Nature v. Nurture

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Jan 6, 2009
165
0
Texas
I gotta be honest, my dd's ability surprises me. I loved baseball as a kid, but i wasn't any good. My wife has no athletic ability at all. My dd is obsessed and strives to continually improve. Unless my wife has a dark secret, i'm not sure that genetics have anything to do with it.

Check one generation back - my baseball history is the same as yours, my wife was a cheerleader in 7th grade, tore her ACL and that was the end of her so called athletic career. And then I have two girls like these creatures.

At a family reunion some years back after both girls had been on the news for various sports things, one of my old aunts came up to me and says 'You know, I was pretty good at track when I was in school, i won the 100 yard dash in 1933 or 34, somewhere back there.' I said 'Wow, Auntie, i didnt know they had girl sports back then.' She said 'Well, they didnt, I ran against the boys.' And then another aunt turns out was a fastpitcher back in the 1940's right after the war, she turned out to be a ringer that her brothers and cousins would hide, other teams wouldnt play if my uncle pitched, so they would say ' hey, our little sister is here, what if we let her pitch' and the other team would say 'great' and then that aunt would bury them. So these strands of DNA jumped a generation - but still are only affected the females. I have two sons, one of which is a great athlete but could never put a fishing rod or a rifle down long enough to play much sports, and the other son, had even less than my ability, but didnt have the self discipline to work hard.
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
I think being successful at a high level requires some of both. It's difficult if not impossible for a player to play at a high level without the help of some quality DNA. It allows them to be faster, stronger, see the ball better, etc.

But talent alone isn't enough. There are lots of talented players who never get very far because they either lack the motivation, the work ethic, or the ability to overcome failure when their talent doesn't carry the day on its own. A kid with a good work ethic can definitely surpass a more talented but less motivated player.

I will also say that regardless of natural athletic ability any player can learn the skills and become successful -- to a point. It may be in their local rec league rather than the PAC 10. But if that's enough for them, that's fine. Lots of people don't play softball in the PAC 10 and still manage to become healthy, productive citizens.
 
Jun 6, 2009
240
0
I think being successful at a high level requires some of both. It's difficult if not impossible for a player to play at a high level without the help of some quality DNA. It allows them to be faster, stronger, see the ball better, etc.

But talent alone isn't enough. There are lots of talented players who never get very far because they either lack the motivation, the work ethic, or the ability to overcome failure when their talent doesn't carry the day on its own. A kid with a good work ethic can definitely surpass a more talented but less motivated player.

I will also say that regardless of natural athletic ability any player can learn the skills and become successful -- to a point. It may be in their local rec league rather than the PAC 10. But if that's enough for them, that's fine. Lots of people don't play softball in the PAC 10 and still manage to become healthy, productive citizens.




I agree. Good post.
 
Jan 15, 2009
585
0
I have two sons, one of which is a great athlete but could never put a fishing rod or a rifle down long enough to play much sports, .

This is off topic, but wondering if any other states have trap shooting as a HS sport. We're just adding it hear after testing the program for a few years. They found it was a way to tap into a whole new group of kids who didn't play any other sports, but were very hunting/fishing/outdoors oriented. There were some anti-gun school board members that had to be overcome, but their biggest concern was whether or not the patch on jacket for Varsity letter was a gun or a clay pigeon. They went with the clay pigeon to be less controversial.
 
Aug 8, 2008
66
0
So, genetics determines one’s driving, athletic and lawyering abilities? Therefore, Tiger Woods had chlorine added to the part of the gene pool for driving and miracle-gro to the part of the pool for golf. And all that work from the second he could stand on two feet would have been for naught had he not been so genetically gifted. Meanwhile, some kid with slightly above average height, who looked like he was half crippled running and had a vertical leap that could barely clear his toes; who was so heavily recruited that he played his college ball at some backwater college in Indiana, and not because he aced his SATs, somehow becomes a multiple world champion and MVP in the NBA and an Olympic gold medalist because he was genetically predisposed.

OTOH, the fact is two players who are equals in temperament, dedication and mechanical efficiency but are separated by 6 inches in height and 30 pounds will not be equals on the field.

What is missing from this discussion are two very important points: 1) it doesn’t matter what age the player is, people will naturally single out those with above average physical characteristics. That means those individuals will get better opportunities. 2) It’s not necessarily the quantity of practice, the desire of the individual, or an above average love of the game that makes a difference; it is the quality of practice. And those individuals who have the specific characteristics of a sport are more likely to get better quality practice.

I would argue that the most important aspect of a persons potential to succeed is the ability to observe and repeat an action, followed by an ability to focus and concentrate. While there is likely a genetic predisposition towards these abilities they can be learned and improved on. This helps to explain why a ballplayer’s son is more likely to succeed, what he is observing and trying to repeat is above average. It also explains why Ozzy Osbourne’s kids are such upstanding citizens.

The bottom line is that one can be extremely dedicated and practice 12 hours a day and still be below average while another can practice an hour every other day and be above average. If the quality of practice is sub-optimal than the results will be as well. OTOH, if the quality of practice is above average and a player is willing to spend more time in practice than those around him/her it is possible to compete with “gifted athletes” even if they possess less elite physical characteristics.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,477
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top