully analyze the situation on the course. So even if your reaction speed isn’t lightning-fast, it’s perfectly fine for golf.

Besides, it’s okay if we’re not super smart—as long as our emotional intelligence is high enough. In fact, more and more research shows that emotional intelligence plays a far greater role than IQ in determining whether someone will succeed.

Handball is a ball sport that originated in Germany. Friends who’ve tried handball before know that, at its core, it’s essentially a blend of basketball and soccer. Handball resembles basketball not only because everyone plays it using their hands—but also because, during the evolution of handball, some of its rules were actually adapted directly from those of basketball.

Volleyball is one of the ball sports played on a rectangular court divided by a high net. Each side of the court—comprising six players—competes against the other, with players using their hands to hit the ball back and forth over the net. The volleyball itself is typically made with a shell of sheepskin or synthetic leather, filled with rubber, and is roughly the same size as a soccer ball.

On the "IQ leaderboard," basketball is firmly in the lower half—its performance isn’t exactly impressive. Yet, Chinese player Yao Ming has managed to salvage a bit of NBA pride.

As the first Chinese player to ever make it to the NBA, Yao Ming stood out from the crowd in most people's minds—thanks largely to his towering height. But making a solid mark in the NBA and carving out a successful career isn’t just about being tall; it takes more than physical presence—it demands intelligence too. The renowned U.S.-based IQ research website, IQ Test Network, once conducted an IQ test on current NBA players. Surprisingly, Yao Ming topped the list among active players at the time, scoring an impressive 132—a figure that even surpassed basketball legends like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. Meanwhile, the average IQ of the Houston Rockets team, where Yao Ming played, was only 98. And when it came to the broader NBA player pool, the average IQ during that test was a modest 83—slightly lower than the typical IQ of the general population.

Hockey, also known as field hockey, is one of the oldest and most prestigious sports featured in the Olympic Games. The term "hockey" originates from French, where it literally means "shepherd's crook"—a nod to the sport's early tools and techniques. As one of the world's oldest sports, hockey actually predates the very first modern Olympic Games by as much as 1,200 years—or even longer.

On the football pitch, there are indeed geniuses. Dr. English, the team doctor for Premier League giants Chelsea, once organized an IQ test for his players—and surprisingly, Lampard scored the highest. "He even topped me," the doctor admitted with a hint of frustration. Out of professional ethics, he chose not to reveal the exact IQ scores of each player, but he did disclose that Lampard’s IQ likely exceeds 150—putting him well into genius territory!

The "intelligence" on the pitch isn't just your typical IQ—it’s a set of neuro-psychological abilities known as "executive functions," which include things like instant creativity, the ability to devise effective counter-strategies, and the capacity to quickly adapt tactics. Research suggests that it may be possible to identify tomorrow’s football stars early in their careers. As such, football teams could consider incorporating cognitive ability tests into their player selection process—alongside traditional physical and technical evaluations. However, researchers emphasize that further studies are needed to determine whether these cognitive skills can actually be enhanced through targeted training programs.

From the perspective of the sport's characteristics, baseball is an activity that demands exceptionally high levels of overall athleticism. It requires players to instantly assess the situation on the field and make quick, informed decisions—so naturally, a low IQ simply won’t cut it.

The real challenge of baseball isn’t in the rules—it’s all about the ball’s trajectory and pitching technique. Without firsthand experience, you simply can’t grasp the intricacies or appreciate the skill involved. Take pitches like high balls, low balls, four-seam forkballs, two-seam fastballs, sliders, curveballs, sinkers—and there are countless other variations. Trust me, even if you tried explaining these to a baseball newbie, they’d just scratch their heads in confusion. Baseball isn’t like basketball, where everyone instantly understands concepts like three-point shots or dunking. In baseball, even achieving that iconic 160 km/h pitch—or spinning it at 3,000 revolutions per minute—requires mastering the right kind of power and timing. And here’s the kicker: top-notch pitchers don’t just rely on brute strength; they combine explosive leg drive with precise body mechanics. In fact, if you think about it, their powerful strides and balanced stances might even make them natural-born boxers!

Ice hockey, also known as "ice field hockey," is a dynamic sport that combines versatile skating skills with the quick, precise techniques of hockey play. It’s one of the more physically competitive team ice sports and is also an official event at the Winter Olympics.

Ice hockey skills are broadly categorized into two main types: skating techniques and offensive/defensive techniques. Skating techniques form the most fundamental skills that every ice hockey player must master, including starts, forward skating, backward skating, inertia turns, lateral weight-shift turns, and sudden stops. Extensive domestic and international practice has demonstrated that learning ice hockey helps develop children’s flexibility, agility, coordination, endurance, physical strength, intelligence, mental resilience, and even courage—highlighting the sport’s profound benefits for both the body and mind.

Table tennis is a sport that combines fitness, competition, and entertainment, offering significant exercise benefits. Playing table tennis not only provides a comprehensive physical workout but also helps regulate emotions, boosting mood, fostering an open and cheerful personality, enhancing cognitive abilities, and supporting intellectual development. As such, it’s an ideal activity for children, teenagers, young adults, and seniors alike who enjoy staying active. As a full-body sport, table tennis stands out for its fast pace and dynamic nature, ensuring participants reap benefits in areas such as:

For teenagers, playing table tennis can promote physical development, while for middle-aged and older adults, it helps activate muscles and joint tissues throughout the body, enhancing both reaction speed and the ability of the upper and lower limbs to move—thereby helping to slow down the aging process.

Table tennis is highly effective in developing reaction time, agility, coordination, and cognitive thinking skills. Moreover, thanks to the sport's distinctly competitive nature and its entertaining appeal, it also serves as an excellent activity for cultivating qualities like courage, resilience, quick-wittedness, and decisiveness—while helping individuals maintain youthful energy and effectively balancing the nervous system. Additionally, regular participation may even help prevent age-related cognitive decline.

It’s often said that people who excel at badminton are highly intelligent—take Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, and Cai Yun, for example. Not only do they dominate on the court, but they also shine in their personal lives and even succeed in business. Recent research reveals that regularly playing badminton can significantly boost brain reaction speed: after just six months of dedicated practice, children can improve their quick decision-making time from 0.3 seconds to as little as 0.1 second—and the most talented individuals can even reduce it further, down to 0.05 seconds. According to authoritative international expert analysis, kids who play badminton tend to have an average IQ that’s 20% higher than the general population.

The qualities that badminton players possess boil down to intelligence, technique, and physical fitness. Anyone familiar with the badminton world knows that this sport is the ultimate test of a player's mental acuity. Unlike soccer or basketball, badminton relies far more on tactical thinking, strategic coordination, and teamwork. In fact, every top-notch badminton player is essentially a master of intellect. Take Lin Dan or Tai Tzu-ying, for instance—rumor has it their IQ scores are over 170, which is astonishingly high. If you’re unsure about how these numbers stack up, feel free to compare them against the IQ charts of the celebrities listed below.

Finally, we’ve thoughtfully included a celebrity IQ chart for everyone—

Plato (Philosopher) 170

Beethoven (musician)                  165

Einstein (scientist)               160

Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft) – 160

Stephen Hawking (scientist) 160

Kant (Philosopher)                    160

Kasparov (Chess)           190