Is natural talent largely irrelevant to great success? Or is it "you've either got it or you don't"?
Check out this article at biz.yahoo.com/.../great_1.html called "What It Takes To Be Great."
Lindsay:
I just saw your last post about mutable/immutable characteristics. Good thought. I'm thinking there's nothing I can do about my height disadvantage unless I get a head start or a handicap. But your idea about "mindfulness" is similarly to what I just posted on the mental part of it all. That's maybe the biggest wild card.
I can't resist: the "deliberate practice" described in the article sounds very similar to the TI "mindful swimming" approach. :eek:
Maybe the most important talent is a talent for examining what you are doing and figuring out what to do to improve.
Some have natural ability some don't. One of the best sprinters I knew practiced his swimming by playing golf. Do you consider natural ability as talent or do we learn to have talent.
Your talent level determines the range of how fast you will be. The work you put in determines where you will fall in your talent range.
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Very insightful and succinct. This seems reasonable and true.
The range for an untalented swimmer and a talented swimmer have no over-lap.
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I may be reading this part incorrectly. It seems to imply that talent is all or nothing - you have it or you don't. Are there degrees of talent?
From my experience, talented lazy people and non-talented hard workers can both do reasonably well at whatever they want to do, but only those who are both talented and hard-working can really reach the top. (Tangent warning!) For example, as an artist, I've noticed that pretty much anyone can learn to draw reasonably well with a little motivation and a good teacher - and then everyone thinks they have an amazing talent. But of course, very few have both the talent and the motivation to really become great artists.
I love this thread, so many different opinions. :cool:
No matter how hardworking you are, if you don't have that natural talent and ability you will not be successful. The defintion for successful here making fast times, setting records, going to big meets and placing.
For example, I swam with several swimmers who worked their hearts out. They swam mornings, afternoons and crosstrained with running and weights. They were never successful in meets....never got faster, stayed at almost novice level times. It was so frustrating to them, never achieving the goals that the rest of my club team did. They just lacked that natural ability and undeniable skill that other swimmers possess.
When you find that swimmer who is BOTH talented and hardworking, that's gold. (ex: michael phelps, ian crocker, ryan lochte)
I remember my post from the previous thread and still feel the same way. Your talent level determines the range of how fast you will be. The work you put in determines where you will fall in your talent range. The range for an untalented swimmer and a talented swimmer have no over-lap.
What we are taught is that in sports you can "hard-work" yourself to the starting line-up. That really isn't true. We are also told that being smart is a big advantage in the working world. A hard working person with an IQ of 100 will go much further in life than a regular person with an IQ of 140.... speaking of which....back to work!
Your talent level determines the range of how fast you will be. The work you put in determines where you will fall in your talent range. The range for an untalented swimmer and a talented swimmer have no over-lap.
Very insightful post.
Actually I think talent is one of those unfortunate words that ten people can use and mean ten different things. Is being 6'6" a "talent"? Is having a lot of fast-twitch muscles a "talent"? Is being hard-working a "talent"? I think the question is what attributes help one excell at swimming and which of those are mutable and which are immutable?
But your idea about "mindfulness" is similarly to what I just posted on the mental part of it all. That's maybe the biggest wild card.
The mental game is an interesting point. There are some athletes who refuse to lose. I saw a trailer for the Michael Phelps/Ian Crocker rivalry movie, and both Phelps' dad and grandmother raved about how Phelps hates to lose. You can tell, by watching him swim, that he really has the mental will to win. He's the whole package, in my opinion.
