Stretch Posted June 19, 2014 Share Further to the Leogang thread, there followed and interesting discussion about what it takes to be at the top of your game, to compete in a World cup or World championships and podium. These guys and girls have an incredible ability to control a bike and do so at speed (and we are talking about XC and DH). Now the question raised is that is there an inherent ability that they have or do they just achieve that through hard work, passion and determination, bearing in mind that most of these guys are riding their bikes from age 3, 4 or 5. Bruce Fordyce has said that anyone can train hard and put in the time and the miles, but unless you have the genetic makeup you will never win comrades. I tend to agree with statement across all aspects of sports - dedication and hard work is required no doubt, but all these guys have something in them in the first place that makes them want to shred around in their back garden from a young young age. P.s - it would be great if we could bring some of the discussion from the leogang thread here to continue in a focused thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcza Posted June 19, 2014 Share Ask Mark Cavendish - whilst working in a bank he was sent to a lab by British Cycling only to be told he didn't have the genetic make up to ever become a professional cyclist. 6 years later he won the World Championship. I know its not XC or DH but you need big ones to participate in the sprint for the line. nonky, GLuvsMtb, DIPSLICK and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Steer Posted June 19, 2014 Share I believe determination can get you far, but to make it into that top 5 percentile of professional sports, you have to have some basic given natural talent too. The really top guys have serious talent and the determination, but around those top echelons of sport the margins are tiny to say the least - just look at the DH result from the weekend. For Downhill (lets keep it relevant to what we were discussing) - I would say (as a non-downhill laymen) that balance, reflexes, confidence and probably just good old fashioned guts are probably the most important attributes to have. It is though a really tough sport, and most likely the best potential downhillers (talent wise) didn't even make it to competing seriously (due to a lack of determination) - a broken, arm, back etc put them on to different career path or sport. Edited June 19, 2014 by Andrew Steer GoLefty!!, The MTBer, arendoog and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The MTBer Posted June 19, 2014 Share Determination, Talent and the right Mindset, without one of them you will not be sucessful... GoLefty!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vetseun Posted June 19, 2014 Share You don't have to be stupid to do downhill............ but it helps a lot! The guts of those people is just mind blowing Oufy MTB (Roadie), Muggins, ChUkKy and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V12man Posted June 19, 2014 Share There are books on the subject... start with this one... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genetics-Sports-Medicine-Sport-Science/dp/380559027X/ref=sr_1_41?ie=UTF8&qid=1403172417&sr=8-41&keywords=Genetics+and+Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIPSLICK Posted June 19, 2014 Share There are books on the subject... start with this one... http://www.amazon.co...tics and Sports cant read without pictures :whistling: short recap for the uneducated Andrew Steer and ChUkKy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V12man Posted June 19, 2014 Share cant read without pictures :whistling: short recap for the uneducated Yes, there is a huge genetic component to sports success... Vetseun, Oufy MTB (Roadie) and Andrew Steer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIPSLICK Posted June 19, 2014 Share Yes, there is a huge genetic component to sports success...could have just said that :ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mileage Posted June 19, 2014 Share There was a good discussion of this a few weeks back on www.sportscientists.com. Nature vs Nurture and what is talent. Go check it out Andrew Steer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Steer Posted June 19, 2014 Share Ask Mark Cavendish - whilst working in a bank he was sent to a lab by British Cycling only to be told he didn't have the genetic make up to ever become a professional cyclist. 6 years later he won the World Championship. I know its not XC or DH but you need big ones to participate in the sprint for the line.I would be interested to see what they tested... body fat % He does have an above average % of fast twitch fibres, as per all sprinters.He's always maintained though that what makes him a great sprinter is that he is one of the few guys that can hit near his max 1580 watts (I think it was) at the end of a race - he basically looks after himself better in the race. He's also quite compact compared with Greipel/Kittel etc - so more aero, and therefore requires less power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummibear Posted June 19, 2014 Share It's the strong will to win that separates the Pros from the average Joe. Skylark, Grondpad and The MTBer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escapee.. Posted June 19, 2014 Share Hard work beats Talent when Talent doesnt work hard Gadgetman, Pants Boy, gummibear and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Low Posted June 19, 2014 Share In cycling the genetically gifted can't avoid the hard work; in something like football and definitely cricket, you can, nonky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummibear Posted June 19, 2014 Share That mental edge that keeps them going when their bodies say no.That mental edge that keeps them training when their bodies want to quit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stretch Posted June 19, 2014 Share Yes, there is a huge genetic component to sports success... there is also the whole concept of gladwells outliers theory -where your surroundings as well as your birth date affect success...also a good read TALUS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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