As I sat there watching the Eagles-Giants game, I watched these incredible wide receivers contort their bodies to make some impressive catches, running backs bull through tackles, and pass rushers bust through the offensive line and plant the quarterback on his butt for a sack. It got me wondering, are these athletes born with incredible skill or is most of it earned?
I came across an interesting CBS article called “Are elite athletes born or raised“. The article begins by explaining the story of 30 year old photographer Dan McLaughlin. He wanted to quit his job to pursue his dream of being like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson: to be a professional golfer. A crazy idea, but McLaughlin wanted to find out exactly what I want to find out, if athletes are born gifted or if its something it must be worked for. His coach reported saying his chances of success are smaller than his chances of being a surgeon. His practice schedule: six hours a day, six days a week. This is believed to be the requirement for true expertise.
Genetics play a huge part in determining the success of athletes in their respective sports. LeBron James, who is 6’8″ with a 7′ wingspan is successful in basketball because of his height, his incredible leaping ability with a 40″ standing vertical, and his quick 4.6 second 40-yard dash time. However, place him in a gymnastics competition and he probably will not be as successful as 4’9”, 90 pound Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas who is able to contort her body in unfathomable ways when performing routines. Conversely, place Douglas on a basketball court against towering defenders, and you can probably guess what would happen.
So, genetics clearly plays a major role in determining whether you will be good in one sport or another, but how do people become good at that sport? Here is where the made part comes into play. Professional athletes are rigorous in their workouts and training in order to be one step ahead of their opponents. An NCAA conducted a study on 21,000 current athletes at 627 Division 1-A schools. In this USA Today article the college football players surveyed said they spent, on average, about 44.8 hours a week on the sport between practice, games, film, and weight training. Athletes spend incredible amounts of hours honing their skills and trying to be the best athlete they can be through their training and the amount of time put into their sport. Unfortunately, for student-athletes, this can take away from the amount of time they spend on being a student. This is a major argument for people who do not support collegiate athletics, and is an issue which must be discussed and rectified by experts very soon.
I encourage everyone who will read this blog to watch an ESPN 30 for 30 called You Don’t Know Bo. It very frequently airs on ESPN and its sister stations ESPNU and ESPN2. It is the story of sports phenom Vincent “Bo” Jackson, pictured below. The documentary discusses his life in sports from childhood, when he would reportedly throw stones and kill wild boars with them, to his professional career where he played baseball for the Kansas City Royals and football for the Los Angeles Raiders. He was born with spectacular athletic abilities, but injury forced him to work harder than ever before to return to athletics. Bo is a perfect example of how even a once in a lifetime athlete, who was rated the greatest athlete of all-time by ESPN, still needs to practice and work to be great.
Take home message: people are born with genes suited to certain physical traits that allow for increased athletic performance, i.e. height, build, natural flexibility. What sets these people apart is drive, another thing people are innately born with. You cannot teach or be taught drive and desire to reach a specific goal. So, are athletes born or made? The answer: both. Genes and practice are both quintessential factors in building an outstanding athlete.
Images:
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http://www.bagofchipps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bo-jackson-nike.jpg
You’re right. For an athlete to truly be a star, he or she has to both be willing to practice and be a gifted athlete. I wonder if one matters more than the other. I would think that practice matters a lot more than genes because a talented athlete who does not practice usually does not perform as well as the hard working athlete. One example of this is Hanley Ramirez, in my opinion. Hanley is one of the most gifted athletes in all of baseball and has enough talent to be the best baseball player of all time. He doesn’t work hard enough though. Daniel Murphy, while not the most gifted athlete, works incredibly hard and has been performing out of this world this postseason for the Mets.
This blog really drew people in since most people agree with the thought that to be athletic you have to have certain sets of genes or you have to make certain sacrifices to be the best athlete you can be. The main reason people do this is to become the best. The fastest, the strongest, the most flexible, all of these things is what people consider attributes that are both desirable and are jealous that they can’t be like them. The true question that needs to be answered is whether or not it is worth it to be in the work. To be something that you think you were made to do. Being an athlete is something that some consider it is to be achieved while other think it is born with the ability to do great things. So I ask why would anyone want to throw the chance to live a completely different life with so many hardships and experience to have? Just to say the can beat everyone else at one thing.
I agree with your conclusion. Genetics are huge in predicting success in athletics. Yes, there is the occasional success story of the 5’3″ Muggsy Buggs making it to the NBA and a few others like it, but the likeliness of that happening is extremely disappointing. Determination and motivation are also important. But if your body type isn’t fitting the mold that most athletes in that specific sport have, you will tend to be overlooked even if your determination is greater than the others. Coaches see potential in size and that is a huge factor that they look for when recruiting. The last factor that I believe affects athletes is the family they are born into. There tend to be legacy families, like the Mannings, where the father may have been a professional athlete then had that impact on his sons. The way someone is raised is huge in so many parts of life, and is especially evident in professional athletes.
Interesting post! I think this question apply to most of the question mentioned “Genes or Practices”. Some people love sports, but no matter how hard they tried, there is a limit for them by their genes; some people have no intention to sports, but they could adapt any sports very fast without many practices because the they are born to be an athletic, however they will not be an athlete without the intention to be one. But when both genes and practices apply to a person, there is a great chance for he/she to became a good athlete. This rules apply to a drummer too, since I am a drum kit player. Here is movie about practice in drum in order to improve and stimulate drummers potential.
I like this topic because it made me think. I think that it is both genes and development that makes an athlete. Just like your conclusion stated, I think that genes play a large part. I think that people who are born very tall and can run fast and have good aim have the genes to play basketball. People who are born with long lanky legs typically can run faster in long distances. People who are born with a tiny body and a lot of upper body strength have a better chance to become a gymnast than people who can’t hold themselves up. So genes do play an important role, but I also think it is the environment that a person is around. If a boy had a father who played in the NFL, then typically the son would be very active in sports most likely football. I think a lot of athletic success is due to heart and the wanting and needing of playing that sport and I think that people who grow up around a sport are more likely to have success.
interesting topic, but who knows maybe Gabby Douglas could learn to cross up a NBA defender. Some people obviously have advantages in sports due to their body or athleticism but without training no one can become the very best in their sport, or anything for that matter. Lebron James clearly has all the pieces for being the best basketball player in the world and him putting his mind to becoming that made it possible. in this article the debate whether its “nature or nurture” http://lenebaxter.com/2013/08/21/athleticism-nature-or-nurture/. They believe its genes training and also the environment that creates great athletes.
I enjoyed reading this blog because I would describe myself as a pretty athletic individual. I knew that I never seemed to have that innate talent to pursue my athletes in college despite placing at states for swimming. Although the work a person puts in to training can set certain athletes apart, I really believe a person’s genes are hugely responsible for his or her athletic fate. I found a very intriguing article by the Scientific American which discusses how the company Atlas Sports Genetics offered to screen for variants of the gene alpha-actinin-3. This gene is said to be found in the muscle protein of the most elite athletes. The early detection of this gene could be said to determine the athletic abilities a child has at a young age. This way they can be exposed to sports early on and train. I am sure many confounding variables can effect the correlation between the gene and athletic abilities. Your article really emphasizes that hard work elevates a natural-born athlete to new heights when competing and becoming the best of the best. Detecting a gene like the one from the study I mentioned to identify the natural-born athletes would be very helpful and would give kids quite an advantage by allowing them to discover their athletic talents early on.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genes-sports-talent/