Elite Athletes Who Are Elite Athletes

The author's purpose in writing ​​the sports gene​ is to show the readers the difference between being born with a natural talent/gift and have years of hard work and practice to master that one subject/sport. In this case, Donald Thomas was the example of being born with a natural gift. On the other hand, we have Stefan Holm who had 25 years of practice and experience. During the competition, Donald Thomas didn't know the techniques and struggled at the beginning. While Holm had years of experience and time to perfect the techniques. Holm did not struggle, he easily passed all the bars without having to repeat them. Thomas came in 4th place and took a year to practice. "He slowed down so drastically as h approached the bar that it seemed

Every few years in the world of sports, a natural phenomenon appears where the son or daughter of a famous sporting parent, follows in their mother or father’s footprints and goes on to have an illustrious career in the world of sports. Whist it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the offspring of a sporting legend will have genes in their makeup which allow them to be naturally good at sports, to actually use it to be successful under the weight of expectation which they are put under, is an achievement in itself. Let’s take a look at just some of these incredible humans who have matched the exploits of their parent. The Elways Think Denver Broncos and you immediately think of the Hall of Famer John Elway, one of the greatest QBs to ever play in the NFL and a highly successful player and manager with 3 Super Bowl rings on his hand.

In the excerpt “The Sports Gene” by David Epstein, the author expresses how an athlete can become a world champion, even after training for only eight months. Due to his overly sized achilles tendon, Donald Thomas was able to achieve world records after practicing for only a short amount of time. Thomas’s competitor, Stefan Holm had been training and competing for over 20 years. Holm’s had been consistently practicing and striving to become the world's highest high-jumper with hard work and determination. “But the tendons are one puzzle piece that helps explain how two athletes could arrive at essentially the same place, one after a twenty-year love affair with his craft, and the other with less than a year of serious practice.”

According to the sports Gene article the athlete Holms is a 7 foot high jumper in a track and field event. Epstein discusses how genes give you the success in sports. But in the reality it all depends on your determination and what you are capable of doing. According to Epstein he says that “Thomas long legs relative to his height and also gifted with a giants achilles tendon.” Holms was studied by scientists by comparing

In The Sports Gene, David Epstein compares two high jumpers and their success, arguing that physical ability is the leading cause of an individual's success. David Epstein uses Donald Thomas as an example to support his claim by comparing his success to Stefan Holm. Donald Thomas was an inexperienced high jumper who had an incredible amount of success leading him to participate and eventually win the 2007 World Championships. Stefan Holm was the reigning Olympic champion of the high jump which used discipline and many years of practice to achieve success but was defeated by a neophyte. Epstein provides information about studies conducted on

Human genes are explored to look for what makes athletes great, or to see if elite athletes are a product of hard work and determination. Many aspects of a sport rely on the genes athletes are given, however work ethic is also important in creating an elite athlete.

He sees the validity of this claim, however, declares that this only gives limited knowledge, in that there is much more to this. There are many other factors factoring into athletic performance, not simply genetics. With this, he shows how these athletes followed the 10,000-hour rule, demonstrating that deliberate practice was needed to perform as well as they did. These athletes dedicated large amounts of training and dedication in order to reach the success they did. This success was not simply achieved due to their genetics, it was rather nurtured through their practice. While Gladwell believes in the idea that blacks are generally better athletes than whites, he also believes that hard work is the most important thing for someone who wants to be good at a sport. His theory is that hard work and drive are more important than someone’s race when it comes to being good at a sport, in that athletic ability does not always come down to physical ability. There is no clear explanation of why and if certain races perform better than others. Ultimately, Gladwell believes there is more than one factor that contributes to

What many people fail to see in an athlete is the amount of talent in them, the commitment they have, the intense training they go through, and the competitive attitude they posses. The physical challenges they face and endure is astonishing. An average person works eight hours a day behind a desk with his computer. Imagine working the same number of hours everyday while training your abilities, maintaining your physical form, and sharpening your skills (Anonymous par. 4). That is what a professional athlete endures. Athletes face short career lengths. They also face a lot of competitiveness; therefore, an athlete is at the top of his game when he is still young. Professional athletes also face the risk of career ending injuries when they are fighting to win a game and be the best they can. Combining all those problems they face, the average career length of an athlete is five years (Keown par. 2). Not only do these athletes need to stay in shape, but they also have to perform well. But all the hard works leads to health issues such as lack of sleep, fatigue, and continuous tension (Wilson par.3). If they are not able to put up to the

The thing that Colvin is trying to get out to the readers is to show them what it takes to be great. The article”What it takes to be great”was published on October 30, 2006. The question is what does it take to be a great. Something that he wants to get to the readers is that to be great at something it has to come from lots and lots of deliberate practice. You can’t just do it once and say “I did it. I’m the best at it now.” You have to go through many months and sometimes even years to get good at what you want to be good at. You have to strive for the sport. Something that Colvin says to support his argument is “The elite athletes became great through lots of practice dedication and focus.” You have to at least have these few traits, Practice,

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! I roll over and shut off my alarm. My body aches from the lack of sleep and yesterday’s workout. I threw on my gym clothes and headed out the door. There was work to be done.

What makes a good athlete? What separates a person on the 1st line up from a bench warmer? Where does athleticism come from? Is it from our genes, or is it a product of the environment we live in? These are the types of questions that arise in the nature vs. nurture debate pertaining about athletic ability. In 1582, British educator, Richard Mulcaster wrote that
''Nature makes the boy toward, nurture sees him forward,'' he gave the world
a euphonious name for an opposition that has been debated ever since; Nature and Nurture. People's
beliefs about the roles of heredity and environment affect their opinions on an
astonishing range of topics including sports. The nature versus nurture debate not only exists in the sporting community but also in many others. It is a very controversial topic that has puzzled researchers for centuries. There are two sides to the debate; Nature and Nurture. To be on the side on nature one believes that DNA and heredity make us who we are. In the case of sports, an athlete is born with genes that give them the ability to excel in a certain sport. On the other hand, many people believe that we become who we are because of the environment and people around us; Nurture. A nurtured athlete is an individual that has developed elite skills over time caused by rigorous training and their surroundings. Nature or nurture, which contributes more to the creation of professional athletes?

Every elite athlete makes it look easy. Splashing through the water or striding gracefully down the track making it look effortless. Some people assume they are “naturals,” that their perfect DNA sequence is what has brought them to this level. Others argue that hard work and drive is what has made the difference, separating the elite from the average. These thoughts are the ones that give rise to the age-old nature vs. nurture debate. Countless hours of studies and research has concluded: it’s both. High performance sports consultant Ross Tucker puts it this way, “The science of success is about the coming together of dozens, perhaps hundreds of factors” (1). The relationship of such factors, including genetics, types and lengths of

Many people dream of being a professional athlete. Some people make it a reality, but

Often, even without trying an elite athlete becomes a role model for young people, this is because they are fit, focused and famous.

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to