Hard Works Triumphs Over Talent

People say that the key to Michael Phelps success is his physical attributes. He is 6 foot 4 inches, has a wingspan of 6 feet 7 inches and he also has huge palms and feet. It has also been proven that Michael Phelps doesn’t build up as much lactate as other normal people. People say that all these advantages are the reason why he is the best swimmer in history, but I feel that his dedication and hard work training is more important.

 

One of the main reasons that I feel this way is because of Michael Phelps work ethic when he used to swim 6 hours a day 6 times a week. If he knew that his physical attributes would make him win he wouldn’t have trained this much. In an interview with his coach Bob Bowman he said “leading up to Beijing Olympics in 2008 he didn’t miss a single training session, including his birthday, Christmas day etc.” After the 2008 Olympics Michael Phelps has realised that talents and past work will only get you so far. He also wasn’t training as much didn’t have the drive to swim and he was travelling around the world and not training. His teammate Tyler Clary said that Michael Phelps training was substandard. In London 2012 he underperformed, he didn’t win a medal in the 400 IM and he missed out on gold for the 200 butterfly which he had dominated for the last decade. This shows that hard work and dedication is really necessary to be the best.

 

Another reason why I feel Michael Phelps physical attributes is not the main reason why he is the best, he is the best because he sets goals. He knew exactly what he wanted to do, what he had to do to reach that goal and when he plans to reach it by. Michael Phelps said he has 5 steps to making and working towards a goal. Step 1 write down your goal, don’t just think what you want to do write it down so it’s somewhere and you can hold yourself accountable. Step 2 Place it somewhere prominent, you want to be seeing your goals all the time so you whenever you do something you think of those exact goals. Step 3 Write out what it will take, for example, if you want to improve your butterfly stroke think exactly what you need to work on so maybe your kick, or your stroke technique etc. Step 4 Work with your coach, this one work on your goals with somebody who can help you maybe your teacher, coach or even parent. Step 5 Bounce back, things won’t always go your way so instead of giving up bounce back and be better than before. Ironically, during Writer’s Fortnight we heard an author from India whose name is Chetan Bhagat said that there are 5 steps to success. Step 1 Setting a clear goal, Step 2 Reasons Behind that goal, Step 3 Finding the group, Step 4 detailed action plan and Step 5 faith. As you can see these 5 steps are all based on goals. As you can see this doesn’t only apply to swimming it also applies to other topics that are general to everyday life.

 

The last reason that I have is Michael Phelps does those little things that others don’t want to do. The first one that comes to mind is eating food. Michael Phelps used to eat like a monster. He used to eat 12,000 calories a day and the average human eats 2,000-2,700 calories a day. He made sure that he ate so he would always have the energy to swim. He didn’t eat junk food all the time because he knew it was unnecessary, he ate carbohydrates, proteins the nutrients you need. If you eat McDonald’s every day and you wonder why your friend is always beating you in races, I think you know why. Also when he would be close to big events like Olympics he wouldn’t go out partying and drinking alcohol all night. I’m not saying you should never have fun there is a time and place for that and partying before big events will affect you physically and mentally. Also getting enough sleep to recover that is important and Michael Phelps knew the importance of sleep. Michael Phelps said that he realised at a young age that when he didn’t get enough sleep he didn’t feel great so he always got enough sleep to have a proper recovery. These are some of the small things that Michael Phelps used to do that made him the best swimmer in history.

 

Overall physical attributes are important in sports, but it’s those other things like hard work, setting goals and working on those little things that make you the best that you can be. My main point is even if you are tall, have a massive wingspan, have the right genetics etc. That won’t matter if you don’t put in the effort. If you put somebody who has Phelps physical attributes but doesn’t train vs somebody without Phelps physical attributes but trains like him I feel that the person who trains like him will win 10/10 times. I end with a quote from Bob Bowman “work will always work”.

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