Which are better athletes, thinkers or feelers?

[KDude]

I'm not sure T and F specifically effect athletic ability but I play rugby at a high level and the majority of females you see playing top level physical sport are Sensors and Thinkers. In fact I would say about 80-90% of the team I play for are *ST*

There are exceptions to the rule and obviously this is a very physical sport so could be different in different sports.

lol, even I would tire of Rugby. In American football, I like playing wide reciever (which entails things that I don't exist in most rugby rules.. like forward passing?). My mentality wants to remain elusive in most sports. It pisses off the defense to hit me harder, but there are less hits overall. I get the impression that Rugby players take more pride in endurance? Maybe I'm totally off on that. I get some image of a toothless guy with cauliflower ears laughing at the dozen of guys on top on him.

 

[Craft]

This is one of the few things that I think are decently type related, as I have seen so many INFJ's(Inferior Se) with no coordination at all. They're just so slow and fragile...it hurts to even look at. And the worst part is how obvious it is that they are trying their best. INTJ's can be somewhat average, but they also look very "goofy" when they move around.

 

[lauranna]

lol, even I would tire of Rugby. In American football, I like playing wide reciever (which entails things that I don't exist in most rugby rules.. like forward passing?). My mentality wants to remain elusive in most sports. It pisses off the defense to hit me harder, but there are less hits overall. I get the impression that Rugby players take more pride in endurance? Maybe I'm totally off on that. I get some image of a toothless guy with cauliflower ears laughing at the dozen of guys on top on him.

They have these things called gum shields which generally ensure you keep your teeth. And my ears are still fine thanks. In rugby league there are big hits and lots of running- you should watch/ try it sometime. I love the hits!

 

[greenfairy]

This is one of the few things that I think are decently type related, as I have seen so many INFJ's(Inferior Se) with no coordination at all. They're just so slow and fragile...it hurts to even look at. And the worst part is how obvious it is that they are trying their best. INTJ's can be somewhat average, but they also look very "goofy" when they move around.

Sounds kinda true. It seems to me that INFP's generally aren't too into heavy athletics.

But these are only based on small numbers of people observed, not large representative samples. So who can know.

 

[greenfairy]

So, the only MTBI-specific research I'm aware of is Niednegal's Brain Types, but I think they are a bit dubious as far as published evidence. Here's a very short summary of Niednegal's claims of type-related strengths:

• SFs: Gross motor skills (that is coordination of large muscle groups)
• SFJs: Control of body movement (practical, step-by-step learning)
• SFPs: Rhythm/graceful flow and quick reactions (holistic sports learning)
• STs: Fine motor skills
• STJs: Dexterity, especially hands/fingers and hand/eye coordination, and defensive strengths
• STPs: Positional awareness, and offensive strengths
• NFs: Oral, verbal and hearing skills
• NFJs: Word/meaning oriented, better at sports where creative calculate pays off (not quick reacting). Give great interviews and commentaries.
• NFPs: Intonation oriented, excel at artistic interpretation (diving, figure skating, etc)
• NTs: <ental/logical abstraction skills
• NTPs: More fine motor skill oriented, with strengths at planning and analysis
• NTJs: More gross motor skills and goal-oriented;more step-by-step, mechanical and controlled than NTPs (although can react very quickly with practice)

This is exactly what I was looking for. +1 I'm going to read that book.

As for me:
SFs: Gross motor skills (that is coordination of large muscle groups)
SFJs: Control of body movement (practical, step-by-step learning)
SFPs: Rhythm/graceful flow and quick reactions (holistic sports learning)
STs: Fine motor skills
STJs: Dexterity, especially hands/fingers and hand/eye coordination, and defensive strengths
STPs: Positional awareness, and offensive strengths No.
NFs: Oral, verbal and hearing skills
NFJs: Word/meaning oriented, better at sports where creative calculate pays off (not quick reacting). Give great interviews and commentaries.
NFPs: Intonation oriented, excel at artistic interpretation (diving, figure skating, etc)
NTs: Mental/logical abstraction skills
NTPs: More fine motor skill oriented, with strengths at planning and analysis
NTJs: More gross motor skills and goal-oriented;more step-by-step, mechanical and controlled than NTPs (although can react very quickly with practice)

Decent at all of these except these. Very good at hearing skills.

I'm generally terrible at sports, with the exception of badminton (but only singles, doubles never ends well). I like trying to anticipate the strength or direction of my opponent's next move, but at the same time preparing to instantly react to any possibility.

I love badminton. I took a class for an hour credit, and it was a lot of fun. I was actually good at it.

