No Such Thing As Natural Talent - Exploding The Myth Of The Gifted

in #sports7 years ago (edited)

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Some people are just better at certain things than others; right? So natural talent exists, that much we can agree on, or can we?

Is in fact the whole concept of natural talent; the idea that somebody was born to do a certain thing, complete nonsense; or is there in fact something in it? When we delve deeper into the vast pool of naturally talented people, who have made it big in their field, we start to see a different story emerge.

It turns out that whilst somebody may have a propensity for a particular discipline, whether it be a sporting, or perhaps more cerebral one. The whole fallacy of natural talent, starts to fall apart under close scrutiny.

Let us take a look below, at three of the most naturally gifted sportsmen of their generations; starting with the man they called:

The Greatest

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Let's first look at a young boy, born in Louisville, Kentucky, later to become known as The Louisville Lip and more famously as The Greatest. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., he rose through the amateur ranks, and later the pro's, to become heavyweight champion of the world, not once, but three times. Becoming the first person to do that, Muhammed Ali, was; and is known, as one of the greatest, most natural fighters of all time.

However when we look at his early life, and career, we realise that those plaudits were given to him, after, not before the fact.

If we listen to the social commentary surrounding his life as he was growing up, and later, as a pro boxer. Nobody was calling him an immense natural talent, in fact it could be argued, that his brash talking style, came as a result of no one taking him seriously as a genuine contender.

Ali's amateur career was glittering to say the least, he won 100 out of 108 bouts, however he was still not taken seriously as a pro.

Nowadays, the Tale Of The Tape, is simply a record of a boxer's stats, his wins, draws and losses, but also his chest expansion, reach, height, and fist size. However back in Ali's heyday, it was a way of assessing if a man had could, or would make it at a boxer.

In much the same way potential thoroughbred horses are assessed using certain measurements, as they are growing; so too were potential boxers.

It was felt that if a person had a certain, height, to chest, to reach, to fist size ratio; then that person was considered a potential for being a natural boxer, indeed calling somebody a natural in those days, would have alluded to their tale of the tape.

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In fact, if you've ever seen the classic 1980s film; Raging Bull (pictured above), starring a young Robert DeNiro, playing the Bronx Bull, Jake Lamotta. You may well remember a scene in which DeNiro's Lamotta, laments, as he confides in his brother, that he is down, because he'll never be considered as one of the greats, because his hands were too small, to become a heavyweight.

So too then, was Cassius Clay, considered, of not the right stock, to be a good boxer, let alone a great champion, his chest was too narrow, his gait was not natural, he was written off before he threw a single professional punch in anger.

This perhaps goes even further to explain the young champion's loud proclemations, after defeating Sonny Liston for the 1964 heavyweight title; I shook up the world! I shook up the world! Indeed Liston was apparently built like a boxer, and thus nobody gave the young Clay a chance.

It was perhaps then, with the rise of Muhammed Ali, we saw the decline in importance, of the tale of the tape.

Air Time

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Michael Jordan is widely accepted as the greatest basketball player of all time, and is somebody who has been tagged with the naturally talented label. However, he too, is somebody who was not thought of as particularly special in his early career.

During his basketball career, Michael Jordan scored 32,292 points, earned six NBA championships and five NBA MVP titles, and made 14 All-Star Game appearances. Yet in 1978, as a 15 year old Sophomore, Jordan failed to make the varsity team. Instead losing out to his close friend, the 6'7", naturally talented and now completely unknown, Leeroy Smith.

According to Jordan, and those around him, he took the cut, badly, though instead of shrinking into his own world, he carried on working hard, and slowly became the player later to be called His Royal Airness.

However, things weren't all plain sailing once he got into the NBA, I remember hearing that his defence was considered to be poor. So Jordan worked on that, until those comments went away, ditto his free throwing, dribbling, and open play, 3 point attempts.

As usual, after the fact, we labelled Michael Jordan as naturally talented, and scoffed at the early coaches who didn't recognise this obvious natural talent.

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

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Another so-called natural sportsman is Tiger Woods; in the days before his extramarital activities, precipitated his downfall, Woods was on his way to becoming the greatest golfer of all time.

