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I can't think of the name of the video, but there is an old McGrath video out there where he is on camera about 7-10 years old in front of his parents house and doing some pretty skillful things on a bmx bike. I remember watching it and thinking you could even see back then, his coordination level was head and shoulders above most adults.
I think you have to be born with it. For some (like me) you can go relativly fast with some hard work and practice, but not a chance at all of ever making it in the professional ranks. I'm a firm believer that even with the best equipment and years of commitment I do not posses the skill set or "go fast gene" to make it at the professional level. But I sure enjoy trying.
Hahahahaha holy shit, I've seen it all.
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Wether that be hitting 100 golf balls out of a bunker, doing a double backflip, railing the same turn over and over until you don't think about it, jumping the death double (30footer at the local track) lol.
Sure you have to have natural talent, a desire to win, being able to apply themselves. But that is a given in any walk of life to be near the top in any field of life.
The common thing of the top percentiles is that little it extra to push through the fear, unknown, pain barriers.
I am sure if I were to hit the same track day after day without a care in the world both financially, physically I would get faster and faster until something broke (me or the bike). However, that speed would then be programmed into my brain and my processor would be able to cope with that information at that speed. Now repeat pushing harder next time.
Continue that process over and over and you will reach your peak wherever that may be (I am sure all of us are capable of a lot more). Most of us never get near any of our capabilities which is mostly down to the fear of the unknown or failure gene which most posses. These guys don't have the same concerns or sorry not at the same priority levels as the typical rider.
Windham is a prime example. More natural talent than anyone out there. Results amazing but never ever ruled the roost. Too many other guys came and went during his career that had that ability to push it harder than he would allow himself mentally.
Another good example is to look at Carmichael. Hardly a physical specimen in his early pro career. Not a natural athlete and relied on his raw speed. Once that raw speed was not enough he pushed himself physically to become one of if not the fittest riders ever to have graced a motocross circuit. His natural desire to push his physical limits (mental pain barriers as well) was the major factor in him becoming the dominant force he was.
I wonder what this sport would look like at the pro level if each race and gender was represented proportionally at your local amateur track.
And Jewish people are better at loaning money, and Norse people are better at pillaging and burning.
Now...what did my college professor say about causation and correlation.....
What do you know about the human genome? Rh factor? Melanin? Anything? We can have this conversation if you feel like you are equipped to. Go ahead.
I can assure you that starting it off with "why are black guys better at basketball" does not seem to me like someone who is educated on the subject. I don't mean to offend you, and I am not taking a dig at you, but i DID find that hilarious.
Of course, maybe you prefer J-Law threads...or a "does Dungey deserve an * next to his 2012 mx title?"...or "how does the seat bounce work"?...or "why do the pros thank 'the man upstairs' on the podium"....maybe those topics are more to your liking?
This is unfortunate; I held T.J., as a poster, in high esteem before this.
Pit Row
I might add you joined(if that date is correct) this forum 9 days ago & have emassed 250 posts. I can honestly say I haven't looked at vital 250 times in the last 4-5 months. So if I may ask why do you post so much if most the folks are dumb asses in your eyes?
He is also the guy that rides the least and doesn't give a sh!t about his bike maintenance or setup.
Its freaking annoying how he makes it look effortless.
My brother is the same way...a few years ago we pulled a trashed (literally, I'm surprised it even ran) '94 CR250 out of my dads back yard (it'd been sitting in the sun for 5 years or so), and we tinkered around with it and managed to get it started (in fact it ran surprisingly well...once we cleaned the carb, changed the oil, changed the air filter)...I'm not sure if there was even any oil left in the forks or the shock. Anyway, my brother hops on that bike and we head up to a little turn track on public land up the street from my parents house, and he still went fast! I managed to beat him, but only because I could pull him a bit on the straightaways and because I could out brake him going into the corners (the front break master cylinder on that old bike had fork oil all over it).
How much of becoming the best is metal? I've heard people visualizing pulling the hole shot or riding the track in their head.
How may of you pull up to the gate and look to see who is there only to place your results mentally because you know who is "faster" than you. I think to be the best it takes a high mental state.
I get a sense that even those "in the know" would newer be able to get a grip on this topic either. So no harm for us, to take a bite either.
From some years within psychiatry, I'm pretty confident we are still to this date pretty clueless about mental illness, as in causation, as in this constant gene vs environment debate mess. Also few really cares to dissect good working brains either (Einstein brain is still studied of course). Sure pet scans are popular, we see a lot of activity in some parts of the brain, but just until recently we didn't get plasticity at all, but now it has became a fact, which all those in favor for therapy have been suggesting for decades. One of the recent findings, a large study/autopsy of brains from London cabdrivers found a growth in hippocampus (memory involvement), because of the obvious need to memorize 10.000 street names by heart. Therefore that spec part of the brain grew, the brain adapted like everything else.
One could suggest a person like Stewart, or RV then would have a similar growth somewhere, since their brain benefits from that a certain behavior, maybe in contrast to maths or whatever some other people benefits out. Basically, it's survival for the fittest, as survival for the most used neurons. Maybe the cerebellum wich orchestra some of our movement would in these cases be enlarged. One could also suggest after watching all these sponsor signs with a only a few names, but where important once since providing for their food and well fortune suggest a rather low use of Hippocampus
As a rider, physician, with focus on psychiatry, I'm still totally clueless in this topic. But my experience, knowledge suggest there's no part of the brain that we can really count out being the smoking gun. There's also so many psychological factors that in many cases override eventual motorcortex, cerebellum, propriception superiority.
I also don't think it's impropriate to suggest, some races, gender, genes come in play, because beneficial evolutional steps, which might lead to clusters in some fields. It has been studied, but it's a risky business, because it's always a back side of the coin that often leads to shit.
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