Throughout history, prowess in
sports
has always been considered a blessing, though
time
and
time
again, the topic of hard
work
versus
talent
has always been a debatable one in society.
While
some believe that some of us are just born with innate abilities to dominate in physical activities,
others
believe that it's perseverance through each and every day that gets us to success in
sports
.
On the one hand, it can be argued that an individual's natural ability in
sports
is the biggest factor that leads to success.
This
is because these people aren't wasting any
time
getting used to the feeling of playing the game. It's almost as if their foundations were already rock solid before they started unlike many
others
, and
thus
more
time
and energy can be dedicated to perfecting their craft and honing their skills over
time
, putting them a cut above the rest. As an example, a survey done between the Ivy League schools has shown that over 60% of the top athletes of the schools spend most of their
time
training in new techniques and skills that can be used as an advantage
instead
of going over the basics again and again. Most of them explained their reasoning in that the basics of the
sports
they play came as second nature to them, so dedicating
time
to other aspects proves to be more efficient.
On the other hand
,
others
instead
choose to have faith in the gruelling nonstop training process that over
time
would create a top athlete.
This
belief stems from the fact that putting in the effort to train day by day, makes people feel like they are in control of the situation where their actions in the present would be the direct cause for future progress,
instead
of having everything pre-determined by luck. Not only that, it's logical to believe that if we don't put in the
work
for anything, even if we have
talent
, that potential would remain untouched as we haven't put the
work
in to do so. Research conducted by New York University illustrates
this
pretty well as when reviewing the track record of 100-star athletes in a variety of
sports
, they noticed how 40% of proclaimed geniuses consistently ranked below athletes who are known for their rigorous training programs.
This
just goes to show that
talent
can only take you so far.
In conclusion, even though it's common thought that being good at
sports
is mainly
due to
innate talents, it has been proven on other occasions that it's hard
work
that outshines
talent
. Personally, I believe that there are many different ways to achieve the same outcome of excellent achievements, especially in
sports
where both
talent
and hard
work
play a big role.
However
, to truly reach new heights of accomplishments, I think that a balanced combination of
talent
and hard
work
is necessary to stand atop all
others
.