Hard work beats natural talent.

[Raethien]

"Hard work beats natural talent." - Rock Lee

I often find this to be wrong, due to the fact of, I practice hours almost everyday, And I can't beat my friend, when he doesn't practice.
The match up is even in my favor. And I still lose most of the time.

People have said I hit the wall, but I refuse to believe it, I can't just play without getting better.It just doesn't make sense.

On FG I lose to people that have no strategy whatsoever.

I hope people can see my problem here, I'm just not improving whatsoever, and it is annoying me, to the point of making me wanna quit.

 

[GhostUrsa]

People have said I hit the wall, but I refuse to believe it, I can't just play without getting better.It just doesn't make sense.

Since you know the problem but refuse to believe it, than that is what is called 'Denial'. You will never improve, and will probably quit if you want to follow down that path. If you can't improve as you say, but don't know what your doing wrong and want to keep playing, then get some recording of your fights to your character's respective Video Critic Thread and get some extra eyes on your play-style. You'll be able to get some advice that you may not be aware of, and can start being able to ask the right questions to start down the road to improve.

The original quote is "Hard work beat natural talent when talent doesn't work hard." The important thing to take away from this is that there will always be a limit to your skills, and be accepting of them will help you stay confident in what you can do. You don't know on what side of the 'talent/work' dichotomy you'll have and where you need to maximize yourself, so constantly wishing to improve and seeking out ways to do this is the only way to understand where your potential will be.

'The Wall' does hurt, and I'll be honest with you. You'll hit it again, and again. But as long as you have fun with what you are doing and strive to see where your strength in the game is, you can overcome it every time it comes up.

 

[Purin a.k.a. José]

Since you know the problem but refuse to believe it, than that is what is called 'Denial'. You will never improve, and will probably quit if you want to follow down that path. If you can't improve as you say, but don't know what your doing wrong and want to keep playing, then get some recording of your fights to your character's respective Video Critic Thread and get some extra eyes on your play-style. You'll be able to get some advice that you may not be aware of, and can start being able to ask the right questions to start down the road to improve.

The original quote is "Hard work beat natural talent when talent doesn't work hard." The important thing to take away from this is that there will always be a limit to your skills, and be accepting of them will help you stay confident in what you can do. You don't know on what side of the talent/work you'll need to maximize yourself, so constantly wishing to improve and seeking out ways to do this is the only way to understand where your potential will be.

'The Wall' does hurt, and I'll be honest with you. You'll hit it again, and again. But as long as you have fun with what you are doing and strive to see where your strength in the game is, you can overcome it every time it comes up.

This post inspires me as well. I felt like you told me what I was feeling when I did not tell it.

 

[ChikoLad]

Hard work can beat natural talent, however, that hard work needs to be applied properly.

Doing 1,000 sit-ups would mean nothing if your leg muscles are what's lacking.

 

[Godzillionaire]

Basically what sonicbrawler said. Ya gotta get creative in your fighting if what you're doing now isn't working. And hey this is a game after all, never hurts to have fun and try new things!

 

[Xermo]

Didn't rock lee get his ass handed to him on a silver platter on a consistent basis

 

[Dark Phazon]

"Hard work beats natural talent." - Rock Lee

I often find this to be wrong, due to the fact of, I practice hours almost everyday, And I can't beat my friend, when he doesn't practice.
The match up is even in my favor. And I still lose most of the time.

People have said I hit the wall, but I refuse to believe it, I can't just play without getting better.It just doesn't make sense.

On FG I lose to people that have no strategy whatsoever.

I hope people can see my problem here, I'm just not improving whatsoever, and it is annoying me, to the point of making me wanna quit.

I kinda have thr same problem like you.
I never really play different...maybe i prefer just not to...i do adapt but i guess...only so much
.

 

[LunarWingCloud]

And then there's people like me, who have neither to back them.

 

[MarkedRaptor]

I completely agree with what SonicBrawler is saying. If you aren't training the right thing or know what you SHOULD be training, then you won't receive results.

Also I wouldn't look to Naruto for inspiration speaking Lee never won a fight(he was my fave too). That and Naruto's character turned from underdog to "Destined Child" so even he was naturally talented.

 

[Diamond DHD]

I don't believe working hard beats natural talent. Welcome to life.
But, I do believe working hard, smart and having experience beats natural talent hands-down.
Working smart involves not just practicing, but evaluating your practice, finding holes in your play, getting second opinions, and out-smarting your opponent in the matches themselves.
There is no short cut to gaining experience though, and that's the main bane of any person with natural talent. That's because through experience you understand what makes natural talent, it isn't magic, it's someone who somehow instinctively or through other practices understands the fundamentals of the game.

