Re: The reason most athletes have skillz ...

TigersO

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Mar 21, 2019, 11:14 AM

I think you are 50% correct.

All three things you mentioned (speed, strength, and quick twitch) can be improved or lost based on the work ethic of an athlete.

Strength can be improved more than the other 2 based on what an athlete does in training.

In terms of making it to the college or professional level strictly because of genetics, I think it depends on which sports you are focusing on.

Obviously there are certain genetic factors that will qualify or disqualify young people for football and basketball opportunities.

On the other hand, the skill sports like golf, tennis, etc require much fewer physical gifts and much more skill acquisition. Sure being strong or having more quick twitch fibers can sometimes help but much more development of skill is needed.

There are other sports that are very much a combination of physical traits and skill acquisition.

I think baseball and volleyball are two sports that clearly fall into this category. Being bigger, faster, and stronger help but there are specific skills that must be trained to be competitive.

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.....in the abilities of highly skilled athletes. There are of course some anomalies up or down and there are often hidden genetic components in many of us that came from left field, so to speak ;^). Sometimes the kid of apparently unathletic parents has great or great great grandparents who had unrecognized athletic or physical skills.

Similarly, I think genetics play the major role in scholastic or academic success with the same anomalies and unknown or unrecognized inherited characteristics playing a role in who gets the perfect SAT score, aces organic chemistry or grasps quantum physics as a 9th grader.

These realities very often make regular people who want everyone to be more or less equal unhappy.

BTW, in my experience the folks who were very skilled in most team sports seem to catch onto and perform well at golf and tennis much much faster than the bench riders.

The reason most athletes have skillz ...