Is "Heart" something you just have or can it be learned?

Nine ... corner said:
Yes, of course. One word comes to mind ... tenacity! :thumbup:
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Hi Tom,

Tenacity...I sort of like that.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&ie=UTF-8&rct=j#q=tenacity

te·nac·i·ty
təˈnasədē/
noun...

synonyms: persistence, determination, perseverance, doggedness, strength of purpose, tirelessness, indefatigability, resolution, resoluteness, resolve, firmness, patience, purposefulness, staunchness, steadfastness, staying power, endurance, stamina, stubbornness, intransigence, obstinacy, obduracy, pertinacity
"she practices her gymnastics routine with the tenacity of a bulldog"
the quality or fact of being very determined; determination.
"you have to admire the tenacity of these two guys"...

Best 2 Ya,
Rick
 
This is good stuff here!

ENGLISH! said:
Hi Tony,

To me:

Many have a desire for winning & 'think' they give it everything they have. Then if you really look close you'll see one that actually has Heart. Heart extends to more than what many think it is. That is why I said Heart needs to be defined, if it really can be, to see if all are talking about the same thing.

Heart can be a refusal to lose or a refusal to accept defeat. Heart does not win every game or every match all of the time. But Heart wins the battle with self doubt. Heart wins the battle with fear. Heart wins the battle with being foolish. Heart makes one practice the same way one competes. Heart is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the cause.

Heart is a family of many faces.

At least that's sort of how I see Heart.

Heart does not increase one's ability, but it can make one play higher or better than what would be normally considered to be one's ability.

Best 2 You & All,
Rick

PS Oh yeah, Heart is not selfish. When one has Heart, one will truly give it all one has & will make extreme sacrifices for the team, whatever or whoever the team is.

PSS Also, Heart is not necessarily about winning but winning can be a reward of sorts. However, Heart can actually be it's own reward even if the individual does recognize it as such sometimes.
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Lynch said:
This is good stuff here!
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Thank You Sir but I can't really take credit for that as 'my ability' to recognize it & perhaps understand it is a gift... just has Heart might be a gift.

Best 2 You...& All,
Rick
 
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"Heart," to me, is self confidence, which is something that some people may be born with (I.e. Arrogance), but most learn through achievement. Background and upbringing play a part in how early it can be developed, but sometimes others gain it later in life.

It's definitely not something you either have, or you don't.
 
IMO 'heart' is a combination of things.

When you play a match to win you don't have a wife, you don't have any kids, you don't have any money troubles....
You are in the moment. The score does not matter. You have the inner confidence that when you get an opportunity you will make it count....
But even if you make a complete mess of it (we are human, we do occasionally) your belief or 'heart' never wanes.
You never believe a game is over until the last ball is potted.
 
Heart is inherited.

It's a bit learned with practice, but mostly not. It's simply natural, inherited, plus some practice.

Sorry to disappoint, but you can only go so far on hard work and determination. Put another way, Mike Sigel was better after six months in pool than the rest of us in 20 years of practice.

Don't believe it? Watch the guy in the pool room, who practices every day, and doesn't get one single iota better, month after month. Do you still not believe me? In a few months, he stops even showing up at the pool room, even after all that practice. Get it?

Heart cannot be practiced and learned. It is given at birth, and that's the truth. Whether it's carried out is up to the individual blessed with it. Constant practice will help a good deal, but don't expect just that to make you the champion. Admit a bit of nature, if you have the honesty.
 
Tenacity may be the best word to sum it up. There's been lots of good replies in this thread!

ENGLISH! said:
Hi Tom,

Tenacity...I sort of like that.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&ie=UTF-8&rct=j#q=tenacity

te·nac·i·ty
təˈnasədē/
noun...

synonyms: persistence, determination, perseverance, doggedness, strength of purpose, tirelessness, indefatigability, resolution, resoluteness, resolve, firmness, patience, purposefulness, staunchness, steadfastness, staying power, endurance, stamina, stubbornness, intransigence, obstinacy, obduracy, pertinacity
"she practices her gymnastics routine with the tenacity of a bulldog"
the quality or fact of being very determined; determination.
"you have to admire the tenacity of these two guys"...