You're taking the concept of "Hard work beats natural talent" from an entirely unrelated scenario, it may apply to physical sports where keeping fit is extremely important, so just working hard to get that fitness can give you some decent mileage. But there isn't much like that in Smash 4, maybe in Melee or Street Fighter where execution is very important, but in Smash 4 execution is easy but using the execution and applying it is the important part, working hard won't help you with that, it will only put you in to an auto-pilot mind-set.

 

[Nat Perry]

Hard work CAN beat natural talent, whether be persistence, or when natural talent "slacks off," or a combination of the two. Key word: "can." Contrary to popular belief, you can't do everything you put your mind to. You can do some things, or a lot of things, or very few things you put you mind to, but not all. Just don't call it quits too early on anything you try to get good at.

 

[Deleted member]

Iv'e hit this wall quite a few times already. I won't deny that iv'e raged quite an unhealthy amount at my debilitating loses but it just came around as a lesson to me the next time. I actually raged so much that I began to see that . . .raging doesn't really help in the end and only contributes to an endless cycle of it. Nevermind quitting.

What I grew a habit of doing was diving back into that FG match and completely tossing out everything I knew beforehand and just learning on-the-fly. I started to realize my own psychological patterns and this actually contributed to me using Doc's entire kit more often. I'm the type of player who sticks to what works most of the time, so much so that I forget to utilize other moves he has.

All in all, don't let a wall, or any other obstacle dictate how you play the game successfully. Hitting a wall will require you to think outside of the box, or obtain a new perspective on the game. Playing the game itself on a consistent basis is only half the battle. Pay attention, and move forward. Don't get into the sluggish mentality of playtime = skill. This requires a lot of mental energy but it's doable.

Cheers.

 

[sixkami]

What Sonicbrawler said. Most people will pretty much tell you the same thing. You just need to know yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses. You're practicing hours whenever you can, but what exactly are you practicing? Practice is good, but you got to find something you need improvement on and build from there.

 

[Storm Erion]

When I read the title I thought it was going to be an inspirational post.

Anyway, your mental state could be a factor in why you aren't improving. If you're playing through a match thinking things like "oh I'm not going to improve" or "this is pointless", it's probably going to be true. You have to go into each match with a positive outlook, and with the right intentions to get better results.

You're not going to win every match. But what you CAN do is LEARN something from every match.

 

[MarioMeteor]

Well, Goku is stronger than Vegeta, so yeah. Hard work all the way.

 

[Uffe]

Have you ever thought that perhaps you're playing predictable that your friend knows you from the inside out? I know someone who has told me he doesn't put the amount of effort into practice and is still good, whereas someone such as myself puts in time to learn, but I still can't beat him. I don't believe in the idea that the naturally talented can't be beat, because they can. I also don't believe in the idea that you have limits to your skill in a game or anything else in life. That, to me, is defeatist mentality. Review what you're doing from your replays and see where you messed up, what opportunities you've missed, and how you can further improve in the future. I fought someone recently who uses Little Mac. He two stocked me countless times the first time I played him. I managed to get one or two wins in that day, but that was it. The next day I played him, I did better. He noticed that I was adapting to his playstyle. Try your best to do the same. Figure out your friends flaws and exploit them to your advantage.

 

[Lemon Girl]

Natural talent doesn't exist. It's the way you "see" things that make some people capable of performing better in certain things at the start. Someone may call that "talent" but it really isn't, because if you're taught to see things the same way (which is proven to be possible in almost every area except creativity, you can't be taugh to be creative, but there are ways to improve creativity) you'll inmediatly catch up with whoever is better than you, considering a lot of time haven't already passed that is.
In Smash for example, I see many Falcon players complain about losing to other players "even when I'm better than them", they seem to think that they're better because Falcon is a flashy character, so they need to use more technical stuff to be effective in battle. But the thing is, what matters in Smash isn't technical skill alone, is fundamentals, doesn't matter how flashy you are, if your fundamentals are trash you can be beaten by people who just spam shield grabs.
What you need to learn is to improve your fundamentals, most importantly movement, be patient, think how to bait attacks, put your oponent in a bad position so you can catch them with your attacks, if you just attack recklessly hoping for your attacks to connect you risk yourself to a lot of things.

 

[MapleWooD]

Stop complaining and train harder!

 

[Roukiske]

This is not a path to self enlightenment or anything, it's a video game. The better player will most likely win. It doesn't matter how you got better than your foe, you either are or you aren't.

Now if you want tips on your play I think there are threads for your character and possibly threads where people post their gameplay while others critique.

Edit: Remember, being very good at a video game like Smash is not easy and it does take work. Otherwise we'd all be sponsored and winning tournaments.

 

[Still~Wolf]

"Hard work beats natural talent." - Rock Lee

I often find this to be wrong, due to the fact of, I practice hours almost everyday, And I can't beat my friend, when he doesn't practice.
The match up is even in my favor. And I still lose most of the time.

