Are You Born a Winner? Nature Vs Nurture in the Young Athlete
I’m 6’1, 92kg, and even if I try REALLY hard, the chances of me becoming a Melbourne Cup winning jockey are very low, in fact, I think the horse would look at me sideways if I tried to saddle up and race (although lycra and I have a great relationship!).
Now in saying this, doesn’t mean that every man or woman under 5’6 is going to be a successful jockey.
Long arms may help you in basketball, a steady hand can aid in archery, a barrel chest may assist a rugby union prop, but what sets champions apart from the rest?
With the developments of genetic testing, scientists are beginning to discover certain genes that suggest some athletes are born to be great, however is this genetic predisposition enough? Is it everything?
Usain Bolt, the 3 time Olympic 100m sprint gold medalist has an estimated muscle composition of 80% fast twitch muscle fibres. To put that into perspective, the average person has 60%. This ability for his muscles to perform tasks faster than average was not made, it was born. The right mixture of Mum and Dad formed a beautiful cocktail of DNA, and created a man with the potential to be the greatest sprinter the world has ever known.
Recent findings in genetic testing have shown how specific training suits your genotypes, and how certain foods react with your digestive enzymes. With this, athletes can reassess their training and nutrition plans, and modify their nutrient intake and training loads to suit.
This isn’t an argument of what training methods or which foods are better, your genetic blueprint guarantees you will respond better to specific stimulus. At the highest level, the difference between the best and second best can be .1 of a second. These edges matter.
This raises the question however should things like enjoyment, and practice play second fiddle to genetic traits in talent identification of a champion?
At one time in the 1980’s 12 of England’s best Table Tennis competitors were all from the same street in Reading. How? Quality practise. “Practise makes perfect” rings clearly in my ear, and also does Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour to mastery theory, because the only thing different about those boys in Reading and any other player in England, was they were apart of the only club in the country to have 24/7 access. To master a skill, you must practice for thousands of hours, but you also must have seen every possible scenario, multiple times. In a sport like table tennis, this couldn’t be more true. So more than likely there was a genetic predisposition in these boys, but by continuous hours of training, sharpening their skill set, and they became great.
There is something to be said about a player’s resolve, if anything, that is the true mark of a champion. The ability to come back from injuries, form selection setbacks or a major loss. Experience is the true creator of resilience, not only does time training aid in player improvement, but also time under the fire of competition is invaluable in the development of a player’s confidence, skill and comfort to perform at a high level. Pressure creates diamonds, and sometimes, unfortunately, they crack, which leads how we should manage pressures on an athlete.
The pressures of seeking continuous improvement can be enormous, training loads, diets, coach pressure, peer pressure, life stresses, can all be too much for a player. That is why enjoyment must be placed at the utmost importance, without enjoyment, how is a player to improve. Especially at a young age, the love of the sport, the passion for training, the willingness to be coached and to train hard must be emphasised.
While Lebron James’ genetic makeup suggests he should have given basketball a go, that alone didn’t make him one of the best NBA players of all time. There was hours of hard work, testing himself against the best, and a love of the game.
So if you’re a young aspiring athlete or a parent guiding them through their sporting journey, emphasise practise, quality training and enjoyment because this is the true path to success. Experience can’t be replaced by a genotype, a magic forehand isn’t gifted to you at birth, but with a passion for your sport, these things can be perfected and a devotion to the sport will lead to a successful, sustainable career.
James Grigson
James Grigson is a talented rugby union player, and junior level coach and a strength and conditioning coach. Currently, a third-year sports science student at the University of Queensland, James’ primary focus is the strength and conditioning for the SportsMed Elite and Baseline products.
