The other day, when bowling at the nets, I managed to get some
prodigious swing off an old ball. The reason why it is significant is
that old ball generally does not swing that much. The next day I began by
bowling rubbish. So someone who acts as a bit of a coach (he is a BCCI
certified Level 3 coach) said, "You are a brilliant bowler. But you
should not be thinking of yourself like that." When I heard the comment from the
coach, I was thinking why did he use the word "brilliant". Normally that
word is used for intellect I thought.
That night I was having a conversation with my cousin about how I could almost visualise and sense how my body was working and could predict what would happen to the ball when I deliver in a particular style. The next day I corrected myself and bowled a lot better.
Then I realised why the word "brilliant" is not as misplaced as I thought. There is an imagination, sensitivity, feedback analysis and corrective action. It indeed displays the characteristics of what we normally call as intelligence. We, as society, do appreciate this in sportsmen and pay millions for it. But we do not when it comes to kids and others who do not often go on to become big name super star sports persons. There, it is seen as a second class intelligence and does not receive the credit it should.
I was reminded of the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of learning (Bloom's Taxonomy). We celebrate the first, grudgingly acknowledge the second (Emotional Quotient) and ignore the third. It is time we brought about a better balance in that.
That night I was having a conversation with my cousin about how I could almost visualise and sense how my body was working and could predict what would happen to the ball when I deliver in a particular style. The next day I corrected myself and bowled a lot better.
Then I realised why the word "brilliant" is not as misplaced as I thought. There is an imagination, sensitivity, feedback analysis and corrective action. It indeed displays the characteristics of what we normally call as intelligence. We, as society, do appreciate this in sportsmen and pay millions for it. But we do not when it comes to kids and others who do not often go on to become big name super star sports persons. There, it is seen as a second class intelligence and does not receive the credit it should.
I was reminded of the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of learning (Bloom's Taxonomy). We celebrate the first, grudgingly acknowledge the second (Emotional Quotient) and ignore the third. It is time we brought about a better balance in that.
