Originally Posted by alanbikehouston
Canadians are really good at hockey and dominate the NHL. Must be hockey genes. And, Australians must have rugby genes. The majority of pro tennis players come from wealthy families with country club memberships. Must be the country club genes. The tiny Dominican Republic has about thirty players in major league baseball. The Dominicans must have baseball genes.
The fantasy that certain groups of people have "genes" for certain sports has been around for a long time. But, the best "body type" for a given sport can be found all around the world. Tiny Serbia, with a population less than Texas, has about ten guys playing in the NBA. Turns out Serbian high schools play a VERY serious brand of basketball.
And, for years, the lack of Black quarterbacks in the NFL was blamed on "genetics". Turned out it was related to the number of racist morons who own NFL teams.
There is a body type that is ideal for a given position, in a given sport. Any young person with that body type has a chance of being successful in that sport, if they are willing to make the commitment. Many young Olympic athletes have been training twenty to forty hours per week since they were six or seven years old - they have devoted ten or fifteen years of their life to getting to the Olympics.
Maybe that kind of single minded obsession with being the best at a given sport is "genetic". But, it is that obsession and drive that takes a Michael Jordan from being a second string basketball player in 10th grade to the basketball Hall of Fame.
The fact that the great majority of adults of every race and ethnic group tend to be over-weight and out of shape is proof that genetics can't protect us against over eating and physical laziness. The key to physical fitness is hard work, regardless of who are parents were.
What you have said makes a lot of sense. However, certain people are simply born to be athletes in general. For example, you and me probably will not be as good as Lance Armstrong on a bike no matter how much we train.
Most olympic grade athletes have VO2 max in the 70s, and the majority of the population will never get that sort of capacity regardless of the training.
However, which sport the person will participate in will most likely deteremined by the culture as you have suggested. A person with good genes (high VO2 max) and right body type can probably learn the skills required to play the sport very well.
However, I cannot imagine Kensian being as good foodtball players because in general they dont have the body mass to take a large hit
