‘Sports gene test is not a magic button’

Tennis ace Leander Paes, in his father Vece’s words, is a short man playing a tall man’s game.

Tennis ace Leander Paes, in his father Vece’s words, is a short man playing a tall man’s game.

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Going by his five feet nine inch frame, he is not ideally suited to play the serve-and-volley style of tennis, where the player moves quickly towards the net after hitting the serve and then hits a shot without letting it bounce. Yet Paes has mastered this technique and earned international fame.

This is why the senior Paes, who is a sports medicine specialist, believes the Sports Gene Test, launched in India two months ago, should not be considered a “magic button” that can tell you whether your child will be an Olympian.

“No single factor, whether it is a physical attribute or genetic make-up, can determine one’s performance in a sport. It is a combination of more than 50 different parameters and a lot of hard work that make a good athlete,” he said. “It’s not a bad idea to take the test but don’t lose perspective.”

Vece’s views reflect those of other sports experts Hindustan Times spoke to about the Sports Gene Test, which has been introduced in India by Super Religare Laboratories.

Malhotra has already decided that when she has a child, she will take him/her abroad for a muscle biopsy, an invasive procedure to test the type of muscle fibre. “The gene test gives broad categories but the biopsy can tell you exactly what kind of sport the child is suited for,” she said,

But what if her child is not interested in the sport? “Of course, that is his/her choice. Parents must not force a child to play,” she said.

Some experts, however, feel that it is better to test the child on the field and not in the laboratory. “If you put 10 children through a gene test and put 10 others on the field, I am sure we will have better success in spotting the talented ones in the latter way. Any good coach can figure out whether a child has the potential to be an athlete,” said Viren Rasquinha, former Indian hockey captain.

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