I've always differentiated between "natural" ability and "working" athlete. In my youth people considered me a natural athlete --but they didn't know how hard I worked. I was not a natural -at least compared to the peers I knew as most definitely "natural" athletes. And my younger brother was one of those. I worked hard to keep up with him --so I looked better than I really was. I've always felt you could work your way to a fairly high level, but a "natural" that also works hard --would exceed to a MUCH higher level. So, to me, a real athlete combines natural ability (speed, coordination, hand-eye, eyesight, quickness, physique, poise, focus, creativity, concentration, etc) with hard work. I'm missing plenty of those.