I’ve seen women slaving away on treadmills all their lives only to see others flaunt perfect figures so effortlessly and gracefully with no apparent effort. Life just doesn’t seem fair sometimes.When observing in awe the masterful performances of top athletes, marvelling at a beautiful figure or physique, or perhaps while appreciating someone’s wisdom or powers of reason, have you ever wondered if people are just born the way they are or whether they become that way? Were they preordained to be that way, or did they steer their own destiny towards a desired and manufactured outcome?
Did Usain Bolt run 100 metres in 9.58 seconds and smash the previous record so convincingly because he trained harder and for longer than any other sprinter in history?
Did the papers Albert Einstein write in the space of less than a year turn the entire science of quantum physics on its head because he had spent a lifetime preparing diligently with greater focus and intensity than anyone else? Or was there a monster of ingenuity waiting in the depths of his mind just waiting to break out?
You might have argued such points before in what is often termed the ‘nature versus nurture’ debate.
Philosophy buffs out there might even thrash it out as in terms of rationalism versus empiricism, but it all comes down to the same thing; exactly how much of our abilities are actually earned? Or perhaps an even more sobering question: do we really reap the just rewards for the efforts we sow?
Whatever we are dealt, in the grand game of life it all depends on how we play our cards
I’ve seen women slaving away on treadmills and step machines their whole adult lives only to see others flaunt the most perfect figures so effortlessly and gracefully with no apparent effort. Life just doesn’t seem fair sometimes.
This is the burning question among sports coaches too. What requires more skill as a coach: taking an athlete from the bottom of the pile steadily upward, or operating at the top echelons of the sport taking already-primed elite performers under your wing?
Who should we listen to to? If we had to give performance a numerical value, is it the coach who took an athlete from 10 to 75, or the coach who took an athlete from 90 to 91?
A fascinating study was published recently from Grand Valley State University where researchers looked into this very same concept. They were determined to find out what the real ingredients of a champion might be.
Traditional wisdom tells us that deliberate practice produces progress and the more of it, the better. The ‘deliberate practice’ model has given us some very definite prescriptions too, like the 10-year rule. They say it takes 10 years to produce an Olympic champion, and others might even suggest it would take about 10 years to the reach the top of any field, be it sport-related or otherwise.
Could any of us really become experts in any field, provided we studied hard enough for about 10 years? Could any one of us become a world champion provided we trained hard and long enough?
It’s a wonderful thought, and truly inspiring to believe anyone, anywhere, can make it to the top. I hate to sound like the cynic, but in the words of an old army sergeant that seem to be ringing in my ears right now, are we all just ‘pipe dreaming’?
In a qualitative study, the Grand Valley State researchers delved into the biographies of 26 world-class sprinters, including 15 gold medalists and the eight fastest men in history. Without exception, all 26 elite sprinters, male and female, were already exceptionally fast before taking up any sort of formal training, like former world-record holder Tim Montgomery. He reportedly ran 100 metres in under 10 seconds as a college football player before even taking up track and field athletics as his main sport.
It would seem it is diffcult to eliminate the profound significance of talent in elite performance in any sport or specialist discipline.
And what about the 10-year rule? Is it just an old wives’ tale, or does it hold water? Well, according to the research, it’s a wives’ tale. The majority of sprinters became world-class in five years or less, and more than half the Olympic champions did it in under three, totally debunking the 10-year rule. So is it nature or nurture? Of course, the easy answer is both.
The model of deliberate practice has brought along with it methods and techniques for improving performance by practising in just the right way to elicit progress. These are all wonderful things we can use to our advantage in the pursuit of our goals.
The truth is you might not turn into Einstein but you could certainly become very knowledgable about quantum physics and the fabric of time itself if you had enough of it. It’s up to all of us to make the best of what we’ve got, to the very best of our ability.
Like a game of poker, we are all dealt a hand. Some of us might have a perfect pair when it comes to physical beauty, pardon the pun, while others don’t even cut it with the most convincing of poker faces. Whatever we are dealt, in the grand game of life it all depends on how we play our cards.
It’s a fascinating debate, but in the meantime, when it comes to health and wellness, if you’re 50, are you going to sit around and complain about the 70s who don’t deserve it, or will you take life by the cruff of the neck, and become a proud 60?
matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt