What is it? It is the athlete knowing their body in respect to their sport. Knowing how to push the envelope in order to get better. Are you born with it? Some are innately better than others but we know from research and best practice that everyone can get significantly better. Tough to measure drive and determination, the athlete with supposed limited physical abilities who can just a find a way to get it done. Look around you and read the sports pages, you will see examples of this all the time. It is definitely not genetic; it is also the environment, if you don’t believe me read The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How.
. The athlete with an insatiable desire to succeed coupled with guidance in the form of good coaching and teaching will prevail. You can significantly raise you athletic intelligence through specific directed practice. It is not easy but the path has been traveled before, you must learn to read the road signs along the way. Gaining athletic intelligence and expertise is not mindless; it is a very mindful process. Everything must be connected to the desired end result. It is not a robotic process; it is a process of tuning into the wisdom of the body, respecting the body and all its self-organizing capabilities. It is not focusing on what we cannot do; it is optimizing what we can do by a focus on the process. It all comes down to the three R’s: Routine, Repetition, and Refinement.
