WAG Natural talent vs. hard work

[SouthAfricanGymnast]

My daughter is 12 and is currently in Level 7 with a very good level of difficulty. She works extremely hard with a lot of focus and dedication, but has not placed overall for 3 years. I know there are girls in her club who have a lot more natural talent than her and who do not work as hard...but they always place.
My question is - at what point will hard work beat natural talent, or will that never happen?

 

[gymisforeveryone]

My daughter is 12 and is currently in Level 7 with a very good level of difficulty. She works extremely hard with a lot of focus and dedication, but has not placed overall for 3 years. I know there are girls in her club who have a lot more natural talent than her and who do not work as hard...but they always place.
My question is - at what point will hard work beat natural talent, or will that never happen?

I coach 2 sisters who are super talented by nature, they have several world class athletes in their family and clearly the genetics are on their side. Super fast twitch muscles, explosive and fast. They were able to stay on the podium until their teen years when they really started to struggle - when they did not get new skills at every practice anymore and they started to get mental blocks - that can happen to anyone. It was no longer so fun and easy for them anymore. Most kids quit at that spot. These kids dealt with it by stopping doing the events that they didn't rock anymore - because hey what's the point if you don't end up on the podium... But gladly when they got older they got over it and kind of swallowed their prides and started to practice 4 events again. And now they are like everyone else. I'm happy it turned out this way for them, but my point is that it doesn't usually end up this well. Usually the naturally talented kids quit when things start to get hard - and I promise that it happens to every gymnast at some point. My experience is that the not-so-talented but hard working kids go through difficulties like mental blocks, injuries and growth spurt more easily than the ones who had never faced disappointments in gymnastics before.

 

[raenndrops]

Natural talent will only get them so hard... when the skills get hard for the naturally talented but lazy gymnasts, they are quicker to quit than someone who had to work hard for most skills because the hard work is foreign to them.
We have a girl that did great from the beginning until she got to USAG JO Level 7. Then bars were harder. She competed L7 for 3 years. Her high score on bars over the 3 seasons was 8.4 in her 3rd season.
Her other events brought her AA up (9.35 on Beam, 9.5 on Floor, and 9.3 on Vault).
Then she moved to Level 8. She competed Level 8 for 2 years ... granted, she also competed for her high school team or was injured part of each year (Cheerleading injury). Over the 2 years, she competed in 5 meets. Her high scores were:
Bars - 7.3 Beam - 8.225 Floor - 9.3 Vault - 8.4.
This season, she chose not to compete because:
1 - her only event that she was the best at (her last year, we had 4 Level 8s and the other 3 have always had to WORK for skills) was floor ... and 6 years of dance helped her there.
2 - the coach wouldn't let her go to Level 9 without a release skill on Bars and a C skill on beam.
3 - that way, she could focus on coaching the Level 3 team.

 

[Aussie_coach]

We all know the saying “hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard”. But when talent does work hard, very hard to beat.

 

[kecks]

talent for speed and explosiveness is a given not earned. someone with talent in this area will always beat someone without it, hard work or not, speed just kills. coordination can be trained to a certain degree but someone gifted in this area will with much less work get to places which someone with less talent and all work in the world will never go to because a day only has 24 hours and so the time available for training is limited. not a very american way of seeing things but sports science is rather clear on this stuff. still without hard work you maybe win one thing or another but you will never know where you could have gone... so work hard or go home, worry about talent only when selecting for state sponsored high performance programs.

 

[RTT2]

I find this such an interesting topic. My kid is not the most naturally talented, but she's a worker who listens and always gives 100%. She isn't usually the first to get a new skill, but she's determined to get the new skill the correct way so she doesn't have to fix it later. Obviously, the naturally talented super hard worker will probably go the farthest, but in my experience with everything from school, to sports, to careers I've seen so many, many examples of people who were naturally gifted/talented who were surpassed by people with fewer natural gifts but with the willingness to work really hard.

