by Brian Sather
Originally published in
Oregon Cycling Magazine,
Winter 2008, vol. 17, no.1.
Many believe natural ability is the principal factor for becoming an
elite cyclist. They accept that people who happen to have genetic talent
and happen to pursue cycling are the fortunate ones to rise to the top
in the sport. Conversely, some potentially great cyclists are sitting
around on their couches wasting away their VO2max potential, unaware of
their special gift. For much of my life, I believed great athletes were
the result of hard work coupled with favorable genetic endowments. More
recently, the latter notion became increasingly disconcerting to me. I
could not accept that our human existence is relegated to mere chance,
as if born into a caste system of athletic potential.
Now my paradigm has shifted to a wholehearted belief in
self-determination. Fortunately, there is good empirical support for
this. My growing concern over athletic predetermination finally found
authoritative agreement when I read a comprehensive study by Ericsson,
Krampe, and Tesch-Romer (1993). They thoroughly examined previous
research—and also included two of their own research reports—to come to
the conclusion that expert performance is the result of a decade or more
of maximal effort in “deliberate practice.” They found no compelling
genetic predisposition that contributed to expert performance, other
than height. For example, having tall parents would give you an
advantage in basketball. However, they noted that even height has some
environmental influence and an imperfect correlation with success.
The decade rule for expert performance applies to most endeavors,
particularly ones that require performance like sports, music, and other
games. Ericsson et al. even suggests 10,000 hours as a more specific
quantity. The time must be spent in deliberate practice: “In contrast to
play, deliberate practice is a highly structured activity, the explicit
goal of which is to improve performance. Specific tasks are invented to
overcome weaknesses, and performance is carefully monitored to provide
cues for ways to improve it further” (p. 368). Deliberate practice is
characterized by the following:
The establishment of a specific means and a quantifiable value for
obtaining expertise was liberating to me. In preparing this article, I
decided to examine my own level of expertise in cycling. This was fairly
easy since I have a detailed log of all of the riding since I began
training for races four years ago. Most of my hours during this period
were spent in deliberate practice, because I was following a very
structured training program. My results: 284 hours in 2004, 434 in 2005,
597 in 2006, and 583 in 2007. In addition, I estimate that I have spent
about half as many hours off the bike reading educational material,
watching cycling, and discussing cycling. This brings the total to 2847,
to which I could probably add some hours of previous recreational
cycling and time spent in other sports that carries over to cycling. So
from a decade perspective I am about 5 years away from expert status,
and in hours I have an even a longer journey.
Given that physical “gifts” have little influence on our potential, it
comes down to decisions under our control that determine the level of
expertise we can achieve. I believe the foundation for building this
expertise is threefold: philosophy, goal setting, and systematic
training. I recently returned from conference where Brian Hickey, one of
my colleagues (and coincidentally a bike racer) at Florida A&M
University, presented some interesting ideas from leadership expert John
Maxwell (see www.maximumimpact.com). I have selected some of Maxwell’s
questions that should serve as a basis for developing your philosophy:
• Am I investing in myself?
• Am I doing what I love and loving what I do?
• Am I investing my time with the right people?
• Am I staying in my strength zone?
• Am I taking others to a higher level?
• Am I taking care of today?
• Am I taking time to think?
Once your philosophy is established, specific goals should be developed.
My recommendation is to use the SMART system, first introduced by Doran
(1981). Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Assignable (or
Adjustable), Realistic, and Time-related. Then, you should initiate the
previously-discussed method of deliberate practice to achieve these
goals. Following this plan, I hope to someday call myself an expert
cyclist.
Deliberate practice for over a decade will not a guarantee a win at the
Tour de France or the state road race, because there are other factors
and you are competing against fellow elite athletes. However, becoming
an elite cyclists is achievable through concerted effort that is almost
entirely under your control. In conclusion, I will quote Greg Lemond:
“There are few things that you can’t do as long as you are willing to
apply yourself.”
Reference List
Doran, G. (1981, November). There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write
management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, 70(11), 35.
Retrieved October 23, 2007, from Business Source Premier database.
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of
deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance.
Psychological Review, 100(3), 363-406.
Maxwell, J.C. (2007). Talent is never enough: Discover the choices that
will take you beyond your talent. Thomas Nelson: Nashville, TN.
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posted
January 30, 2008