Importance Of Talent In Sport

It is said, that talent in sport leads competitors to attain the high level of success and to become highly skilled athletes (Bush, and Salmela, 2001). It is also believed that, there are two kinds of talents. First, the nature or innate talent, that has been genetically transmitted. For instance, in basket-ball, being tall could be beneficial to score easier; this is a natural physical ability. On the other hand, there is the nurture talent which depends on environmental factors. Accordingly, performers might become highly successful due to environmental features such as high-quality practice and intense training for years and years. This is why the physical talent is considered as relevant to develop performance in sports. Blumenstein (2007)

Therefore, there are three important stages that talent might be developed. Firstly, initiation stage which is about fun and playful activities. Secondly, development stage, that refers to long and intensive process of training, motivation and proper skills. The final process, which is called perfection process, mentions to when participants become expert and completely familiar with their actions and responsibilities (Bloom, and Sosniak, 1985). So the talent in sport, to be precise, the physical talent, has a role in the performance and it has to be evaluated and it can be developed. However, as Blumenstein (2007) stated, before developing the talent, the physical conditions should be evaluated, but also the psychological abilities. As result, we can think that what is happening in an athlete head might be more or less a part of sport talent.

The other aspect of talent in sport which seems clearly relevant might probably be the mental toughness. Jones

Although, the theory of mind and body is a controversial subject ( Gummow and Janit, 2002). Indeed, monists such as Aristote or Hegel believed that the mind was just a bodily function. While dualists believed that the mind was really apart from the body. In sport, the mind can have many consequences on the body. For instance, William and Andersen (1998) have demonstrated that the psychology in sport can cause injuries. In that way, an athlete who is stressed can be injured easier. The stress may cause tension in the muscles or poor audition detection as examples, which can increase the risks of getting hurt during a game or a performance. The stress is not the only factor. There are other psychological factors such as the low self-esteem or the social support which are directly related to the mind of a sport. Moreover, some research has found that psychological characteristics of the great athlete have consequences on the quality of their performance (Krane and Williams, 2006). For example, in football when a player is about to shot a penalty, he often puts himself under pressure, his members are going to react with this anxiety, and can lead him to fail. What happen in the brain during a sport performance has so a direct impact on the body which can react from a negative psychological