 

[skschlag]

I have to look at this differently. My ds is not the most highly talented kiddo, but he does work hard and has some talent. He competes regularly against a group of boys that are just freaky talented. Amazing air awareness, super fast twitch, powerful. They are amazing, great friends for my son, and their parents are wonderful.

My son will not beat them. I say that and I know it sounds funny, but he will not. And they are not necessarily the hardest workers. But really...they are amazing.

However, my son has learned to work hard for what he wants. He has learned that you don't always win a trophy. He has made great friends, has an amazing work ethic, and is just an all around great kid. He is a good teammate. He cheers these boys on, even the ones at another gym. He is excited when they get a new skill or do well in a big elite meet.

He would love to compete in those big meets, and one day, he might. But even if he doesn't, and even when he doesn't place, or gets killed by these kids, who may or may not work as hard as he does, the skills he has learned and the character he has developed is way more important in life to me.

 

[JMACAZ]

I have to look at this differently. My ds is not the most highly talented kiddo, but he does work hard and has some talent. He competes regularly against a group of boys that are just freaky talented. Amazing air awareness, super fast twitch, powerful. They are amazing, great friends for my son, and their parents are wonderful.

My son will not beat them. I say that and I know it sounds funny, but he will not. And they are not necessarily the hardest workers. But really...they are amazing.

However, my son has learned to work hard for what he wants. He has learned that you don't always win a trophy. He has made great friends, has an amazing work ethic, and is just an all around great kid. He is a good teammate. He cheers these boys on, even the ones at another gym. He is excited when they get a new skill or do well in a big elite meet.

He would love to compete in those big meets, and one day, he might. But even if he doesn't, and even when he doesn't place, or gets killed by these kids, who may or may not work as hard as he does, the skills he has learned and the character he has developed is way more important in life to me.

I cannot like this post enough. We are in a similar situation and this really hit home for me. Thank you.

 

[SouthAfricanGymnast]

Thank you all so much, you have given me much to think about!

 

[gasrgoose]

I have to look at this differently. My ds is not the most highly talented kiddo, but he does work hard and has some talent. He competes regularly against a group of boys that are just freaky talented. Amazing air awareness, super fast twitch, powerful. They are amazing, great friends for my son, and their parents are wonderful.

My son will not beat them. I say that and I know it sounds funny, but he will not. And they are not necessarily the hardest workers. But really...they are amazing.

However, my son has learned to work hard for what he wants. He has learned that you don't always win a trophy. He has made great friends, has an amazing work ethic, and is just an all around great kid. He is a good teammate. He cheers these boys on, even the ones at another gym. He is excited when they get a new skill or do well in a big elite meet.

He would love to compete in those big meets, and one day, he might. But even if he doesn't, and even when he doesn't place, or gets killed by these kids, who may or may not work as hard as he does, the skills he has learned and the character he has developed is way more important in life to me.

The best post and attitude! Congrats to you and your son! The future is bright!

 

[skschlag]

Thanks guys. It has taken me a while to get there. Watching him recover from yet another injury is giving a lot of perspective.

 

[gymgal]

From what I have seen over the years (just from the eyes of a parent), around L7/8 is when the natural talent begins to "not be enough". At that point, the gymnast has to be fully committed and not cheat on their conditioning, numbers etc in order to continue to progress. Gymnasts who have gotten away with not doing their full reps will have a much harder time with the more advanced skills

 

[buttercup]

I have to look at this differently. My ds is not the most highly talented kiddo, but he does work hard and has some talent. He competes regularly against a group of boys that are just freaky talented. Amazing air awareness, super fast twitch, powerful. They are amazing, great friends for my son, and their parents are wonderful.

My son will not beat them. I say that and I know it sounds funny, but he will not. And they are not necessarily the hardest workers. But really...they are amazing.

However, my son has learned to work hard for what he wants. He has learned that you don't always win a trophy. He has made great friends, has an amazing work ethic, and is just an all around great kid. He is a good teammate. He cheers these boys on, even the ones at another gym. He is excited when they get a new skill or do well in a big elite meet.

