[Se] NF Artists/Athletes and Extraverted Sensing

[Chloe]

You and my wife are very similar in this regard.

She is an "off the charts" INFJ (very high scores in all functions I,N,F, and J).

But, somehow the little devil is a great athlete, very strong and very agile, a great runner, and very good at softball too.



Interesting! I could be a trainer for a living, but being an athlete professionally might get tiring. A friend of mine who is an avid musician got a job as a DJ. He has his own company, and is very successful. But - he says that some of his love for performing has been stymied by the fact he does it for a living now. I think the same holds true for anything you have a pssion for. When you can pursue it on your terms, on your hours, and at your discretion it's the best thing in the whole world. But once you are dependent on it generating income to support your life, it takes on a whole new meaning...

hm.. i cant do it everyday for fun neither

Yeah it's interesting when something is unexplained by mbti type,natural preference, and even genetic/family background (sports). Until I was 13 or so I was doing sports all day. All day. I lived pretty much like extreme SP, couldnt sit still.
Maybe I am SP, who knows

I am also not naturally aware of my surrounding (Se), like, I am totally oblivious to everything physical around me, but for some reason, when I am in sports mode, I am very coordinated. Mostly in biking,skating,athletics =running,skiing, tennis etc.

i have a theory that i developed more sports skills as some kind of defense mechanism, i was in a way in constant danger when i was kid so i was always "on guard", and moving a lot. also, i didnt have oportunity to do more N(F) stuff like arts, music.. was never into reading much.. so this was only way to spend time.
***

and of course mbti has something to do with being coordinated, at least statistically

 

[VictorClimacus]

I would expect INFs to experience much more sports-related anxiety than their extroverted kin. Because of their introversion, rich inner worlds, and hyper-sensitivity to loud and demanding (and often hyper-critical) teammates, they seem primed to experience a lot of frustration on the field. The competitive team-sport environment can be an extremely unfriendly place to the INF! More so than the other types, I would say.

Another INF handicap may be their ability to see possibilities without knowing how to take the steps to get there. Only with experience and practice does the second part lend itself, which is why an INF may often feel like she has spent an inordinate amount of time as a "noob". Processing rules and methodologies into muscle memory (or any other kind of memory) is not a talent of the typical NF, nor are most lower-order thinking skills. Our penchant for the abstract and the ephemeral can make us detached from the more concrete interests of the sports world. Only if we get obsessed with the game does this change. And since we're not naturally attuned to the kinesthetic world, the development of such a passion is unlikely.

I remember 5th and 6th grade basketball being emotionally arduous and eternally frustrating. And, at least for me, it also took a lot of effort to B-E Aggressive. That is, unless it was an individual sport where I could let my athleticism shine without it getting mired in the multi-directional demands of team dynamics. Capture the Flag and Paintball were my two favorites because I could be all that I wanted to be, without anyone telling me how to play the game or trying to give me play-by-play instructions in a foreign tongue.

 

[angell_m]

I was going to be pulled up to the Norwegian soccer league, but then I got injured. I started out as a Right-back / Centre-back, I enjoyed myself as Right-back the most. Then I played as a Goalkeeper for a while untill my new trainer saw my potential in speed, dribbling and tactical views and pulled me up to Right-midfielder / Right-wing.

And I was a Michael J. Jackson copycat for the longest time (from eight years old and up to fourteen). Performed infront of 500 people, twice. So there was no performance anxiety there.

I'm too much of an -I- today.

 

[Queen Kat]

I'm bad at sports, but that's just because my body doesn't work properly. As for arts... I made a collage a few months ago and I got an 8 (A in the USA) for it. You can watch it in my album.

 

[Esoteric Wench]

I have to admit that when I saw this thread for the first time I became puzzled. "NF athletes?" I asked myself. Immediately, I thought of this scene from that slapstick cinematic gem Airplane!:

Elaine Dickinson: Would you like something to read?
Hanging Lady: Do you have anything light?
Elaine Dickinson: How about this leaflet, "Famous Jewish Sports Legends?"​

 

[Lily Bart]

Once I learned about typology, it was very helpful to see how different I was from SP's in their approach to music. Some musicians used to intimidate me horribly and it was very hard for me to work with them -- then I realized that they were SP's. SP's tend to have an "either I get it or I don't and if I don't just forget about it" approach, whereas I tend to practice obsessively assuming it'll come to me if I just work hard enough. My goal in rehearsal is to create empathy among the performers, so that the music becomes greater than the sum of its parts. I don't get hung up on mistakes, but if there's a problem, I pull it apart to figure out exactly where the problem is. Although this is probably unfair, I think SP's tend to stop at "good enough" whereas I want to be sure that everybody really gets it and it wasn't just luck. Also, I don't see the point in sight reading, which SP's love -- sight reading leaves way too much room for misinterpretation -- once it's in your mind that way, it tends to stay that way and it's very hard to change. I think SP's see themselves primarily as performers, and I see myself as an interpreter of what the composer was trying to express -- although if I can help the composer express it better, I have no qualms about doing so!

 

[skylights]

Also, I don't see the point in sight reading, which SP's love -- sight reading leaves way too much room for misinterpretation -- once it's in your mind that way, it tends to stay that way and it's very hard to change. I think SP's see themselves primarily as performers, and I see myself as an interpreter of what the composer was trying to express -- although if I can help the composer express it better, I have no qualms about doing so!

lol, that's funny, i actually love sight reading because i see it as a fun challenge.

but i agree with you -- music to me is very much about interpretation and fluid expression. the NTs i play with sometimes seem to understand it a little differently - though together we get some really excellent results.

 

[You]

How do the NTs understand it?

 

[Vamp]

I have to admit that when I saw this thread for the first time I became puzzled. "NF athletes?" I asked myself. Immediately, I thought of this scene from that slapstick cinematic gem Airplane!:

Elaine Dickinson: Would you like something to read?
Hanging Lady: Do you have anything light?
Elaine Dickinson: How about this leaflet, "Famous Jewish Sports Legends?"​

I laughed. I love that movie. I should go watch it after a hard day. Then I felt the need to pull up the "Jewish Sports Legends" website.

 

[You]

I thought you were gunna say Jewish Sport Center...

Sport Center...

[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jKW5JUUerk&feature=channel"]Kenny Mayne[/youtube]

 

[skylights]

How do the NTs understand it?

well, at least for the two i'm related to (both INTPs and very similar to one another in a lot of ways), they say they like to play more with scales and ideas and patterns in the music than with feeling in it. they're much more technically knowledgeable than i am in terms of theory and equipment, and they really pick out instruments in pieces and pay attention to what each is doing. they really impress me in terms of their wealth of knowledge.

they are also more interested in figuring out songs for themselves - i'll do it sometimes too, just playing around, but they'll spend hours and days on it. one is into jazz, and the other, rock. they don't pay attention to lyrics when they listen to songs - they only pay attention to the music. they value musical originality and complexity, and they're rather condemning of music they don't think is worth their respect! my brother in particular laughs at my love for pop music, because it makes me feel good and i love singing along. he thinks pop is simplistic and repetitive (which in a lot of ways it is, but i still like it, lol)