Depending on which movie you watched, Bond could do it all: golf like a pro, elude killers on a ski slope, jog atop a speeding train, win a fight while parachuting to the earth, fly a copter, or thread a speedboat through a maze of canals — all while romancing his way around the globe.
No one can get good at all those things. A motor-learning principle — specificity — says so. And, said Aldous Huxley, “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
You get good at what you practice. You train one way for a sprint and another for the mile. Bond’s skill on the slopes would not translate to winning the British Open.
None of the men who played Bond — Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, Daniel Craig, Sean Connery and others — owned the skill set you see on the screen.
While some people do tend to adapt to sports tasks more easily than others, Dr. McGown would caution that “We can make no predictions.”
Michael Jordan could nail a jumper under pressure, but could barely hit a baseball. A pianist’s fingers can move the gods then flop on an artist’s palette. Your run on the beach can do wonders for your mental health, but don’t expect it to help your tennis game.
Some exceptions come up now and then. Eric Heiden won five speed-skating gold medals in the 1980 Olympics, each one at a different distance. This feat astonished skating experts, but stays in the show of the Miracle on Ice hockey team to this day.
Bond also ignored the principle of reps and feedback. Did he practice canal racing before being forced to do it? And how many runs did he take on the slopes under the specific condition of getting shot at?
Enjoy your Bond movies if you’re a fan. You know it’s fiction, of course. But know too that no one gets good without reps, feedback and specific training.
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