Parents Talent

[luvmygymdtr]

Since I've been participating on this site I've noticed the word "talent" used a lot in many different contexts... "Raw talent", "natural talent", "lots of talent" "elite talent" "no talent" etc... And generally, when it's used, it is assumed that everyone knows exactly what is meant by this word.

I heard a coach use the "T" word this week regarding one of the gymnasts at our gym. The coach said this gymnast is "super talented". But when I watch her, against all her team mates, every girl in her group looks strong, beautiful and capable. They all look amazing and "talented". So, what makes one gymnast more talented than the next. What defines the word "talent".

 

[iwannacoach]

Talented??? In my mind there are different areas of talent.

Some kids learn more quickly and easily than others.....

Some kids learn a more slowly but end up being able to do the skill better than anyone else.

Some kids have expressive dance and move gracefully.

I'd separate those three qualities from the following traits I think of as ability...... speed.....strength.....flexibility.

Many kids are gifted with one or two of these six talents/abilities, and some kids are blessed with three or four. It's rare to find a child who has all six.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Don't you think also that the right mental/emotional/psychological makeup, work ethic, single minded focus, commitment etc might count as things that combined with the physical abilities/talents you mention lead a coach seeing a child as talented as well?

Our coach would say that without these all the physical ability in the world will take you only so far and in the end wont count for much if they don't want it with every ounce of their heart and soul and are willing to do the work plus twice what everyone else is doing. Make every turn count and do three more than all the rest. Some kids have that and some kids don't.

But I don't know if this falls under the talent category or somewhere outside, yet next to it.

Does having a body that lends itself to doing the skills well and/or more easily and/or over the long haul with less injuries also play a part?

 

[iwannacoach]

Don't you think also that the right mental/emotional/psychological makeup, work ethic, single minded focus, commitment etc might count as things that combined with the physical abilities/talents you mention lead a coach seeing a child as talented as well?

Our coach would say that without these all the physical ability in the world will take you only so far and in the end wont count for much if they don't want it with every ounce of their heart and soul and are willing to do the work plus twice what everyone else is doing. Make every turn count and do three more than all the rest. Some kids have that and some kids don't.

But I don't know if this falls under the talent category or somewhere outside, yet next to it.

Does having a body that lends itself to doing the skills well and/or more easily and/or over the long haul with less injuries also play a part?

Your absolutely right. I just didn't want to write a book, but did want to separate two areas of what makes gymnastics more, or less, challenging. The mental and emotional attributes are a must have if a child is to make use of whatever gifts they have.

Having a good gymnastics body in the sense it fits the typical profile? You could ask some of the top gymnasts in the world ad they'd pooh pooh that, because many of them are not the prototypical gymnast.

Strength provides an advantage on cast handstands and making early learning more successful, but the advantage decreases the farther up a kid goes because strength isn't that much of a factor on skills like giants, clear hips, beam series work, and many tumbling skills. Sure you gotta have a decent amount of strength, but not nearly as much as you need proper positions, correct timing, and an awareness for where you when moving backwards into the world of upside down.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Don't you think also that the right mental/emotional/psychological makeup, work ethic, single minded focus, commitment etc might count as things that combined with the physical abilities/talents you mention lead a coach seeing a child as talented as well?

I totally agree with you.

The technical director at our gym told me a year or so ago that kids who want to go far in this sport have to have
1. The desire and drive to WANT it
2. Lack of fear
3. The physical traits

.... And his opinion, in that general order. They could take a kid and teach them strength and flexibility but were far less likely to be able to change the other two. And most little kids they see have tons of #3, but as they get older, they are weeded out more and more by number #1 and #2.

 

[Faith]

I totally agree with you.

The technical director at our gym told me a year or so ago that kids who want to go far in this sport have to have
1. The desire and drive to WANT it
2. Lack of fear
3. The physical traits

.... And his opinion, in that general order. They could take a kid and teach them strength and flexibility but were far less likely to be able to change the other two. And most little kids they see have tons of #3, but as they get older, they are weeded out more and more by number #1 and #2.

I also think there's very few coaches who can spot talent. As in what the kid may be doing age 11, vs. what the kid is doing now. The vast majority of coaches I know pick the lovely little girls with flexibility who can pick up simple skills and do them nicely.

I have met one coach who thinks like Fliptwistumble's coach. He actually said to me most coaches pick as I've described above. He said they're all wrong :lol: He doesn't want the kid dancing and doing splits or even walkovers in the playground- he wants the girl that's climbing the tree, racing the boys or jumping higher than everyone else. The theory being if they're strong and fearless with the right attitude it's far easy to teach flexibility and grace than it is the other way round. That coach was/is a GB coach with several national squad gymnasts.

