Success Talent Potential: The hour of the winner
// ByDavid Epstein

How do extraordinary achievements arise? And what skills are real winners and winners? Sport is a good example.

Is the ability to conquer innate?

I got the chance to compete against Kenyans in college and wondered if stamina genes had made the trip from East Africa. At the same time, I noticed that five teammates who trained with one another day by day, step by step, nonetheless developed into five completely different runners. How could that be?

After finishing my college runner career, I studied science and later wrote for Sports Illustrated. A research took me beyond the equator and the Arctic Circle and brought me into contact with world and Olympic champions, but also with animals and people whose rare gene mutations or extraordinary physical properties have a drastic influence on physical performance. Along the way, I learned that traits such as training motivation, which I took to be a matter of will, are actually genetically determined to a large extent, while other supposedly innate traits such as a baseball or cricket batsman's lightning-fast reactions may not be hereditary at all .

How to explain ability without genes

Let's start with an example right away. The American League team was far behind, and batsman Mike Piazza was just starting for the NationalLeague team. So the secret weapon was brought into the field. Jennie Finch strolled past a phalanx of the world's best batter onto the sunlit infield. Her flax-colored hair shone in the clear desert light. For twenty-four years, the Pepsi All-Star softball game had been attended only by major league baseball players. The crowd was buzzing with excitement as the national softball team's 1,85-meter tall top pitcher reached pitcher hill and put her fingers around the ball.

It was a mild day in Cathedral City, California; The local replica of the Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field, one of the American sports cathedrals, filled with 21 degrees warm air. The three-quarters of the original size replica resembled the original right down to the ivy-covered walls. Even the brick houses of the Chicago neighborhood were present there in the desert at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains, on almost life-size printed original photos. Finch, who was slated to win a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in a few months, was originally invited only as a member of the American League coaching staff.

The baseball secret weapon

That changed when the American League stars fell 9-1 in the fifth inning. No sooner had Finch arrived on the mound than the defensive players made themselves comfortable behind her. Yankees infielder Aaron Boone took off his glove and lay down, using second base as a pillow. Texas Rangers' Hank Blalock took the opportunity for a sip of water. After all, they had seen Finch pitch during punch training.

As part of the pre-game celebrations, a number of major league stars had tested their skills against Finch's underhand grenades. Finch's throws come from a distance of 13 meters and reach speeds of approximately 110 km / h. The ball needs about the same time to home plate as a 150 km / h fastball from the regular pitcher hill 18 meters away. Such a fastball is quick, but also routine for professional baseball players. In addition, a softball is larger and should therefore be easier to hit.

People with unimagined abilities

Even so, Finch let the balls rush past the perplexed men with every windmill swing of her arm. When Albert Pujols, the greatest batter of a generation, met Finch during warm-up practice, the other star players crowded around him, gawking. Finch straightened her ponytail nervously. A big smile crossed her face. Joy flowed through her, but also the worry that Pujols might return her throw with a line drive. A silver chain dangled over his broad chest, and his forearms were as wide as the thug's head."Well then," said Pujols quietly, signaling his readiness. Finch staggered back and then forward, lashing his limb in a wide arc. First she fired a high pitch. At the sight, Pujols staggered back in shock. Finch giggled.

She followed up with another fastball, this time coming up and inside. Pujols spun defensively and turned his head away. Behind him his colleagues laughed out loud. Pujols stepped out of his position, collected himself, and took his place again. He shuffled his feet until he was secure and stared at Finch. The next pitch went off through the middle. Pujols whirled a mighty swing at him, but the ball sailed past the bat and the crowd cheered. The next throw was way out and Pujols let it fly by. With the next one Finch scored another strike, while Pujols only hit empty air. For the remaining pitch, Pujols moved all the way back into the batter's box and ducked low. Finch swung back, then forward, and fired. Pujols hit far off the mark. He turned away and went to his giggling comrades. Then he stopped, confused. Pujols turned back to Finch, took off his hat in front of her and continued on his way."I never want to see anything like that again," he later vowed.

So the defenders behind Finch had good reasons to make themselves comfortable on the field as soon as they came on: they knew there would be no hits. And like in the warm up, Finch beat the two batter she was up against. Piazza swung past three dead straight throws. Brian Giles, a San Diego Padres outfielder, missed the third strike so badly that his swing drew him into a pirouette. Subsequently, Finch limited herself again to her role as an honorary coach. But this shouldn't be the last time she humbled Major Leaguer.

Better than the best

In 2004 and 2005, Finch appeared regularly on a baseball show on Fox television. In the Einspielern, she traveled to major league training camps and made the best baseball players in the world look like bungles."The girls hit balls like that?" Said Mike Cameron, Seattle Mariners outfielder, after missing a pitch by a hand's breadth. After seeing Barry Bonds Finch playing the Major League All-Star game, seven-time best player, he pushed his way through the reporters to engage them in trash talk.

“So, Barry, when do I get up to the best?” Finch asked."Whenever you want," Bonds replied confidently. “You messed with all the dwarfs… Now you have to face the best. You look good and you can do it, you can't turn away a man who looks good and who can do it, ”Bon