Practice practice practice...

[betheman]

Ive just been watching and listening to a guy on tv here in the uk, Matthew Syed, journo and 3 times commonwealth table tennis champion.
He has written a book, 'Bounce' in which he debunks the myth of people inherently having a talent...i.e. David Beckham, Tiger woods et al.

Syed has delved into the lives of the top sportspeople and his conclusion is that they all practiced religiously and almost obsessively to achieve what they have. the common theme he derived from these achievers is that they all have a mindset that "they will get better".
Woods and Beckham for instance, both practiced loads and loads from a very early age, more than their peers and contemporaries.

his conclusion is that they are not special, they had a stronger drive and belief than others and that this, ultimately makes them appear far more talented and natural than others.

hard work chaps! in life, business, sport...and game, practice, fail, practice fail, practice fail...but learn along the way, the formula is simple but the road is long, it requires tenacity, resilience and belief, alpha traits?

this will come as nothing new to some of you, a reminder to others and myself. Game is no different, those naturals were probably practicing from a very early age but may not even have realised it ergo it appears natural.

you may not be hitting home runs every week but your averages will go up...if you work at it.

 

[zekko]

his conclusion is that they are not special, they had a stronger drive and belief than others and that this, ultimately makes them appear far more talented and natural than others.

I agree up to a point. If you want to be good at something, commit to it and practice like a dog. If you can do this from a young age especially, it becomes very ingrained and second nature.

But at a certain level, a lot of people have good work ethic and practice hard. But not everybody becomes Tiger Woods. Shoot, even Tiger Woods isn't Tiger Woods anymore. Michael Jordan had great work ethic, but if he was 5'2" he would have never been a pro basketball player. There's a genetic component involved.

And especially when it comes to something like attraction, there are a lot of variables involved that can contribute to or hinder your success, some of which you can't control. Plus when it comes to women, not everybody wants the same thing or defines success the same way.

There's also a question of where that drive comes from. Why is one person so driven and another is not? I really think that is part of what "talent" really is (along with the genetics). You can't just manufacture the drive and desire to do something. You either want it badly enough or you don't.

But I agree with the main point. If you want to be good at something, work at it. You may not get to be spectacular at it, but you can at least be very, very good.

 

[living-proof]

I have to agree with betheman. Desire is the main requirement. Desire will MAKE you practice. Desire will put you back on the horse when your bones heal. If you work at something long enough, you will become good at it. My field is teaching people to use firearms. At the lower levels its hand-eye coordination, at the upper levels its desire and practice.