On a recent ESPN radio talk show while discussing the book Sports: Is It All B.S.?, it was brought out that one of the myths or examples of b.s. that is constantly perpetuated is that great athletes are born, not made. But yet, this statement is far from the truth. It has probably been perpetuated to explain why some athletes are so much better than others without full investigation. Those who say this do not look at what the athlete did or is doing to improve himself to explain his or her success.
Because coaches are not into player development, they usually respond with a statement to the effect that athlete greatness is out of their control. This is why it is necessary for coaches, especially on the collegiate and professional levels, to heavily recruit or buy the best players. They believe there is only a finite number of great players and thus, they travel the world over to get the best players and as a result, the best teams.
A simple analysis of the statement that great athletes are born shows that this is a myth. For example, if a great athlete was born, it would not be necessary to put in hours of practice. The individual could wake up one day when, let’s say he is eighteen years of age, and say, “I think I will now take up basketball and make a few million dollars.” This, as anyone who is involved in sports will tell you, is impossible. Analysis of players who have become great will show that they practice long and hard. They are typically the ones who remain after practice working on additional improvement of their skills. They put in extra time on their own and do not rely merely on what is done with the team or what the coach tells them to do.
In some instances, genetics play a major role, but they are on the extremes of the normal athletic population. For example, in order to be a world-class marathoner, you must possess predominance (up to ninety-five percent) of red slow twitch fibers. These are the muscle fibers that enable you to maintain endurance work for a long period of time. On the other hand, if you wish to become a world-class sprinter, you must possess up to ninety-five percent white fast twitch fibers. These are the fast explosive fibers that enable you to achieve the top speeds seen in the sprints.
If you have an approximate fifty-fifty split between the red and white muscle fibers, you will never be able to excel in either the sprints or long distances. However, with this split you will be able to excel in team sports where not only must you be able to exhibit explosive power and strength, but you must also be able to last the game. Most athletes fall into this middle category. Thus, genetics do not play as great a role as we often assign it. In general, genetics determine only about thirty percent of your success. The remaining seventy percent is determined by what is done in training.
One of the reasons coaches and sports commentators perpetuate the myth that a great athlete is born, is that they are not capable of explaining how it is possible to make a great athlete. Effective player development, although bandied about much in the sports press and among teams, is, for the most part, nonexistent in the U.S. If we were truly capable of developing our athletic talent, we would not have to travel the world over to find talented athletes. And we would not have small countries such as Greece beating our best professional basketball players or Cuba beating or best professional baseball players. And we would not have so many collegiate and professional teams manned by foreign athletes.
It appears that we are getting more foreign athletes because we are developing fewer and fewer great U.S. players. This is understandable because many foreign countries are now instituting strong developmental or playing programs to develop their athletic talent. They do not need the high number of athletes we have in the United States and then hope that the best players will rise to the top as cream does in natural milk. Countries without the high number of athletes have learned that it is possible to take the limited talent that they have and develop it into some great players.
Classic examples of this were seen in the former East Germany and Soviet Union. A small nation such as East Germany won almost as many medals as the United States in the Olympic Games. The Soviet Union, although they had a large population, did not have a large sports base and the number of athletes in the country was quite limited. In order to win, they created a system to develop the limited number of athletes that they had. Their system of training was highly sophisticated and scientific. In fact, it still exists today even with the break up of the Soviet Union. It is the main reason why they are still capable of turning out great athletes and competing successfully on the world stage.
For years we have credited their success to the use of drugs. Drug use has been exploited by the media and coaches in this country to explain their success, but this is a myth since we and other countries also used drugs. More on this topic later.
The key point is that it is possible to greatly improve the playing performance of players. The knowledge and know-how are available. They only need implementation. However, this will never happen if coaches, sports writers, columnists, and sports commentators continue perpetuating the myths and b.s. that surrounds and guides player development in this country.
The problem of poor player development is not only seen on individual teams, but is truly a national problem. Even though we spend more money, have more coaches, better facilities and better equipment than any other nation in the world, we must travel the world over to find the best athletes to man our teams. This is a national disgrace. When is it going to change? For more information on this topic, read Sports: Is It All B.S.? and Build a Better Athlete.