So is it nature or nurture that creates a successful athlete?

The other day I was working with my 13 year old on his speed and agility skills so that he can improve his baseball performance. As I was teaching him the basic fundamentals of movement, I started considering the debate about nature versus nurture with regard to athletics. I believe that there are definitely people who are born with natural athletic talent. However, I also believe that with proper coaching and training, most anyone can be successful as an athlete. Of course having a phenomenal coach won't be the golden ticket to performing at an elite level. To achieve the highest levels of success in athletics requires a combination of natural skill and ability, as well as great coaching and most importantly, a phenomenal work ethic.

I was explaining to my son, once you understand how to create certain movement patterns with your body, you will be able pick up other sports more easily. I gave him the example of a successful soccer player who decides they are going to pick up basketball. Because they are already familiar with running, jumping and lateral movements, it doesn't take much time at all before he or she has mastered the basics of basketball, even if they're new to the sport. The reason behind this is not so much athletic talent, but that individual's ability to send signals from their brain to their muscles. It takes practice and skill to turn the thought of "I want to shoot the ball" into the act of shooting the ball. Most of us don't even think about this as we go about life. In fact we typically learn it as children playing. Each time we go to dribble a ball, throw or jump, there is a sequence of signals that happens in a millisecond between the our brain, our nerves and our muscle fibers. The more often that we teach our body how to use this communication system, the more efficient it becomes. The basic layout of this communication system is this: the brain sends a signal from a neuron, through the neuromuscular junction, to the muscle fibers. As your body gets more efficient at sending this signal, it happens more rapidly. The muscle memory that everyone hears about is that communication process being efficient and requiring little to no effort.

Training for strength, speed and agility includes building the physical muscle fibers, but it's primarily about speeding up these processes. One of the best ways to improve this process is through high resistance strength training (HRST). Other methods include plyometric (jump) training and agility drills. As an athlete's training increases, the distance between the motor neuron and muscle fibers shorten, allowing for increasingly rapid communication from the brain. The shorter distance allows athletes to produce higher force per foot-to-ground contact, enabling them to run faster and jump higher.

So if you desire to be faster, stronger, or quicker, you have to work on this neuromuscular process. This is why baseball pitchers practice by juggling. It builds up their ability to know exactly where the ball is in space at any given time and react quickly to its movements. Juggling little tiny balls certainly doesn't build the muscular strength that a pitcher needs to get the ball across the plate. That strength is built over repetitions of throwing the ball, as well as strengthening off the field. But strength without coordination does not get the ball across the plate, it merely gets it into the area. Accuracy and position happen between our ears, not in the muscle.

There are plenty of ways to help children develop these skills long before they get into competitive sports. Simple acts of playing like going across monkey bars or twirling on the grass with their eyes closed helps them learn where their body is in space and how to control it. There are plenty of fun ways to challenge these skills as well. Once they get the hang of tying their shoe, ask them to do it with their eyes closed, adding some more challenge. 

If you want your child to grow up to be a great athlete, send them outside to goof off! Kids naturally seek out ways to challenge these skills. In the same way that they continue to try to walk when they have fallen down as toddlers, they will continue to naturally challenge their balance and agility skills on the playground.

Don't worry adults, you're not a lost cause. You too can build these skills, it will just take you a little bit longer. Old dogs can learn new tricks, they just need extra practice time. Don't be afraid to go out and try something new. Yoga, dance workouts, even trampoline workouts are great ways to develop new skills and challenge your mind.

Even if you weren't born an athlete you can still become one, you just have to go play outside!