Best 2 Ya,
Rick
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I agree with WildWing..
You need to be born with the 'seed'
But you nurture it and improve it.
 
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Always loved the word tenacity. When I was a sales manager doing interviews one of my favorite questions to an applicant was "If you could distill down to one word a key criteria for success, what would it be?" Of course, my favorite answer was tenacity. In sales as well as so much in life one cannot be defeated by a loss (of a game, an order or any other goal) but you need to pick yourself up/dust yourself off and go right back after what you know you can attain with heart/tenacity! :)
 
ribdoner said:
to me heart is performing when under pressure and can be acquired/enhanced by being exposed to pressure situations

has very broad application
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I feel much the same...though I would define it as playing better, as needed.

Skill beats heart 78% of the time and 63.4% of all statistics are made up.
 
WildWing said:
Heart is inherited.

It's a bit learned with practice, but mostly not. It's simply natural, inherited, plus some practice.

Sorry to disappoint, but you can only go so far on hard work and determination. Put another way, Mike Sigel was better after six months in pool than the rest of us in 20 years of practice.

Don't believe it? Watch the guy in the pool room, who practices every day, and doesn't get one single iota better, month after month. Do you still not believe me? In a few months, he stops even showing up at the pool room, even after all that practice. Get it?

Heart cannot be practiced and learned. It is given at birth, and that's the truth. Whether it's carried out is up to the individual blessed with it. Constant practice will help a good deal, but don't expect just that to make you the champion. Admit a bit of nature, if you have the honesty.
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That's playing skill, and knowledge. Not heart. Heart has nothing to do with how good Sigel was after only 6 months.
 
Heart comes from knowing

Heart comes from knowing.

When you know how you do what you do, thats confidence.

When you have confidence you can develop heart and not until.
 
Heart

The ones that can step up and bet their own and play good and win are head and shoulders above all the rest. Some wont bet their own ever and always need a backer.
 
leto1776 said:
That's playing skill, and knowledge. Not heart. Heart has nothing to do with how good Sigel was after only 6 months.
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I'm afraid you're wrong. You're probably pretty young, right? Playing skill and knowledge can look great when you're practicing alone.

Heart is another thing, it's inherited, it's what Sigel (and many others) had, which distinguished themselves from the good practice players. Those with heart destroyed those with mere skill and knowledge.

Sorry you didn't quite get the difference between skill and heart, but there is such, even at 16. And by the way, even by age 16, Sigel had more heart to win than most pros. That's why he won over 100 tournaments overall. The heart came very early, not later on.
 
I think we are all born with heart; it takes something special to bring it out in us.
Heart comes from love, the love breeds passion, will, and desire.
 
WildWing said:
I'm afraid you're wrong. You're probably pretty young, right? Playing skill and knowledge can look great when you're practicing alone.

Heart is another thing, it's inherited, it's what Sigel (and many others) had, which distinguished themselves from the good practice players. Those with heart destroyed those with mere skill and knowledge.

Sorry you didn't quite get the difference between skill and heart, but there is such, even at 16. And by the way, even by age 16, Sigel had more heart to win than most pros. That's why he won over 100 tournaments overall. The heart came very early, not later on.
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That doesn't mean it's inherited, because he supposedly had more by age 16 than most. It's a product of nurturing and environment. Also, in the way he went about things. If a guy gives up because he's not improving, heart is only part of the equation. What he does when he's playing, how he's practicing, plays a huge role, and has nothing to do with heart. That's the science of the young, rather than the pseudo science of the old timers.
 
leto1776 said:
That doesn't mean it's inherited, because he supposedly had more by age 16 than most. It's a product of nurturing and environment. Also, in the way he went about things. If a guy gives up because he's not improving, heart is only part of the equation. What he does when he's playing, how he's practicing, plays a huge role, and has nothing to do with heart. That's the science of the young, rather than the pseudo science of the old timers.
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If anybody can make sense of this, "Shirley, pay the man."

Bottom line, all the good players have the skill. Those with the heart are born with it. I hope I don't have to keep restating this.
 
WildWing said:
If anybody can make sense of this, "Shirley, pay the man."

Bottom line, all the good players have the skill. Those with the heart are born with it. I hope I don't have to keep restating this.
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those with heart and skill can be champions

those with heart and limited skill are suckers
 
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