F
FRV
Guest
Tennis is probably among the easiest sports to do this as of right now, but I think it is possible for the sport of said person's choice (excluding sports that are essentially 100% talent based, like track).
Do you think the average person is capable of becoming a D1 athlete, given the proper environment?
C
Chadalina
Guest
What makes you think tennis is the easiest? The talent pool is international.
F
FRV
Guest
It's largely a skilled based sport at the D1 level when looking at talent vs skill. Maybe not the easiest, but imo, probably among the easiest.
mmk
Hall of Fame
No. My youngest daughter was a two sport D3 captain in college, made all-conference in one of those sports in college, and was all-state in high school in the other, so decent skill, probably good enough for a number of D1 schools. She had college teammates who had the skill for D1 but like her, they lacked the speed. And unless you are fast enough coming out of high school, you have almost no chance of making D1.
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
Agassi didn’t seem that athletic. I think that was part of what made him so popular. He made everyday Joe’s think they could crack groundies like Andre.
onehandbh
G.O.A.T.
I seem to recall that agassi could run a decent 100m (for high school). He was also phenomenal at taking the ball early.
Topspin Shot
Legend
No. I played D3 and was good enough to be a bottom of the barrel D1 player. Had I trained like an aspiring pro, I could have been a solid D1 player. But I was one of the best athletes in my high school class. An average kid couldn't have made it no matter what environment he was in.
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
But an average athlete could probably be a world class luger with the right training environment.
esgee48
G.O.A.T.
Lugers need very quick reflexes. An average person's reflexes would not work at the world-class level or Olympic level. Training does not increase speed endurance, reflexes and coordinated skills to D1 levels. It may make them above average and that's it. There may exist a sport(s) that do not require all three, but I can't think of any. And golf is a game, not a sport.
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
Come on. Don’t rain on the hopes of obsessive luger parents.
F
FRV
Guest
I'm not convinced
F
FRV
Guest
So??
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FRV
Guest
This guy seems legit. Must be an inside joke.
No
Genetics is a good 30-50 percent
A kid I grew up with had 3 privates a week and was highly nationally ranked in 12s and 14s
He was playing since 5 I think
He made D1 at big ten but only as bench player and quit .
He was small like 5-8 and had avg talent even through he was very accurate and consistent .
He never had the power and size
F
FRV
Guest
But he made it
F
FRV
Guest
Good enough lol
BIG 10 is one of the best conferences in most sports if I'm not mistaken
C
Chadalina
Guest
Ohio state was #1 going into the tournament
Texas won it thoughhttps://www.ncaa.com/rankings/tennis-men/d1/ita
hollywood9826
Hall of Fame
I have coached high school baseball for the last 7 years and in the baseball world we have a few players that didn't have the work ethic but probably had the talent to be a D1 baseball player at a lower program. But they didn't want to put the work in on the baseball filed because they were splitting sports or drawn into females. One of our past players is I think the 2d string kicker for UConn. He was good enough to play outfield for University Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) which was like the 300th ranked D1 baseball program. Even then he was not one of our average ball players.
But we played against a team that had aplayer committed to Arizona and that guys talent level was way higher than any player we had ever faced. We also faced a team in the playoffs with a pitcher committed to South Carolina (mid 90s FB). But he went to a JuCo for a year and drafted by the Reds.
So while its probably not as hard as one would think to become "D1" athlete its still not something everyone can do.
But we played against a team that had aplayer committed to Arizona and that guys talent level was way higher than any player we had ever faced. We also faced a team in the playoffs with a pitcher committed to South Carolina (mid 90s FB). But he went to a JuCo for a year and drafted by the Reds.
So while its probably not as hard as one would think to become "D1" athlete its still not something everyone can do.
Kevin T
Hall of Fame
Kevin T
Hall of Fame
The answer is no. It’s all about above average talent AND commitment. There are plenty of average athletes out there who put in an ungodly amount of time. There are slackers that just happen to be freakishly gifted that never make it. IMHO, it takes a lot of one and a decent amount of the other. The running back on my high school team was an absolute stud. All state 3 years in a row. Defenders wound just shed off him like water hitting rock. He could bring you to your knees with his hand shake and bench 400 lb but never entered a weight room. He was recruited by Penn st, MD, Clemson, Wake Forest and everyone in Va. He was also lazy, loved Mary Jane and couldn’t even pass consumer math. Best football I ever saw, even though I played college ball. He never made it and manages the parts department at a car dealership. He could have easily played on Sundays but genetics can only get you so far.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Deleted member 293577
Guest
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
The average person? No. I'm just talking about the US but you can extend things to the whole world where income, on average, is lower. Average household income is about $73,000. You need money to pay for equipment, clothes, balls, court time, coaching and the time to shuttle your kids around. Tennis, by and large, is a sport of the wealthy.
Pheasant
Legend
D1 is light years away for the average person. A neighbor of my brother lived, slept, and breathed basketball. He had great coaching. He was surrounded by all state players and played on the greatest team in his state’s history. They made the national news. And yet, he only made it to D3. His rich teammate, the star of the team made it the farthest of that team by going D2.
All these guys did was play basketball during the off-season. The played year-round, which was unheard of 35 years ago. And the 3 main players were 6 ft 5, 6 ft 5, and 6 ft 7.
This team that went 52-0 over two years taught me a huge lesson about the kind of talent it takes to go D1; especially in basketball.
