Is there a genetically determined limit to athletic performance?
Former Member
In his autobiographical book The Naturalist, E. O. Wilson suggests that there is a genetically determined limit to an individual's athletic performance which cannot be overcome regardless of the amount of training. Using himself as an example, he describes how he became a serious runner several years after graduating college. The gap between his times and those of the top runners in his age group (expressed as a percentage) remained what it was in college.
I looked at my current times (three years after joining USMS) and found that I am 12% behind in the 1000 and 15% behind in the 500. These percentages are exactly the same as they were in 1978, the last year I swam in college. I know there are exceptions within the ranks of USMS, but I wonder how valid this "rule" really is.
Parents
Former Member
In most "ball" sports, specific skills require hand and eye coordination that is almost purely inherited.
I guess I disagree almost completely based on my experience as a kid who played baseball and as a parent.
I have never seen a young child intuitively throw a football with a a spiral without a great deal of practice. Hitting a pitched ball is definitely a hand eye thing but practice practice practice seems to have a lot to do with success at this.
I don't doubt that genetics has a role - just like it does with IQ, cancer risk, and damn near everything else. But I was a pretty decent ball player, and my boys (swimmers) are terrible. Then again their hand eye coordination with Halo just blows me away.
In most "ball" sports, specific skills require hand and eye coordination that is almost purely inherited.
I guess I disagree almost completely based on my experience as a kid who played baseball and as a parent.
I have never seen a young child intuitively throw a football with a a spiral without a great deal of practice. Hitting a pitched ball is definitely a hand eye thing but practice practice practice seems to have a lot to do with success at this.
I don't doubt that genetics has a role - just like it does with IQ, cancer risk, and damn near everything else. But I was a pretty decent ball player, and my boys (swimmers) are terrible. Then again their hand eye coordination with Halo just blows me away.