He hit further than anyone else at the time, he hit more accurately; and what's more, he was younger and mixed race to boot. Tiger shook up his world, winning major title, after major title. Becoming both a spokesman and ambassador for the game, and inspiring a generation of young players to take up the game.

Surely Tiger is living proof of natural talent? At the age of 3 he famously beat Bob Hope at a putting competition. The fact that Hope was an adult, made the feat impressive enough, however the legendary crooner was also an avid golfer, playing in countless pro-am tournaments, making the event seem, superhuman.

Stories emanating from Woods' parents, Earl and Kultildha, suggest that the boy-genius was holding a putter before he could walk.

Hmm, therein lies the clue to the real root of this story. He was holding that putter because somebody (his father), put it in his hands.

Delve a little deeper, and we start to uncover the rigorous drills, and regimes, that the young golfer was put through.

Earl Woods, would famously make loud noises, and scream "Concentrate! at him halfway through his swing, or as he lined up for a putt. These drills ultimately paid off, as in 1997, Tiger became the youngest, and incidentally, first man of color, to win the Masters golf tournament.

Woods then is the only one of the examples thus far, who has been lauded as a natural talent, from early childhood.

Still though, we see a common thread between him, and the rest of our examples, and that is his work ethic. The fact he was prepared to work harder than his rivals, and had an obsessive father who drilled him day and night. Definitely helped him become a professional golfer, and perhaps was the reason for his all round greatness.

All Work And No Play

So then, in conclusion, I ask you; is that all it takes to make a natural talent? Brute force? Sheer hard work? Perhaps. Or perhaps the examples of the three sports stars above, show how their particular natural talent, was in fact a talent, for being able to get into something enough to obsess about it, to the point of compulsion.

After all; how many of us can testify to doing something over and over, striving for perfection? Ignoring error, pain, hardship, and focusing on, what must seem at times, as intangible, far-future success.

Maybe there is something to be said then about a natural talent; however there is one more important thing to consider, and that is the mindset of these so-called talented individuals, and that is something we'll be looking at in my next article: Mindset The Making Of A Champion - Or How To Ruin Your Children

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON NATURAL TALENT. DOES IT EXIST? OR IS IT MERELY AN ILLUSION BROUGHT ON AFTER THE FACT? AS EVER LET ME KNOW BELOW!

Cryptogee

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Good post @cryptogee. As the old Michelangelo quote goes - "If people knew how hard i worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all."

I also read a book by a professional footballer who said that the ones who became big stars were not necessarily the most talented ones at the academy but rather the most hardworking ones instead.

That's a great Michelangelo quote! If you don't mind, I will slip that into the follow up article; it perfectly illustrates what I'm talking about :-D

Cg

Please feel free to. I thought so as well :)

In my opinion it is sheer determination and focus of an individual towards a goal which makes them successful. As one gains popularity no matter the field, the world starts to label them as gifted. Why the person turned out to be such is a combination of many different things ranging from the family, friends, environment to being at the right place at the right time. The world is filled with countless examples of people who had no special talent at all but still made it to the top!

Very good points, it is definitely the sum of many parts, however are sometimes, over simplistic, human brains, like to boil these things down to a single event.

Cg

I agree with the fact that it takes focus and practice. The fact that most talented people had the mindset to stick with something until they mastered it.

It is definitely a chicken and egg scenario; what came first the mindset or passion? I definitely get passionate about things I'm good at.

Cg

So true hey.

Of course gifted people exist, but they will never be truly successful. They are losers in the long run. You must fail, get up and try again. Hundreds of times.

If everything is always too easy, you do not learn to deal with defeats. But this is necessary to win over the long term.

Yes they do; however it is not all gifted people who are losers because of a lack of trying. The ones that don't try, whether gifted or not, are definitely the real losers.

Cg

I like the examples you give and questions you raise, I've given this topic a great deal of thought over the years and find it really quite interesting. I agree that brilliance, mastery, "gifts" are always a combination of some natural talent, hard work, extraordinary luck and a natural proclivity. This natural proclivity is essential in order to do the hard work, and to have the motivation to excel and take whatever skill to the next level.

