Nature vs. Nurture- Athletic Ability

In psychology one of the biggest topics and debates is the term called “Nature vs. Nurture” this term has lots of topics, and it has to do how our environment and how our genetics affect us in our developing in life, scientists are trying to know what has more to do, if our environment or our genetics. One of these topics is Athletic Ability. This is a very interesting topic because for playing sports you need skill, attitude, and the correct body to play certain sport. For example, to play basketball you at least have to be tall, so you can play good, but you need skill and strength, because there is very tall people who are really thin and can’t play basketball, and there is tall people that are good playing basketball, but they don’t like to play it, because there environment has not promoted them basketball, they don’t have the attitude. So that’s why this term has so many variants, because everything is connected, without one thing, the other does not work, and it’s a very delicate topic. To have athletic ability, you need to have some genetic structure that helps you play sports, and have a good environment that promotes sports, and help play sports since being a toddler. Scientists, sports fans, coaches, even the same athletes, practically everyone, ask themselves since sports have been around, (always) are athletes born or prepared? Scientists and psychologists have made research about this dilemma.

There has been cases were athletes are not born but made, for Example Reggie Miller, he was born with a problem in his legs, he had to wear leg braces for years, but his legs were repaired, and he got into the NBA and played for Indiana Pacers, he made history, the most 3-point shots in history ever made. So, Reggie Miller, he was not born as an athlete, neither could play sports, when he was a toddler, he did not have an athletic environment, he worked hard to become an NBA player, so he is a made player, he had an environment of basketball, until he was an adult. “On the other hand, many people believe that genetics make up good athletes. People believe that Reggie Miller was born with athletic genes, even though he had a problem in his leg, he is 6’6 and NBA states that every great player of basketball passes the 6’4 so scientists and fans think that Reggie was born with athletic genes.

Scientists also state that some athletes are born with special genes, which make them better than the others and with more attributes to play the sport they are playing, for example muscles, respiration, their size, if they are tall or undersized, fast or slow, etc. Scientists use Lance Armstrong, the greatest cyclist of all times, they say he had a special gene, that his blood carried more oxygen, so that way he could become a cyclist, so he was a born athlete.

So in Nature vs. Nurture there is no definite answer of which affects us more, environment or genetics, or which one affects us the stronger, or the better, because there are infinite examples of historical athletes, who were born and built athletes, this is an interesting, non resolved, and never ending topic. So that's what this topic is about, one proving wrong the other, and one being right, and the other being right also.


-Rodrigo Estevez
 
Works Cited:
 
http://expertfootball.com/training/naturevsnurture.php