 

[Flossyduck]

It's interesting to look at the differences between the gymnasts one club has in their squad, over another club. Sometimes they are quite distinct and it does make you wander what their criteria are.
One club seems to have almost all short and very muscly gymnasts and another has more of the twiglet type.

Our club actually has quite a few tallish girls and some you wouldn't pick out as gymnasts if you didn't see what they could do in the gym. They place a lot of emphasis on attitude, willingness to listen and work hard and willingness to ignore fear, attendance and time keeping and general commitment level. It's very hard to see what physical attributes they go for, as the girls are very varied!

 

[emorymom]

If in doubt, just ask the speaker: Are you referring to aptitude, or developed talent?
At first, when a child walks into a gym as a preschooler or untrained child, recognition of talent is mostly aptitude, because there's not been time to work. The ratio of aptitude : what you do with it decreases with time.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

biology. born to do sports. brains, physical abilities, power, strength, muscle twitch and agility are all components of biology. they could be good at anything they touch. thankfully, they chose gymnastics where biology really shows up.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

innate ability

 

[LizzieLac]

Natural athleticism - it is in the way they move. Their bodies do the technical correctly more quickly and more easily than other kids. It is not really a predictor of success, however. It helps, but there are so many factors...

 

[Midwestmommy]

I think in gymnastics it is sliced different ways by different gyms in terms of what "talent" comes to mean. Some preteam coaches think they are genetic experts and can look at tiny kids and determine who does or does not have gymnastics "talent" potential based on body types or jumping/running/flexibility test. And they don't give anyone else opportunities to try team. Some give many a chance for preteam and see whose talent and work ethic emerges. Some do a hybrid, their own physical screening bias for picking pre and early team, but will add lots of optionals from other gyms who may or may not have had the same screening criteria for 6 or 7 years olds.

Some elite athletes come to mind (not in gymnastics) who I would not say are smart or brainy. I hear a lot of gymnastics coaches talk about gymnasts tending to be smart. I think this is hard to separate from other correlating factors (education/success level of parents being able to afford gym, time management/smartness required to succeed in school and still keep up training hours at a young age, caring coaches who emphasize education and school knowing that most of these girls are done with the sport at a young age. etc etc.). An elite hockey player has some different necessary qualities than an elite gymnast. Some optional gymnasts clearly have developed the kind of talent needed to be great dancers as well and some definitely have not.

I do think that, if pressed, most of us can pick out one or two among each group of compulsories at our gym who just seem really naturally "talented" for this sport in terms of physical abilities. Whether that holds up through puberty and into the emotional and competitive toughness it takes to get to level 10 or elite, well that's a whole different story. And I personally think kids who make it to the highest level (such as a world or Olympics team), are truly "gifted" physically and mentally, along with hard work/luck/great coaches/willing parents etc. Unfortunately, I think that "gifted" ideal filters down into screening of little kids at some gyms done by people who have never had an advanced biology course, let alone studied genetics, and definitely have never "hand picked" a kid themselves for team who ended up in the Olympics. For the other 99.99% of gymnasts, in my opinion, talent comes in various shades.....with the most important thing being what kind of person they turn into. And I like kind, humble, grateful people best.....and I guess that's a whole other kind of talent not related to gymnastics....but I do see a lot of it in this sport.

 

[luvmygymdtr]

Thank you for all your replies. This question literally kept me awake last night. Dunno and Faith - your definitions describes that "super talented" girl at our gym to a tee. Her favorite activity, outside the gym, is climbing trees, and I'm certain she could do any sport she tackled.

But I can't help but think every single gymnast working hard in their level is "super talented". I'd admire each one of them.

And Midwestmommy - I love kind, humble and grateful also.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

But I can't help but think every single gymnast working hard in their level is "super talented". I'd admire each one of them.

You should admire them. They are working hard at something they love. And doing things other kids might never do. But, it doesn't make them all super talented in the "born with gym traits" sense. They might be, but they may rather be super hard workers, completely dedicated, which is talented for completely different reasons.

 

[raenndrops]

Both my gymmies are natural born climbers... starting with door jambs and trees at less than 4 years of age. Younger was trying to climb the door jamb as young as 18 months... but her arms weren't long enough to reach both sides. She decided to climb just the one side... to the top... and hang forever
Both gymmies are still tree climbers and they tend to climb to the top of swingsets and swing from the bars.

We went to a fair this weekend and (fully secured) YG was doing double backs on a small trampoline type thing. OG was holding on to the straps too tight to do too many. She did one or two... but she still had fun. Both girls said they felt like they were flying, and today, YG told me that she had decided to try a triple, but the guy called time on the bouncing, so she couldn't.