 

[KDude]

I think I'm always in a state of positional awareness and think offensively. In sports I definitely do. I can't say I'm very rhythmic (which is being said about SFP). I don't even dance.. but then, I think that's social misgivings..or something.

I've seen some of Neidnagel's writings though. He apparently tests and works with pro teams, as a sort of consultant and scout. Danny Ainge used him for the Celtics.

 

[burymecloser]

Agreed with everyone on Se, but as an armchair typologist I feel like I also notice a lot of Te in professional athletes. Te is so goal-oriented I can see how it would be conducive to reaching the highest levels of athletic excellence, so it makes some degree of sense.

I doubt there's a strong T/F association, but if I had to guess, I might expect Thinkers, on the whole, to be slightly better athletes. If nothing else, the female/male divide among Feelers and Thinkers would support that idea.

 

[Craft]

I think I'm always in a state of positional awareness and think offensively. In sports I definitely do.

This ties in well with Se-Ni, Ni mainly because "positional awareness" is about instant perspectives. But maybe positional awareness requires high attention to detail? Anyways, Ni-Se is very much fit for dynamic perspective(s) of objects in 3D space. And then the role of Ti is something like a crucial catalyst (Se--Ti-->Ni), kind of similar to how TiNeSi molds abstractions into concrete knowledge.

STPs: Positional awareness, and offensive strengths No..

How come?

 

[greenfairy]

How come?

I am aware of proportions, and spacial concepts mentally; it's just that my mind is somewhat disconnected from my body so it sometimes takes conscious effort to "feel" my position. And I am more disconnected from the outside world, so even when I am aware of the relationship my body parts have to each other it takes more conscious effort to sense my position in relation to my environment, and objects such as the ground and things I might bump into.

But once I get everything coordinated, I can be pretty good.

 

[Society]

in team sports, i'd put my money on an xSTP any time, more for their Fe then their Ti .

on more individual achievement sports, i can see how xSFPs might be able to push themselves further "on the principle of it"... i'd gamble on a victory followed by a tragic injury which they will then get paid to write a book about.

 

[Riva]

Africans

 

[Giggly]

I also think Aryton Senna maybe was an ENFP, and he was also very passionate.

Totally.

 

[Rasofy]

in team sports, i'd put my money on an xSTP any time, more for their Fe then their Ti .

on more individual achievement sports, i can see how xSFPs might be able to push themselves further "on the principle of it"... i'd gamble on a victory followed by a tragic injury which they will then get paid to write a book about.

You might be on to something. I believe there's a significant prevalence of Fi&Te users among swimmers.

 

[Werewolfen]

According to this link, the ISTP is> Highly represented among male college scholarship athletes.

http://www.discoveryourpersonality.com/istp.html

 

[RaptorWizard]

Black Mamba has NO MERCY!!!

Kobe Bryant Tribute

Feelings exist yes, but they're used for advancing the ruthless justice of thinking - the better athletes are thinkers.

 

[greenfairy]

You might be on to something. I believe there's a significant prevalence of Fi&Te users among swimmers.

The ISFP guy I'm seeing used to swim in high school, but he wasn't all that enthusiastic about it. He also has a black belt in Tae Kwan Do. The other ISFP I know used to play soccer, I believe. I'm not sure about that. Now he's kind of lazy. The ISTP I know is kind of lazy as well. It's possible he's mistyped, but I doubt it. He'd rather tinker around with gadgets and work on the house than be physically active.

I don't know what I think the answer is, but I agree Fe probably has a connection to team sports.

 

[Riva]

i should be shot dead with my own shit if i didn't confess that i have come across an overwhelming amount of stps (ESTPs>>>ISTPs) in areas of athletism and sports. as @Mane has mentioned above it probably has a lot to do with fe more so than ti. Fe as a supporting function to Se that is.

then again i have also met wite a few intjs who are athletic though their Se is last. (not acrobatic but athletic.) it probably has a lot to do with strong Ni. the relationship between Ni and Se is like that between the hands-eye cordination. the better at picking up Se the stronger the Ni would be. in this instance Se being the eye and Ni being the hands.

 

[highlander]

I don't think it's really a thinker vs feeler thing. However, someone has written a book detailing which MBTI types tend to have particular athletic strengths and what sports they are drawn to and which types may have to work harder to achieve success athletically. I can't remember where it is but I'll see if I can hunt it up. I've read excerpts but I'd like to order it in and read the whole thing.

This sounds interesting. Did you ever find it?

 

[gromit]

I know [MENTION=4515]wolfy[/MENTION] found some athletic profiles for the different types.

 

[wolfy]

Those are on personality cafe. Google, Your Key to Sports Success: [type] Description.