Genetic Screening and Physiological Testing in Young Athletes

How much of what happens in our lives do we actually control? This is a question that mankind has been pondering for thousands of years. There are two different articles that could answer the question. David Epstein, the author of “The Sports Gene”, writes about a true story of fate, in which an amateur high jumper makes it to the top due to his god-given gift of a large Achille’s tendon. Malcom Gladwell argues in his piece, “Outliers,” that success depends on one’s willingness to practice or try again. Using extensive research and solid evidence, Malcom Gladwell creates a better argument that success is a result of hard work and dedication, and therefore better answers the question, “How much of what happens in our lives do we actually control?”

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” Jessica Statsky argues that younger children should not be involved in overly competitive sports. Statsky wrote that organized competitive sports were to the disadvantage of children both physically and psychologically. In youth athletics, some parents and coaches put their own dreams in front of their children 's’ well-being by stressing winning. Statsky concludes “all organized sports activities” to be remade as a more enjoyable game regardless of each athlete’s ability and athleticism. The author states many issues that kids have when they are forced to play a sport just to win or that they don’t enjoy. Some kids just don 't enjoy sports, but their parents force it on them. Certain organized sports programs promote winning over physical skills and self-esteem. Statsky brings up valid points that early childhood shouldn’t involve intense physical competition, which is associated with the risk of injury to the body and mind.

How much of our lives do we actually control ? Everyone has and will always have different outlooks on this question that can’t possibly be proven, we can solely try to persuade and convince each other otherwise.For example two authors had two different viewpoints on this controversial question.David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene, argues that physical ability formed at birth out ways hard work and success achieved through years of practice.The opposing author William Ernest Henley wrote a poem called Invictus that is strong and powerful to anyone that reads it, claiming that you are the master of your own destiny. These are both reasonable claims but I believe William Ernest Henry has a more convincing argument therefore he better answers the question, How much of our lives do we actually control ?

A person’s genes are ultimately determined by their parents. Each person has two copies of a specific gene, one from their mother and one from their father. Even though both of the genes received are technically for the same trait, they can be alleles (or variants) of the gene (Chakraborty 1). This explains why all people look and act differently, even though we ultimately have the same basic genetic structure. Each unique allele that a person has will determine the type of athlete they can become, as well as their abilities (1). Tom Brutsaert and Esteban Parra, anthropologists and co-authors of “Genetics and Sports: Nature versus Nurture in Determining Athletic Ability” identify things like muscle strength and power, aerobic capacity, muscle fiber types, response to training, and body size and composition as decidedly heritable factors (11). However, simply having specific genes does not necessarily mean that they will be expressed in any certain positive outcome (Chakraborty 2). Combinations of genes are important in determining which will be expressed and which will not, as some genes will only function in congruence with others (2). Therefore, even possessing the correct gene

The author only looked at two athletes in one sport to make his argument which could mean that in other sports the same kind of genetics beats practice would not work.

If kids don’t try other sports, how do they know whether or not they might like those sports more or be better at them? For many athletes their bodies are not completely developed. By playing at the speed of the higher conditioned and developed players in the professional league, young underdeveloped athletes run the risk of suffering an early career ending injury. These opportunities, though, come at a cost. While young athletes are participating in intensive sporting education, their academic education may be neglected. Age effects take a greater approach to the physical side of the sports people body, as the older the sports person is, the more mature and developed their body is and the younger the person is the less developed they are. Training and traveling all

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.

Have you ever wanted to participate in a sport, but you failed at a tryout? This paper talks about why we should no longer have tryouts for kid’s sports. This is a complicated issue because there are many sides to it, for example, some people may think that it tryouts teach kids to fail. This argument is misleading because if kids fail at a tryout, they may think that they are useless in the sport and they may give up sports altogether. The actual question to be decided is, should there be tryouts and why. Tryouts can be problematic because the coach would choose someone who is taller and older to play, it could stop a kids participation in a sport, and coaches would rather choose favorites from a past season of coaching.

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete”, Jessica Statsky talks about the different kinds of students and their approach and mental and physical ability and pressure towards Sports. Statsky differentiates between two sets of children who have physical and mental attributes and towards sports. She gives a few examples and changes that have taken place in the past decades in the sports scenario. When overzealous parents and coaches impose adult standards on children's sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor beneficial to children. She further states that children should not be pressurized or forced upon their performance and improvement rather they should first be given a chance to understand the sport, their potential and the way in which they develop

Many social factors directly or indirectly shape opinions and influence an individual’s decision to participate in physical activity. These factors change throughout an individual’s life. For example, some children start playing sport because it is fun; others may join a sporting group because their older brother or sister plays that sport. A new sporting complex may open nearby and provide a chance to try a new sport. Coaching clinics might inspire some people to give a sport a go. Teachers can provide both positive and negative sporting experiences.

Description: To begin the study, our group was given an athlete. First, our athlete was asked

There are a lot of aspects that should be taken into account when determining what makes an athlete successful. One could argue that natural ability is one of the determining factors which leads to success. For example, if an athlete has dreams of playing in the NBA then height makes a difference. There aren’t many successful players in the league under six feet tall. One could argue that level of competition plays a role in the development of an athlete. This could include the skill level of the opponent or outside factors such as playing conditions or game circumstances. These types of arguments play a role in athlete success, but will not be used in this paper because they are factors that are out of the athlete’s control. This paper

In the article “For Children in Sports, a Breaking Point” by Jane Brody the author discusses the underlying problem on whether or not young athletes should be encouraged to push themselves to their physical and mental breaking point in sports from their coaches, parents, or even themselves. Meanwhile, in “Why Parents Should Let Their Kids Play Dangerous Sports” by Jeb Golinkin the writer deliberates why parents should let their children participate in risky sports to understand the significance of failing, teamwork, striving, and succeeding.

Who has watched the Olympics game or a professional basketball game and not wondered, “Why are so many of the best black athletes?” or “are they better suited to athletics than Whites or Asians genetically? It is well known that black athletes participate more in basketball and football. Comparing with black and white, Asian athletes are less participate in basketball or football. There are racial differences in participation in football, basketball, and other sports. Black males are 2.5 times as likely to participate in basketball. On the other hand, white males are 1.3 times more likely than black males to participate in other sports such as baseball, soccer, and swimming. (Jennifer E) Besides, most of people will curious about why black athletes participate more in basketball or football, and why more Asian-American participate more in table tennis and why Latino are more willing to participate more in baseball. The three factors can

         Coaches today have trained their gymnasts to maintain the so called “proper weight” that they feel is right for their athletes. Christy Henrich’s coach “claims that gymnastics and its emphasis on slimness are not responsible for Christy’s illness and death. He claims her intense drive to win contributed to her eating disorder. The gymnastic training system encourages young female athletes to keep their weight down, and many gymnasts live on diets of fruits, laxatives, and painkillers” (93). This coach’s statement is not unusual. Many gymnasts go through this kind of training throughout their gymnastics career. We have the ability to change what goes on in gyms like this one. As a lot of psychologists suggest, we as a society have to “inform” our athletes and coaches about the dangers of eating disorders. I don’t think that coaches ever talk to the athletes about the importance of healthy dieting. Most of the time they encourage them to cut down on eating, not to just reconstruct their