He would love to compete in those big meets, and one day, he might. But even if he doesn't, and even when he doesn't place, or gets killed by these kids, who may or may not work as hard as he does, the skills he has learned and the character he has developed is way more important in life to me.

This is where we are at too, but you said it way better then I could!
With DS returning to competition this year in a whole new relm, I get aked what his goals are. Most people are expecting "He want to win, place whatever etc" but his goals are to enjoy gymnastics, keep building his skills (he has a list of what he wants next), and get his start value high enough to qualify for one of the big meets. He has always had to work hard to get his mostly middle at the pack results (with the exception of one event he excels in) but I think if it came easy he might not still be in the sport. He's had (and still has) alot of set backs and obstacles to overcome and if he didn't have the right work ethic I think he would have given up.

 

[Gym-crazy-mun]

My daughter is 12 and is currently in Level 7 with a very good level of difficulty. She works extremely hard with a lot of focus and dedication, but has not placed overall for 3 years. I know there are girls in her club who have a lot more natural talent than her and who do not work as hard...but they always place.
My question is - at what point will hard work beat natural talent, or will that never happen?

It's really difficult to watch children who don't work as hard placing before your daughter..especially if she is really passionate. I know from experience how hard it is, but all the time my daughter is happy to compete and u seratand she is doing g her best, I couldn't ask for more. Just keep encouraging her, you never know, one day she may just surprise you. Good luck .

 

[Aussie_coach]

In this day and age, everyone is brought up to believe the world is their oyster and they can achieve absolutely anything as long as they are prepared to work hard and put their mind to it. It's very unpopular to acknowledge the fact that we are not all created equal. Some are more intelligent, some less, some are taller, some shorter, some are faster, some slower, some are more extroverted and others shy, some are more creative and others more concrete.

We each have a unique set of characteristics that lead to our own individual talents, career paths,
Ice choices and so on. But not everyone can be and do everything no matter how hard we try and sometimes this is a great life lesson to learn. The goal is to always do your best, not always do the best.

 

[Amel2007]

I have to look at this differently. My ds is not the most highly talented kiddo, but he does work hard and has some talent. He competes regularly against a group of boys that are just freaky talented. Amazing air awareness, super fast twitch, powerful. They are amazing, great friends for my son, and their parents are wonderful.

My son will not beat them. I say that and I know it sounds funny, but he will not. And they are not necessarily the hardest workers. But really...they are amazing.

However, my son has learned to work hard for what he wants. He has learned that you don't always win a trophy. He has made great friends, has an amazing work ethic, and is just an all around great kid. He is a good teammate. He cheers these boys on, even the ones at another gym. He is excited when they get a new skill or do well in a big elite meet.

He would love to compete in those big meets, and one day, he might. But even if he doesn't, and even when he doesn't place, or gets killed by these kids, who may or may not work as hard as he does, the skills he has learned and the character he has developed is way more important in life to me.

Your post made me tear up. It pretty much sums up the situatiom my dd has been living up until now in gym. I am so proud of her and her ability to cheer on and help others feel better in times of need.

 

[doublestrike]

I think natural talent will get a gymnast through about level 8. My daughter is talented and a hard worker but she switched gyms before her level 9 season. After regularly winning meets at state/regionals her entire career, she went through a 3 year drought. She returned to her former gym, and started winning titles again as a level 10 and went to JO's. I asked her what the difference was, she said the new gym didn't condition, so once she went back to her old gym which is a stickler for conditioning (and the most boring part of practice), she rebuilt her strength. I asked her when she realized this--she said about 2 years ago, but she thought she was good enough to get by without conditioning. Now she understands differently and works as hard at conditioning as she does getting new skills.

 

[GymnastLecia2003]

That’s crazy that she’s that far and only 7! I’ve been doing gymnastics for a short time compared to many of my team mates . For her to get that far, that’s natural talent ! With help from coaches, she’s gonna go far