[CQ-Contest] Are contesters born or made?

[Zack Widup]

I started to learn to play the guitar a little over a year ago. I have a lot
of friends who are guitarists. They all pretty much said the same thing. It
just involved practice and sticking with it. Would I ever be able to play
like Jimi Hendrix? That remains to be seen. But I was told if I kept at it
and as long as all my fingers worked, I would eventually be able to play
SOMETHING. It was just a matter of time, which varies from individual to
individual.

It took me three months to be able to get my fingers to go into the shape
necessary to play barre chords. That was about the length of time it took me
to learn Morse code. I stuck with in in both ventures and now 40 years after
I learned Morse I can routinely send and receive 45 wpm or better.
I imagine it's about the same with contesting. Some may not become great
contesters overnight but if they stick with it and have good Elmers they
will learn the ropes and get respectable scores.

I still think at this moment that learning the guitar is the hardest thing
I've ever done.
:-)

73, Zack W9SZ


On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 8:25 AM, Lee Buller <k0wa at swbell.net> wrote:

>
>
> Yes, the are born...and Yes, they are made.  I view contesters as an
> athlete.  Athletes have natural abilities...some better than others from A
> to Z or from 0 to 10.  In a sense, we are all athletes.  We can train for an
> event.  We can work at getting better at our event.
>
> Am I the best contest athlete?  At one time, I thought I was but the
> numbers as I age do not show that.  Athletes not only have to be physically
> fit...but mentally fit as well.  They have to love what they are doing.
>  They have to be driven by a goal.
>
> With that said....
>
> Are golfers athletes?
> Are NASCAR drivers athletes?
> Are Poker players athletes?
> Are people who knit and sew athletes?
>
> Good question.  Hard to answer.
>
> Lee - K0WA
>
>
>  Ham Radio Operators:  Kansas QSO Party is August 28-29, 2010.  See
> www.ksqsoparty.org for details
>
> In our day and age it seems that Common Sense is in short supply.  If you
> don't have any Common Sense - get some Common Sense and use it.  If you
> can't find any Common Sense, ask for help from somebody who has some Common
> Sense.  Is Common Sense divine?
>
> Common Sense is the image of the Creator expressing revealed truth in my
> mind. -  J. Wolf
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: W7VJ <w7vj at millerisar.com>
> To: cq-contest at contesting.com
> Sent: Mon, May 10, 2010 9:23:14 PM
>  Subject: [CQ-Contest] Are contesters born or made?
>
>
>
>
> While not posed as a solicitation for comment, I will note this at the risk
> of waxing philosophical:
>
> In my mind, contesters are made, but are made based on what they are born
> with: one's DNA, if you will.  The desire to practice and compete comes
> from
> something deep within - who we are.  Ostensibly we practice to perfect our
> stations and our skills. Yet it is an innate desire to excel at something -
> professionally or personally - that drives us to do pursue our goals.
>
> The more one wants "it," the more one will practice.  And for those who are
> driven to become the best, "practice" is not something that one thinks
> about, e.g. "I think I will practice contesting for an hour."  One just
> does
> it out of the pure desire to improve and the love of the doing.  Winning is
> just the end product of what drives us.
>
> There are those who love to do something, but maintain there is not enough
> time or resources to put in the effort.  Yet for those who have an
> intractable desire to achieve, they will pay the price in terms of time,
> cost and lost opportunities, to do what is necessary to achieve at the top
> levels.  We need only look at Olympic athletes to find this is generally
> true.
>
> 73,
>
> Andrew
> W7VJ
>
>
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 12:26:36 -0000
> From: "Randy Thompson K5ZD" <k5zd at charter.net>
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] Are contesters born or made?
> To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
> Message-ID: <991EB50967444308B390D1534396F56D at k5zd1>
> Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"
>
> I just finished listening to a fascinating interview with Matthew Syed,
> author of the book Bounce.  The book explores the idea that practice is far
> more important than talent at achieving in the upper levels of sport.
>
> Link to show: http://www.onlyagame.org/2010/04/bounce/
> Follow the Download the Podcast link to get the interview in various forms.
>
> We don't talk about practice much in relation to contesting, but I believe
> it does make a difference.  I owe much of my success to having spent hours
> and hours during my teenage years working traffic nets, chasing DX, and
> competing in contests with a very small station.
>
> Very thought provoking interview.  Check it out.
>
> Randy, K5ZD
>
> W7VJ
>
>
>
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