All these guys did was play basketball during the off-season. The played year-round, which was unheard of 35 years ago. And the 3 main players were 6 ft 5, 6 ft 5, and 6 ft 7.
This team that went 52-0 over two years taught me a huge lesson about the kind of talent it takes to go D1; especially in basketball.
Sudacafan
Bionic Poster
The average person may not ever become a D1 athlete, but as @dgold44 and @stringertom may agree, he can become a DAu athlete devoted to grappling, occasionally playing tennis.
stringertom
Bionic Poster
dudeAu abides.
hollywood9826
Hall of Fame
Sadly everysport is going that route. To play high level baseball and get recruited families are spending 3-5 k just to be on the team. Another 1500 in equipment, travel expenses because its tournaments everywhere so gas and lodging 4-500 a tourney. That's before you get into specialized coaching and facility rentals in the winter time
Basketball is not yet but that's because business has found a way to exploit these young people for potential future gain by funding AAU coaches and teams.
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FRV
Guest
Don't worry about the income. I'm just talking about physical capability.
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FRV
Guest
I would guess basketball is one of the hardest sports to go D1 in, given the talent pool.
F
FRV
Guest
Oh yes I know that is the case in reality. I just mean that the question I was asking was whether the average person is physically capable. I was thinking income would be included in the right environment. I probably could have worded my question better
.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
Oh yes I know that is the case in reality. I just mean that the question I was asking was whether the average person is physically capable. I was thinking income would be included in the right environment. I probably could have worded my question better
I'd say no. Abilities vary.
It's similar to asking if the average person could get a degree in electrical engineering. The vast majority couldn't understand the math and physics in the first year. The standard thing that professors say to first-year physics students - look to your left, look to your right, only one of you will be here by the end of the year. There's an inherent math error in there but the idea is that two out of three that try engineering don't make it.
F
FRV
Guest
Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I used to think the average person was smart enough to learn anything. I still think that is true to an extent, but they are probably not smart enough to keep learning anything at a fast enough pace that a given occupation or degree requires. That's kind of what it was like for me as a pre med in college. I probably could have snuck my way into med school, but there was probably no way I could have increased my ability to consume information to survive there. It is actually even harder in sports. With God-given physical abilities for some, it means there are limitations for others.
hollywood9826
Hall of Fame
But there are 350 D1 programs with 4500 scholarships available vs tennis for instance with 1500 or so scholarships. So may7be the sheer numbers are on BBalls side from a percentage standpoint.
I do know my county alone in the past couple years has produced a couple D1 guys but the difference between Immanuel Quickley (Kentucky) and the others were huge. He's probably a bad example though.
One thing all of them had in common was they got good enough grades to actually be accepted into the school. Some kids come though with D1 talent on the court/field but battle eligibility issues in even in high school and cant even get into a 4 year school. There is a kid that played at Del State (D1) not because he was that much better than other kids in the county but he simply had grades and test scores to qualify.
On the flip side because of bad grades/test scores a lot of JuCos are freaking loaded and some local kids never sniff making the rosters even though they were all county or all state.
WestboroChe
Hall of Fame
Just looking at the physiques at D1 sports the answer is obvious. Those athletes are all extraordinarily tall, big and strong. Can't really teach or learn those things.
Now D2 or D3? I'd say maybe and probably.
Now D2 or D3? I'd say maybe and probably.
donquijote
G.O.A.T.
Of course!
Seeing is believing.
Seeing is believing.
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
No. More so because most have weak minds than physical limitations.
mmk
Hall of Fame
Yep, one of my nieces is a full ride D1 softball player, she was top 50 ranked in the nation while she was in high school. I asked her father if they came out ahead financially after all the travel teams/coaching/etc, and he said no, they pretty much broke even.
It depends on how 'average' is defined.
Truly someone in the fifty percentile in high school has no chance, but tennis is an easier path than, for example, basketball
I have kids right now who I am introducing to tennis because the path to success is more manageable (part of the reason).
I have one example of a friend that was not a top athlete that became 1000th in the world and played D1 (was in the starting lineup at Univ. of Washington)
He also did an adventure race with us a couple of times. He got near top 10% in the run, but bottom 30% in the road bike. He was 5'8". He did more with his natural gifts than anybody that I have ever seen, but he was still a top 10% athlete in high school, which isn't saying much. My kid is top 10% in his class just because he can jump rope.
Truly someone in the fifty percentile in high school has no chance, but tennis is an easier path than, for example, basketball
I have kids right now who I am introducing to tennis because the path to success is more manageable (part of the reason).
I have one example of a friend that was not a top athlete that became 1000th in the world and played D1 (was in the starting lineup at Univ. of Washington)
He also did an adventure race with us a couple of times. He got near top 10% in the run, but bottom 30% in the road bike. He was 5'8". He did more with his natural gifts than anybody that I have ever seen, but he was still a top 10% athlete in high school, which isn't saying much. My kid is top 10% in his class just because he can jump rope.
F
FRV
Guest
IMO, this is the best height for male humans.
ChaelAZ
G.O.A.T.
I would give a qualified no on this. From my experience in meeting and seeing a bunch of juniors rise to play college, there is a certain level of innate athletic ability and mentality above average that separates them from achieving the highest levels. It is akin to that certain something the separates the top 10 pros from the rest of the 1000's below, where they all have ability and all had ample training. Some probably even more training at more prestigious facilities above the top pros, but there is that 'something' that separates them.
So no average person, given even the most concentrated and high level training, will play D1.
So no average person, given even the most concentrated and high level training, will play D1.
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