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To what extent do you believe genetics determines athletic success?

S

Special K

Diamond Member
My question could be generalized to any ability, but with the olympics underway, I thought athletics in particular might be an appropriate topic.

To what extent to you believe genetics determines athletic success? At one end of the spectrum, I know people who believe that there are absolutely no innate differences in genetic ability between people, aside from obvious traits such as height and physical handicaps. They believe that anyone is capable of achieving anything if they only work hard enough. At the other end of the spectrum are people who believe that the top atheletes basically hit the genetic jackpot when they were born, and are destined for success unless they do something extremely stupid that impairs or eliminates their ability to compete (drugs, car wreck, legal trouble, etc.).

I personally think that genetic ability sets the bar for what each individual is capable of, and hard work allows each person to reach their own maximum potential. Your genetic potential determines at what level you could become competitive at, while hard work allows you to realize that potential. For some, that maximum potential may be a gold-medalist at the olympics. For others, that maximum potential may be making varsity on the high school team. When you are competing among a group of people who are very close in realized natural ability, hard work and some luck will ultimately determine the winner.

Obviously this will vary somewhat from one sport to the next, as some have more subjective scoring than others.

What do you think?
 
At that level, it's definitely genetics playing a large part.

That said, a lot of people hide behind that as to why they may not be that good or as good as another person concerning athletics. If you put in the hard work, you'll see results. Genetics isn't the reason you're not as good as your buddy at basketball when he practices two hours a day and you only play street games every other week.
 
Genetics can go a long way, but to achieve greatness you really do the need an insanely good work ethic.
That being said, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf's kid has the potential of being an amazing athlete in tennis or some other sport.
But not w/o working hard~
 
I think it's pretty strong. My dad is a distance runner. His goal, for a long time, was to be able to do a marathon in 4 hours. He ended up having to settle for 4:00:35, which he achieved around age 50 (he didn't get into running until he was about 40). He's since stopped going for that time and started simply running for the fun of it. Based on his genetics (very tall, medium build, not very coordinated) I could only see him just breaking 3 hours even if he had dedicated his entire life to distance running.

For most sports, you could probably identify a "lowest common denominator" performance level that anyone, regardless of genetics, could match, given enough effort. But it would be pretty far removed from the performance of the best athletes in the world. Just look at the difference between an 18-year-old female basketball or volleyball player and an 18-year-old gymnast. Do you think one would be able to do very well at the other's sport? They might be passable with enough training, but they'd never reach Olympic levels.
 
40% genetics, 30% environment, 30% work

edit: No, I take that back. I think the degree that work matters really depends on the particular sport. Some sports take far far more work to excel at than other sports. If you're 7'4" tall, and even remotely coordinated, you just might excel at basketball without a whole lot of effort. However, there are sports where it doesn't take a lot of natural ability, but rather, takes a lifetime of dedication to be truly successful.

The more you're "genetically blessed", the less work you may have to put into many sports. Without "good enough" genetics, most people's ability to
 
Quite a bit.

A lot also comes with the upbringing of the kid. If the parent's are athletic and active, I'd bet that the kid has a better shot in making it in something and excelling.
 
Your VO2 Max basically determines how well you'll perform in many sports, and genetics play a huge role in what your maximum VO2 Max can be.

99% of the population can never be an elite level athlete in certain sports (running, swimming, cycling, etc.) no matter how hard they train, due to genetics.
 
Genetics is definitely the defining factor with all things equal and everyone training hard. However, genetics doesn't just affect how athletic your body is... some people just have a really good instinct for sports, and thus are really good even though they don't look the part. I play bball with some rather portly guys, and they happen to be amazing at passing, getting rebounds, and pump-fakes, taking out people who are taller and in much better shape.
 
Originally posted by: goog40
Your VO2 Max basically determines how well you'll perform in many sports, and genetics play a huge role in what your maximum VO2 Max can be.

99% of the population can never be an elite level athlete in certain sports (running, swimming, cycling, etc.) no matter how hard they train, due to genetics.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I just did a quick google search for V02 Max and the first 2 articles that came up both said that V02 Max is primarily genetic, along with other factors such as lactate threshold. It even said some people may not improve their V02 Max at all, even after going through a proper training program.
 
your VO2 max definitely does improve over time. Any flute player will tell you that they can hold a note much much longer now than when they first started.
 
Originally posted by: ed21x
your VO2 max definitely does improve over time. Any flute player will tell you that they can hold a note much much longer now than when they first started.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my ex greatly improved her flute playing ability over time....
 
Originally posted by: FallenHero
Originally posted by: ed21x
your VO2 max definitely does improve over time. Any flute player will tell you that they can hold a note much much longer now than when they first started.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my ex greatly improved her flute playing ability over time....
Click to expand...

Wrong flute.
 
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
depends on the sport. Ping pong? prob not. gynastics? Power lifting? long distance running? absolutely.
Click to expand...

lance armstrong and TDF = </thread>
Click to expand...

The fact that he had cancer and got over it proves nothing. I could easily argue that his genetic makeup allowed him to recover quickly. And you could argue that his work ethic pulled him through. I would think it is a little of both.
 
Originally posted by: Cogman
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
depends on the sport. Ping pong? prob not. gynastics? Power lifting? long distance running? absolutely.
Click to expand...

lance armstrong and TDF = </thread>
Click to expand...

The fact that he had cancer and got over it proves nothing. I could easily argue that his genetic makeup allowed him to recover quickly. And you could argue that his work ethic pulled him through. I would think it is a little of both.
Click to expand...

lance has both the insane will and the physiology/genetics.

his lung capacity is way above normal, his heart is significantly larger, and his heart rate is incredible.

and hey.. every little bit of weight loss helps, right? 😉
 
work = the main part. genetics is what sets you above what you can be by work alone.
that is why most track/basketball players are black.
 
Originally posted by: Funyuns101
Genetics can go a long way, but to achieve greatness you really do the need an insanely good work ethic.
That being said, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf's kid has the potential of being an amazing athlete in tennis or some other sport.
But not w/o working hard~
Click to expand...

Don't forget that Andre Agassi's dad was an Olympian too.
 
Anyone can practice a lot and be good at a sport, but practice will only get you so far. Eventually genetics are required to give you an edge.
 
I think genetics set the ceiling on how good you can become. To actually reach that ceiling requires an incredible amount of hard work.
 
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