Which are better athletes, thinkers or feelers?

[Winds of Thor]

At what sport?

 

[INTP]

not related obviously.

 

[wolfy]

Being good at something is mostly a result of practice. A tendency to practice at certain things and a liking for certain types of competitive environments could generally be associated with type I suppose. But, it is pretty loose kind of association and doesn't really point to talent at sport.

 

[StephMC]

I had a really good ENFP friend in wrestling during high school. No one on the team could touch the passion he had for the sport. That's gotta count for something.

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

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I had a really good ENFP friend in wrestling during high school. No one on the team could touch the passion he had for the sport. That's gotta count for something.

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

Ayrton is one of my favorite athletes ever...

 

[StephMC]

Ayrton is one of my favorite athletes ever...

It's hard not to admire him

 

[KDude]

Being good at something is mostly a result of practice. A tendency to practice at certain things and a liking for certain types of competitive environments could generally be associated with type I suppose. But, it is pretty loose kind of association and doesn't really point to talent at sport.

I guess that's an indirect cause towards sports. I know I would spend hours, right after school, just shooting hoops by myself. And if my mom called me in, I'd push it until it was dark and she'd get mad. That might be a common SP thing. And the more it happens, the better those kids get.

I wouldn't doubt a Ne type could be a great athlete though, but I wonder what sparks it. I kind of suspect Tony Hawk is ENTP, and he just applied his thoughts to something like skateboarding (and the industry surrounding it).

 

[The Great One]

To tell the truth, if you look at the best athletes, you won't really see much difference in how good they are based on the T and F. It seems to me that the best athletes are Se users.

 

[greenfairy]

Interesting. I wonder about which things you can correlate with type and which you can't. Obviously the way the question is phrased elicits a value judgment, which is not the underlying question. People apply typology to career choice, hobbies, relationship behaviors, etc., but where do you stop? What couldn't you apply it to, and why? Could you potentially apply it to everything in some small way? I agree with the Se bit. I should make a thread about typology application to see what people think.

 

[The Great One]

Interesting. I wonder about which things you can correlate with type and which you can't. Obviously the way the question is phrased elicits a value judgment, which is not the underlying question. People apply typology to career choice, hobbies, relationship behaviors, etc., but where do you stop? What couldn't you apply it to, and why? Could you potentially apply it to everything in some small way? I agree with the Se bit. I should make a thread about typology application to see what people think.

There have already been threads about this. Also, on a random note, I thought TJ's make the best office administrators.

 

[greenfairy]

Ok. I'll try to find them. Is there some trick to searching that I don't know about? I never seem to be able to find the things I'm looking for, and then I assume they're not there.

 

[KDude]

Ok. I'll try to find them. Is there some trick to searching that I don't know about? I never seem to be able to find the things I'm looking for, and then I assume they're not there.

Maybe you'll get better results searching through Google ("site:typologycentral.com")

 

[Speed Gavroche]

Thinkers. We are more likely to find technique to improve efficiency.

 

[greenfairy]

Maybe you'll get better results searching through Google ("site:typologycentral.com")

Oh ok, I'll try that. Thanks.

 

[wolfy]

The Brain: Why Athletes Are Geniuses
by Carl Zimmer

Neuroscientists have found several ways in which the brains of top-notch athletes seem to function better than those of regular folks.

Full article here:
http://discovermagazine.com/2010/apr/16-the-brain-athletes-are-geniuses/

If you're interested in athletes, there's plenty of research out there. Athletic ability can be readily observed. It certainly isn't based on a self-reporting instrument: The MBTI does not measure skill or aptitude.

Interesting read.

I guess that's an indirect cause towards sports. I know I would spend hours, right after school, just shooting hoops by myself. And if my mom called me in, I'd push it until it was dark and she'd get mad. That might be a common SP thing. And the more it happens, the better those kids get.

I wouldn't doubt a Ne type could be a great athlete though, but I wonder what sparks it. I kind of suspect Tony Hawk is ENTP, and he just applied his thoughts to something like skateboarding (and the industry surrounding it).

I guess it is some success causing it to be the focal point.

 

[Seymour]

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)

 

[wolfy]

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)

I've read the isfp description from him. I do actually see myself in that description quite strongly. In temperament at least. Gross motor skills too. I am a bit iffy on how graceful I am though... rhythmic maybe, but it takes, has taken practice.

I voted feelers. To balance out the thinkers that weren't doing much thinkin'

 

[Owlesque]

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.

 

[Such Irony]

I don't think T/F makes a difference in overall athletic ability. I would think it's more of an S/N thing with S types having an advantage. N's can be athletes too, probably less likely to come naturally though.

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)

I read that book. Apparently INTPs tend to suck at sports considering the dearth of INTP athletes listed.
I pretty much suck at both gross and fine motor skills. I am good at the planning and analysis though.

 

[lauranna]

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.