Mental Strength is genetics. Agreed?

[keep-itreal]

You're either born mentally tough or mentally weak. Agreed?

[Joyner82reload]

False. It's confidence which in a lot of times comes with situation

[ArbitraryWater]

who knows honestly.. maybe its neither. you choke you simply choke, thats it

[Smook A.]

False. It's confidence which in a lot of times comes with situation

Confidence is key

[Ai2death]

I think it's more a combination of things,

Conditioning, Confidence & also how some was raised.

[gts]

it's a combination of things... there really is no one answer to what makes people good at sports

I just attended a seminar for driving coaches and this was one of the topics we covered as to how to extract information from a driver after a session

first you have to assume the person is physically correct for his sport.. but we can assume this as a given and ignore the oddball who overcomes this aspect now and again... see Spud Webb in the NBA or Gerhard Berger in a formula one car (Berger was abnormally tall for a racing driver)

the ability to break down and analyze information as it's streaming in is key to any athletes success in any sport and there are different types of athletes who achieve this in different ways. not everyone is the same but surprisingly two people who are polar opposites can still reach the same successes in their sport.

Genetics is one, there are people that just can't handle too much information, it becomes static (in racing we call it red mist) and there are those that can absorb massive amounts of data

breaking down and filtering data as it streams in from our senses and surroundings is a big part what being good at a any sport is about, a large part of being good at something is the ability to make mistakes and correct them.

the ones that can't overcome the redmist or static are doomed to make mistakes, usually the same mistakes over and over while those that process the info, realize the mistake and correct for it can move onto making other mistakes and breaking them down.. they'll have a much steeper learning curve than those that keep tripping all over themselves

There are things that can help make the above easier for both types of people and lessen the role of genetics and improve upon the other factors...

familiarity/repetition and physical fitness are important.. nothing works if you're out of shape and you can't learn to recover from mistakes if you don't make them so being fit enough to put the time in over an extended time frame can't be ignored... practice doesn't make perfect but it does make it permanent so a proper foundation is important. once the foundation is in place it's a matter of expanding on it.

all this adds up to being successful and when you're successful you have confidence and once that gets going you can do anything if you put the time in

[russwest0]

False. It's confidence which in a lot of times comes with situation

joyner back

[DaSeba5]

No. You can build confidence.

[JohnMax]

Lebron is genetically the most gifted athlete on the planet but mentally soft

[hahaitme]

Very minor part of it would be from genetics - you can't rule it out completely because genetics are the basis for mental conditions (brain chemical imbalances etc). In the sense of competitive mental strength, I would say it's gotta be how you were raised/life experiences.

[tpols]

nah its definitely more about circumstances/how you were raised, what situations youve been through.

[SpecialQue]

Hey Joyner how'd you like that True Detective finale?

[DaSeba5]

Lebron is genetically the most gifted athlete on the planet but mentally soft

I think LeBron has been mentally tough since choking in the 2011 Finals which is why he's been clutch and big time for Miami when they needed him most, which proves my point that you can build confidence over time.

[BigMacAttack]

You cant just put it down to one thing imo.

[jstern]

It's something you're born with, or if you believe in reincarnation, something that's dependent on the soul.

Perhaps both. Fear is an emotion determined by our genetics, necessary for survival. So that factors in too.

Having a messed up child hood can also affect a person, but none the less it's something you're born with.