"Natural" talent

[muttleee]

There seems to be a bit of a concensus lately that Rory is the "most naturally talented" golfer of his generation, perhaps of several generations. The thing is, he's been coached non stop pretty much since he could walk...whereas Bubba has apparently never had a lesson. Does that not make him the most naturally talented player of his generation?

 

[miniTIGER95]

Yep, i'd say bubba is as naturally talented as you can be. People used to say the same about woods, although like Rory he had non stop coaching ( which obviously isn't a bad thing)

 

[Val]

You can have all the coaching in the world and still not get good at something, you have to have a natural talent first.

I was a keen footballer but I'd would never be a Jinky Johnstone regardless of how much coaching I got

 

[USER1999]

Bounce is an interesting book on this, written by Matthew syed.

 

[HowlingGale]

Yep, totally agree about Bounce. Fascinating book whic dispels the myth of "natural" talent. Shame really because I've been kidding myself on for years that I'm rubbish at sport because I had no natural talent.

 

[MashieNiblick]

I am a believer in there being some element of "natural" talent, through genetic inheritance that may affect "abilities" like balance, hand eye coordination, reaction time, etc but that you need practice as well to develop and correctly apply these.

I haven't read the Syed book but have read reviews and as I understand it it is heavily based the findings of one piece of research (which I think have been questioned) on the lines that to be good at something you have to spend 10,000 hours practising. However as I see it that that doesn't necessarily mean that if you spend 10,000 hours practising you will become excellent at it. It may be necessary but in my view it isn't sufficient.

As I say I haven't read it so apologies if I am mistating the case. I must try and get hold of a copy. I'm sure it will be an interesting read even if I disagree with it.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Evolutionary biology states that some people will be better at something than others.

If a person has the physical attributes, biological factors and environmental factors that make them good at golf from a young age then they will always have the potential to be better than someone who has not got the physical and biological adaptations (for want of a better word) that make hitting a golf ball easy.

 

[Hobbit]

What is "natural talent" other than an ability to see something and then do it, i.e. to learn quickly from observation and then to learn quickly from experience. You've only have to look at how unfit so many golfers are, me included, to realise fitness isn't a factor in being able to play golf.

 

[garyinderry]

theres defs an element of natural talent towards sport. hands up if your the type of chap who could turn his hand to any sport! i can safely say im one of them! my dad was the same! if you have good hand to eye co-ordination you are half way there!

my best friend when we were kids was rubbish at most sports. his hand to eye co-ord was bad. he was the type of chap, if u threw him a sweet, he dropped it!

 

[Sir Slicealot]

Rory (like Tiger) could hit a ball 50 yards at the age of 3, Bubba can bend a ball seeimgly like a Jedi master, surely thats (both) natural talent? All the tour players have natural talent its (as Scienceboy pointed out) all about potential. As it stands at the moment, Bubba is the winner that no one saw coming, Rory is the favourite every time. They both have the talent, but who is most likely to win.

 

[Neddy]

Will read that book with interest.

Always believed that everyone has a "talent ceiling". ie a point where they won't get any better regardless of how much work they put into it.

 

[Jimbooo]

So you have 2 people, both have never played golf before. They watch someone hit some balls and then get told to have a go. The first player hasn't a clue, holds the club wrongly, sways, keeps missing the ball by miles, and has no discernible rhythm, its painful to watch. The second player picks up a club and within a few easy swings, manages to hit some balls with fairly good contact and has a nice rhythm.

Now assuming the second player didn't lie and has actually played golf before - what separates these two players? It's got to be natural talent/ability in my view. Some people just find things easier than others and its nothing to do with being trained or practicing.

 

[daymond]

If I spent eight hours a day for eight years hitting snooker balls I doubt I would beat my highest break of 14. I am rubbish at the game: not an ounce of natural talent in sight.
Similarly get ten ten year olds to throw a cricket ball and I bet you will immediately see those that have a natural ability to do it and those that will never play good cricket.

 

[sev112]

Anyone who has read "Bounce" shoudl also read "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle, which goes much more in to the science behind "talent" and the neurological processes involved in the development of skills (of all kinds, not just sport) - in fact anyone with young kids (or old kids, or even parents!) could do with reading it, as it is a fantastic description of how to coach, teach, encourage, as well as the science behind it all

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Isn't it the same with everything. Some pass their driving test first time and others take an age. Some people in work are able to pick up new processes and others take forever. There has to be an element of natural aptitude in everything we do. It works the other way. You can get a natural athlete, coach all that ability and flair out of them and make them a worse performer because they haven't got the ability to rely on the skills they had originally

 

[Richuk123]

I class Bubba more of a natural talent that Rory , based on what we know about the two. In fact, anyone who has done well with an unorthodox swing, such as John Daly, Jim Furyk and who could forget, Eamon Darcy!!!

 

[Marshy77]

theres defs an element of natural talent towards sport. hands up if your the type of chap who could turn his hand to any sport! i can safely say im one of them! my dad was the same! if you have good hand to eye co-ordination you are half way there!

I agree with this, I'm a pretty good footballer, was an ok cricket player, love a game of tennis and are getting better at golf. I think its a sport thing - if your naturally sporty then I think you pick up the fundamentals of all different sports quicker than someone who isn't.

 

[sev112]

Matt Syed's book "Bounce" summarises a reasonably well known real life story.

Mr Polgar was a psychologist who wanted to prove that talent wasnt natural.
He was so committed to proving this that he picked the most challenging skill he could think of - chess - and then set out to find a partner who would help him prove it. He found a woman who agreed and they set about making babies.
he then coached their offspring ( 3 of them !) to World Champion level !!! thereby demonstrating (in his view) that talent is no more than focussed intensive practice.

Sounds like Tiger and Rory to me

i might nee dto do some digging to find a Bubba parallel.
But given that it now turns out that he isnt in fact christened "Bubba" i woudlnt be certain that the "never had a lesson in my life " is strictly true, but i'm certainly willing to be proved wrong

 

[garyinderry]

im struggling to think of a mainstream sport i was BAD at!!

 

[garyinderry]

i can safely say that Mr Polgar would have a job on his hands coaching my friend with the bad hand to eye co-ordination to world champion in anything in the field of sport.