the myth of talent

"Talent is what gets you beat."
--Herb Brooks



"The ability to work hard is the greatest talent of all"
--John McEnroe


How often we label kids talented without really understanding what it is. Because we don't understand it, we tend to mishandle it.

Correct accumulated Practice.
I was at a late night white castle (don't ask). The burger maker was unfolding, flipping and stuffing hamburgers into boxes at the speed of light, her hands were a blur. She was smiling the whole time--man, she was good and she knew it. "Wow you are fast!" i said. She smiled and glanced up but a coworker spoke for her: "Oh yeah, she's really talented."

Wait a second, talented? How did she get this good? Was she born to do this? Or was it the repitition? Is our special talent out there waiting for us? If so how do we find it? Or do we work at it?

Putting burgers in a box or kicking a soccer ball, they both begin and live in the brain. by sending the neural signals out to her hands those signals flow through a pathway to her hands at a faster speed than you or I, at least for this specific task. Those patterned movements are flowing from her brains to her hands so much they create a high speed super highway made strong through the correct pattern movements, signals and feedback fly back and forth to the brain. She gets to a point where the signals are faster than her recognition skills. She now puts burger in boxes "without thinking."

In soccer terms a technique grooved correctly over time becomes a skill used in the game and done quickly. Ask a great player how he did something, chances are he will tell you he doesn't know. Those impulses that go to the brain on you and me are basically skipping the brain. They are doing it without thinking.

"When you start thinking, you hurt the ball club."
-- my dad

Technique should focus the early years on perfection, not speed. Younger talented kids tend to dominate with aggressiveness and speed. They want to go fast. These kids often have difficulty slowing down to perfect something. Shooting, receiving and ball handling need to be grooved as perfectly like a Federer forehand. Once grooved then pressure should be introduced. First space, then time, then defender. Finally, using correct accumulated practice Perceptual and cognitive skills such as cue recognition, pattern recognition and knowledge of situational probabilities are acquired through baby steps of small sided practice, 1v0 to 2v2 to 3v3 and futsal.

Over and over they make correct responses. This is correct practice being accumulated. This is hard work --what we see is what we call talent. Kids, even young ones who seem like they can step on a field and do their thing naturally, should be credited with the work that got them there. It's not something magical, they played at it, they worked at it, they loved it, they repeated it, that's why they are good at it. They are in control of their talent through correct accumulated practice. As coaches and parents we should always understand and give credit where credit is due.

Let kids play, work and try, always let them know they are the ones in control. Where they require mentoring is in fixing little technical issues, slowing things down, giving them more challenging tasks to perfect when ready.

Then repeat a little faster.
Sometimes I tell the white castle story to 12 year olds who are working Brazilian tech training. I want them to accomplish it perfect, and faster. "Get those burgers in the box!" I say. (meaning do it faster). When I do that I do accomplish the final objective, they are doing it perfect, faster and now with a smile on their face. Kids like to be good at it. They like to be fast. They like to accumulate practice and will smile and enjoy it. They like to see what they can do.

Our special talent is what we love. Or, looking at it another way, talent is loving what we do. By loving it we work and play at it. We enjoy getting better and seeing what we can do.

If we understand, nurture and reward the work and play involved in creating what we call talent, then someday we will all put balls in the net as easily as burgers in a box!