People have said I hit the wall, but I refuse to believe it, I can't just play without getting better.It just doesn't make sense.

On FG I lose to people that have no strategy whatsoever.

I hope people can see my problem here, I'm just not improving whatsoever, and it is annoying me, to the point of making me wanna quit.

As someone who fights a friend and a family member almost constantly, it has nothing to do with your skill I think. If the person plays with you a lot, typically they can get free reads and punish you for stuff you may do a lot. It would be helpful to know who your friend plays, as well. Maybe you have difficulty with that character? There's a lot of factors involved when it comes to matches.

As for For Glory, just practice. FG is much different from your typical smash match lol.

 

[Dream Cancel]

Hard work will never beat natural talent because natural talent is developed through hard work.

 

[Still~Wolf]

Hard work will never beat natural talent because natural talent is developed through hard work.

quote worthy

 

[ChikoLad]

Hard work will never beat natural talent because natural talent is developed through hard work.

Eeeeeeh a bit too idealistic a view there.

By default (i.e. before any training has been put in or any knowledge of the game is had), a six feet tall guy is probably gonna have an easier time playing basketball than a three feet tall guy.

Natural talent is exactly what it says on the tin - "natural". It is not synonymous with hard work in the slightest. Working hard at things is done when you lack the natural talent to do them. Natural talent can also only come from natural sources/processes, like genetics, upbringing, etc. Something you have to go out of your way for is not natural, that's hard work, and requires determination.

Some people are just inherently better at certain things than others are, or possess better abilities in certain areas. For example, I have exceptionally good hearing compared to most adults, but I didn't work at all to achieve that. I listen to plenty of loud music and what not even today, so it's not like I made an effort to keep my ears especially healthy. I just naturally have better hearing for one reason or another.

What you say is true to some degree, but it's not the absolute you are claiming it is - natural talent can, will, and has beaten hard work on many occasions.

 

[Dream Cancel]

Eeeeeeh a bit too idealistic a view there.

By default (i.e. before any training has been put in or any knowledge of the game is had), a six feet tall guy is probably gonna have an easier time playing basketball than a three feet tall guy.

Your example still fits my statement. A 6-foot tall guy will indeed have an easier time playing basketball than a 3-foot tall guy... if they're both trying to rebound the ball.

Point is that as long as the 3-foot tall player plays to his strengths, he should be fine despite the difficulties presented.

However, this is irrelevant to the points I'm about to make. (Not to mention a weak example)

Spoiler: Arguments

Natural talent is exactly what it says on the tin - "natural". It is not synonymous with hard work in the slightest.

Natural talent is not what it says on the tin. Natural talent is what it seems to be on the tin, but it's not. It's "instinct." Natural talent is the accumulation so much hard work to the point where it becomes natural, or instinct.

Working hard at things is done when you lack the natural talent to do them.

Correct.

Natural talent can also only come from natural sources/processes,

Correct.

like genetics, upbringing, etc.

No. Genetics is natural, yes, but it's only a blueprint of how we will grow. On average, all human beings are biochemically 99.5% the same, those are some pretty good odds, don't you think? (Source) I'd imagine that applying the same nuturing pattern to every human being would be more effective than giving everyone the same genes.

Upbringing is a natural phase of life, yes, but is natural to the extent where it is consistent for everyone? No.

Something you have to go out of your way for is not natural, that's hard work, and requires determination.

Correct.

Some people are just inherently better at certain things than others are, or possess better abilities in certain areas.

Again, some people are just inherently better at certain things because they have more practice.

For example, I have exceptionally good hearing compared to most adults, but I didn't work at all to achieve that. I listen to plenty of loud music and what not even today, so it's not like I made an effort to keep my ears especially healthy. I just naturally have better hearing for one reason or another.

I don't have enough information to come to a conclusion regarding your personal example. So, I'm glad you have great hearing!

What you say is true to some degree, but it's not the absolute you are claiming it is - natural talent can, will, and has beaten hard work on many occasions.

I'll repeat myself:

Hard work will never beat natural talent because natural talent is developed through hard work.

Thus, anyone with natural talent in a given area has this talent because they have put in the effort to develop their talent to such a degree where that skill becomes natural to them.

 

[DakotaBonez]

Are you playing with the wii remote held sideways?
Also, I wouldn't get too hung up on FG matches, spammers can wreck even the greatest players when the lag takes away one's ability to block properly.

 

[Sleek Media]

Save replays of the matches you lose. Watch them later. Figure out what you did wrong. Don't make the same mistakes next time. Repeat.

 

[Raethien]

Are you playing with the wii remote held sideways?
Also, I wouldn't get too hung up on FG matches, spammers can wreck even the greatest players when the lag takes away one's ability to block properly.

Lol of course not xD, I had to use the gamepad for a while until I FINNALY found the GC controller adapter.