The Daily Q: Is Winning A Skill?

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

I've recently started wondering whether high-level athletes and coaches think winning is a skill.

That was The Daily Q earlier today, and here are a few of the responses via Twitter:

+ @LSUChadP: "Yes, but it's a skill you either have or do not have ... it CAN NOT be taught."

+ @InTheBleachers: "If winning can't be taught then why do young teams have to learn to close games & rely on experienced leaders?"

+ @Mengus22: "I don't think winning in a skill. It's a result of numerous concrete things that are skills, but it itself, is not a skill."

+ @InTheBleachers: "Clearly 'winning' — more specifically, 'closing' — is a skill learned through coaching, atmosphere and association."

My Take: I agree with @InTheBleachers. If a quarterback, for example, adjusts his throwing motion in order to be more accurate, then accuracy has become one of his skills. Similarly, if that same quarterback adjusts intangibles — confidence, poise, decision-making — then I think he improves his ability to win. Whether you call it "winning" or "finishing" or "closing," it's at least partly learned, just as many skills are. Surely it would be nice to be born with Peyton Manning's talent, but being Tom Brady, who presumably had to work a little harder to hone his craft, isn't a bad consolation.

Comments

[LSUChadP]

I got killed on that one...

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