Nature vs. Nurture: Which Is More Important To Athletes?

Do you like Yuna Kim? One of DSKUSSS members tried to find out which factore is important for athletes using Yuna's case. Nature or Nurture? What do you think? Please let us know your thinking through the comments.

Nature vs. Nurture: Which Is More Important To Athletes?

Yunzee Kim

Graduated from Dongseo University

Broadcasting and Media Studies

Which factor do you think has more influence for athletes to achieve their goals- nature or nurture? I think this question has been a controversial point all over the world for a long time. To answer this question, people usually look up famous sports stars’ examples such as Tiger Woods, Taehwan Park, and Yuna Kim. In this writing, you will see the case of Yuna Kim who achieved her goal and is beloved by the world.

 

 

 

Yuna utilized her innate nature in achieving her goal. She started figure skating when she was 7 since her former coach, Jonghyun Rhu, said to her mother she has perfect physical conditions to be a figure skater. Compared to other female figure skaters who usually experience lots of fails for the success of doing the Triple Lutz jump, she master the Triple Lutz jump right after her former coach, Hyesuk Shin, asked her to try once. She has been wholly different from normal female figure skaters in learning skills fast and controlling her mind well for the competitions. These fact shows that her innate talent made her a superb athlete. This supports why the nature plays an important role for athletes.

However, Yuna’s nurture also helped her to succeed. Her former coach, Hyesuk Shin said “Yuna always pursues perfection in her performance. If she failed one jump, she practices the jump repeatedly until she gets it right, even if she has to do it over 65 times.” That means despite her exceptionally natural talent, she always practices very hard to show a perfect performance at competitions. In addition, considering the truth that her nickname is a practice bug, people soon realize her perfect performance has been done only due to her continuous practice.

Considering these two aspects, Yuna’s goal could come true due to her both nature and nurture. Unlike the past when people thought one factor played a more important role than the other, many researchers have admitted that nature and nurture are influencing the results of sports. If Yuna had not had both of them, she could not have become a talented figure skater. Tiger Woods and Teahwan Park also have showed us that nature and nurture all are important factors. In other words, success in sports demands both nature and nurture. To be successful athletes, people should find their natural talents and develop them through practicing.