Talent is Overrated?

I'm in the middle of reading Talent is Overrate by Geoff Colvin. The title really grabbed my attention. The premise of the book is very simple: you are not born with certain abilities or talent, you gain the ability to perform at a high level (regardless of activity) through "deliberate practice." Basically you must develop a specific program where you can improve your abilities which will then carry over to your sport, activity, job, or trade. Colvin uses examples of such high level achievers as Mozart, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, and Jerry Rice.

The story of Jerry Rice's rise to a great performer was interesting. He was talked into playing high school football. He was not highly recruited out of high school. Division IAA Mississippi Valley State was the only program to really show interest. How did Rice go from his humble beginnings to being one of the greatest players to every play in the NFL? His approach. No one put in as much time as Rice did to prepare for the game. It is estimated that only 1% of his time was spent playing on the field in the NFL compared to the other 99% which was spent preparing for that time using "deliberate practice." Amazing yet not surprising.

How do we improve our performance? Deliberate practice. Athletes will not improve their performance on the field by playing 100 games a year regardless of sport. Improved performance will come through a well designed "deliberate practice" routine. Building a good strong foundation for future development in your sport will come through a sports performance training program as well as your sport specific skill instruction. How much "deliberate practice" are you taking part in?

For more information on Speed Boosters training sessions as St. Louis Baseball & Fastpitch Academy and the Grizzlies Baseball Academy @ GCS Stadium contact Sean Erwin - sean.erwin@speedboosters.net