I always come back to my own example of Mozart. Not everyone could be a Mozart and certainly even if I spent my entire childhood practicing and performing, I would never become a Mozart because I love music but am completely uninterested in playing it (have tried successfully but am not interested). Without a natural or learned - but genuine - love for something there is simply no way a person will apply him or herself enough to achieve a high level of success. Luck is not to be dismissed either....many great talents are unknown. Looking forward to your next installment, I really enjoy your thinking!

This natural proclivity is essential in order to do the hard work, and to have the motivation to excel and take whatever skill to the next level.

That really sums it up beautifully in one paragraph, like you say, you have to have the interest and the drive to even embark on the journey in the first place, and therein lies the whole point. Perhaps, natural talent, is simply the ability to be able to do something over and over again without getting bored. If you can do that, you have a chance.

Plus of course, your brain has to be wired a certain way; however maybe they are just two sides of the same coin. The part of Mozart's motorcortex that controlled his fingers, was wired in such a way that his fingers, moved just so (plus he had synthesise), which meant that he found it fun to practice and practice, and practice.

Luck is a funny one; and I am a great believer of making your own luck; I have explored it in the past here, and may again do it in the future. However as far as I can see it, luck is simply an illusion that others perceive, to the person it's happening to, it rarely seems lucky; rarely but never, I guess :-)

Thanks for your comments, I really enjoyed mulling them over and answering :-D

Cg

You're right - when one is lucky one rarely realizes it and also that luck is a tricky subject that can be refuted. One other point worth mentioning is that I don't believe we're all equal in "talent", motivation or our potential . This is a controversial thing to say and I've change my mind about it at different times in my life, but at this point I do believe we all have a talent for something but those who have the unique ingredients for extraordinary talent are, well extraordinary! Anyway, thanks for the thought provoking post as always and in depth response.

While I believe a lot of it has to do with work ethic, determination, training, etc.. there are still genetic things that play a pretty large part. Lance Armstrong has a larger than normal heart that helps with his endurance. You can't train your way to being taller or having longer arms which really helps you in basketball.

So while it doesn't guarantee success that are definitely genetic factors that can give you an advantage over others.

Agreed, however Lance Armstrong is not the greatest example, seeing as he cheated throughout his career. However I will concede that being genetically predisposed to something can give you a leg up, however that's not the same as natural talent as I state it.

I am addressing your point, in part, in the next in the series :-)

Cg

I agree. Without constant practice you'll never become world best at anything.
But with that in mind I still believe if two people put in the same amount of work in one will come out of top because of the 'natural talent' - whatever that is. Being tall for basketball is maybe not a requirement but yet it certainly helps a little.

Yes, I don't think I can deny that people have different abilities; however I think the fallacy of natural talent, often makes people forget the effort that has gone into making someone great, at whatever their chosen field is.

Cg

Yup, 100% agree!

I read a book about this, and it looked at, apart from a short person being hard up to play pro basketball, and a tall person being unable to be a jockey, anyone can become proficient at anything they practice hard enough. Deliberate practice was the term the guy wrote about. Very interesting stuff. You'd really have to dedicate yourself to your chosen path to make it...

It's funny you mention that, because in the next one, I'm going to talk about 5'6" NBA star Alton Byrd. He was told "short people can't play pro basketball", and boy did he prove 'em wrong! :-)

Thanks for the comment.

Cg

It can be correlated with two types of mindset that Carol Dweck writes about in her book. Fixed mindset that belives the intelligence and talent are constant and once reaching the top of your skill there is no place to improve, and growth mindset that belives there is always a place for improvement and by hard working everybody can master any skill set. But what is interesting in her discoveries is the fact that people with fixed mindset once learning about growth mindset can switch to it and still make great results. Talent is overrated and always beaten by hard work :)

Exactly, you have preempted me in my second article! I was coming to her :-D. Great book btw :-)

Cg

So I'm looking for that. Keep it going - you write great posts.

Jordan legend !!! @ch00fy

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