I stumbled on these two postings again today while surfing the net and don’t believe I’ve shared them previously in this forum. Hopefully I’m not being repetitious. (If so, your myelin levels will benefit! Read on.)
Both are from NYtimes.com….
(1) The Appetizer – THE BRAINS BEHIND THE TALENT [Video]: This one just wets the pallette, really. And, if you’re a visual learner, like me (or, just lazy to read at times, like me!) you’ll enjoy this quick vlog.
(2) The Main Course – HOW TO GROW A SUPER-ATHLETE: Author Daniel Coyle, in a very well written piece, takes on the ever evasive questions of: “What underlying dynamic makes (some) people so spectacularly unaverage in the first place? What force is causing those from certain far-off places to become, competitively speaking, superior?”
In coming to his conclusion, he attempts to come up with a formula of success:
Intense Parents + Young Kids + Rigorous Technique + Toughness = Talent.
Along the way, he checks off the surmising of others to his questions and backs up his thoughts using some interesting research.
One thing that I found his formula missing was ‘passion’ or ‘drive’; regardless of whether it is intrinsic or extrinsic (doesn’t really matter in terms of outcomes [winning], but does when you assess the enjoyment of the process for the athlete, to me). In the latter stages of his article, he does touch on it:
“But in the end, as I look around the court, it can’t come down to a formula because formulas are rational, and whatever Spartak is, it isn’t entirely rational. It’s a bunch of kids in a dumpy club who are burning to be here, for whom every swing is meaningful, who wake up in the morning and say, “Today is my day with Larisa Dmitrievna!” It’s deeply and purposefully irrational, because it’s built on a love of sport and country that can’t be explained but holds everything together anyway.”
Give this one a read. Stir it around in thought. I’m sure, like me, you’ll agree, disagree and otherwise with many of the ideas. That though, is the beauty of new ideas.
/sef.
