Is there such a thing as natural talent? Some say yes, I do not think there is?

It’s like a room of kindergartners who pick up a crayon for the first time and some are worlds better than others. Why is that?
 
Mark V said:
While waiting on me to come in to the exam room, one of my 19 y/o patients, who is on the spectrum did something no human should be able to do.

While standing up, with a regular ball point pen, on printer paper drew a gorgeous, PERFECT lineup, in perfect detail of all the Peanuts characters…. From complete memory. From tallest to shortest, in vertical depth perception… ending with Snoopy sitting down playing his mini piano. His mom said that it took him about 5 minutes, and that he does this sort of stuff all the time.

Even thing down to what shoes and clothes they all wear, and how many laces you can see on Charle Brown’s shoes.

The power of the innate human brain is immense when channeled correctly.

Find me 1 person in 10 million that could even get that test half right.

Tallent is someone’s ability to do what you will never be able to do, regardless of the time and effort invested, regardless of the situation. There are 10 more gears you will just never reach, no matter what.

Gun to my head, I’ll give you a week to do… I’ll buy the ammo for you.
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You should be careful what you say when you don't know who you're taking to because I could do that. Now, it kind of makes your point though because since I was about 9i could draw anything I looked at. When I was 9 i drew a portrait of my father in ball point pen on the free way on the way to his house.

Jaden
 
Don't know if it's true...

obsession v talent.jpg
 
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tomatoshooter said:
Does Shane ever have a day when he's "on fire"? What does that even mean at his level? He misses 2 out of 100 shots on a regular day, He's have to play an entire tournament before he would notice a difference.


I think the physical movement in pool is simple enough that fundamentals are not critical beyond a decent baseline. Keith McReady chickenwinged his way past plenty of heavy hitters. I do believe that good fundamentals help achieve and maintain consistency. Once a player has a reliable stroke, I can see where pattern play would be a more productive area to work on.
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I had a great player tell me that sometimes when he was playing he would get so focused there seemed to be nothing but him and the pool table and balls in the universe, it happened once when he was playing Bud Hypes at his place. He said he made every ball he tried to make , for several hours. I did it once and it lasted about 15 minutes, I was in such a bad game , I still lost.
 
book collector said:
I had a great player tell me that sometimes when he was playing he would get so focused there seemed to be nothing but him and the pool table and balls in the universe, it happened once when he was playing Bud Hypes at his place. He said he made every ball he tried to make , for several hours. I did it once and it lasted about 15 minutes, I was in such a bad game , I still lost.
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I've just recently tapped into a higher level of focus. I thought it was my technique and ability that I was struggling with but there's that background noise in my brain and when I can turn it down I make a lot more balls. Occasionally I'll have those moments where the only things in the universe are my stick, a cue ball and an object ball.
 
i think there are people naturally gifted for particular sports. Michael Jordan was great at basket ball but probably wouldnt have been worth a damn at hockey no matter how hard he worked at it.
 
sos911 said:
i think there are people naturally gifted for particular sports. Michael Jordan was great at basket ball but probably wouldnt have been worth a damn at hockey no matter how hard he worked at it.
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I doubt that. Athleticism carries over. Most professional athletes were multi-sport stars in high school. Jordan may not have been pro-caliber at hockey but he's one of the greatest athletes ever and would have had an advantage based on that alone. The guy jumped into minor league baseball at age 31 after not having played since high school and was serviceable, which is no small feat. People like to make fun of his baseball career but it's actually wildly impressive that he was able to play at all.
 
BlueRaider said:
I doubt that. Athleticism carries over. Most professional athletes were multi-sport stars in high school. Jordan may not have been pro-caliber at hockey but he's one of the greatest athletes ever and would have had an advantage based on that alone. The guy jumped into minor league baseball at age 31 after not having played since high school and was serviceable, which is no small feat. People like to make fun of his baseball career but it's actually wildly impressive that he was able to play at all.
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generally speaking ..... there is always a single sport they are best at .... sure you might have people great at a bunch different things
 
natural talent comes with heart for a game as well .. if you dont love it your probably not going to be as good as someone who does.
 
book collector said:
I had a great player tell me that sometimes when he was playing he would get so focused there seemed to be nothing but him and the pool table and balls in the universe, it happened once when he was playing Bud Hypes at his place. He said he made every ball he tried to make , for several hours. I did it once and it lasted about 15 minutes, I was in such a bad game , I still lost.
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That happens to me sometimes. I was in a tournament in Temecula Ca once and I was down on a pretty tough shot and the person on the table next to ours slammed a ball and it went flying at our table as I pulled the trigger, I didn't even acknowledge the ball and proceeded to make the tough shot with good shape and everyone was like damn, Jaden, you're unflappable.

No, it was just that in that moment, it was me, the cue and the balls and that table and nothing else existed. A freight train could've derailed and slammed into the building and I don't think I would've reacted until AFTER the shot.

Jaden
 
tomatoshooter said:
I've just recently tapped into a higher level of focus. I thought it was my technique and ability that I was struggling with but there's that background noise in my brain and when I can turn it down I make a lot more balls. Occasionally I'll have those moments where the only things in the universe are my stick, a cue ball and an object ball.
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Yeah, I call it laser focus. Just wish I could get there at will.

Jaden
 
BlueRaider said:
I doubt that. Athleticism carries over. Most professional athletes were multi-sport stars in high school. Jordan may not have been pro-caliber at hockey but he's one of the greatest athletes ever and would have had an advantage based on that alone. The guy jumped into minor league baseball at age 31 after not having played since high school and was serviceable, which is no small feat. People like to make fun of his baseball career but it's actually wildly impressive that he was able to play at all.
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Yeah, I don't think that there is really much of a sport specific talent. There are many abilities and if you are strong in those that are used more in a particular sport then you will have "talent" for that sport. If you are tall and have good hand eye coordination and a good jump, you have a lot going for you in basketball. If you are not as tall and can't leap as well but can process a lot of people moving in different directions you might be able to quarterback. Jordan's blend of gifts was perfectly suited for basketball but if he pursued another sport with the same intensity he would have been extremely good at it. For that matter, minor league baseball players are extremely good at it, just not extra extremely good like the guys in the show. I was talking to a former baseball player, he said he hit .700 in high school and he never got past AA.
 
There absolutely IS natural talent. A person having such talent no doubt has to still put in the hours and hours of practice and play to be the best, but natural talent does exist. Better athletes are better pool players. The same eyesight that makes a person hit a baseball better makes him sink pool balls better. Natural coordination cannot be learned. I practice a lot and with discipline, but I'll never be more than a middle of road player. Yeah if I started younger I'd be better, but practice can't put in what DNA didn't.
That said some people who are less gifted can make up for it with hard work and be competitive with the very best. The very best though have a gift and advantage from day 1. If they choose to develop that gift with hard work, someone of average talent will never catch them.
 
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