( CNN ) -- Mind over matter ? Or nature over nurture ? What is it that separates Olympic legends like Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps from the millions of enthusiastic amateurs around the world ? Can training , dedication and the right mindset turn any sporting hopeful into a world-class athlete ? Matthew Syed , author of `` Bounce '' and a former Olympic table tennis player , believes that an individual 's ability is secondary to the level of coaching they receive and the facilities to which they have access . `` I think the idea of talent is misleading and in many ways overrated , '' Syed told CNN 's Aiming for Gold show . `` When I became English No . 1 , I thought I must be super talented . But the top players in the country at that time , 80 % of them did n't just come from the same town or the same suburb , but from the very same street . Olympic goal : A swimmer 's story . `` There had n't been a genetic mutation -- we happened to have the best coach who gave us access to the only 24-hour club . `` So we practiced before school , after school , at weekends , on holidays . Over many years , we transformed ourselves from perfectly ordinary players into world-class players . '' So does practice in itself make the world 's top athletes perfect ? Not necessarily , according to mental performance coach Andy Barton . `` Practice does n't make perfect , '' he says . `` You only have to think of your handwriting for instance , how as you get older the more you write the worse you get . `` Only perfect practice will make perfect . To improve you have to be very specific about what you are aiming to do and target it . '' It is a view supported by Syed , who suggests that the willingness of top athletes to push themselves further and further in practice pays dividends when it comes to high-pressure competition . `` It 's interesting , for example , that world-class ice dancers fall over more often in practice than intermediate ice dancers , which sounds paradoxical , '' he said . `` The reason is they are always pushing themselves , they are attempting jumps that are at the outer limits of their capabilities . It 's a branch of science called 'epigenetics ' -- the brain is re-wired as we practice . '' Once athletes have meticulously honed their skills , they should , in theory , have all the tools at their disposal to achieve success . But in high-pressure situations , even the greatest can crumble . What causes a footballer to crack under the nail-biting strain of a penalty shootout ? Or a tennis star to fall apart at match point ? `` The problem when you 're under pressure is you 're so nervous you start thinking consciously about the shot you are playing , '' Syed says . `` You are intruding upon your subconscious competence , and that is what triggers the choking response . '' So how can Olympians preparing for London 2012 ensure they are mentally ready to challenge for gold ? Barton suggested that imagining the crowning moment is almost as important as physically training for it . `` The thing about when we mentally rehearse something vividly , it actually fires up the same neurology in the brain as if we were really experiencing it . So on a certain level the mind can not differentiate between a vividly-imagined experience and reality . `` What we need to do is to create our own realities in our heads so you can imagine yourself in that Olympic final , for instance , performing how you want to perform . `` The more you actually do that , the more your body and mind get used to it , so when you come to the real thing , you 're more prepared . '' So the next time you find yourself daydreaming of sprinting to 100 meters gold , do n't dismiss it -- it might just be vital preparation for your future Olympic success .
Experts told CNN how practice and dedication can future gold medal winners . Matthew Syed , author of Bounce , believes coaching and access to facilities are crucial . Mental coach Andy Barton says imagining sports can also help an athlete . Barton says it can help athletes when it comes to top - level competition .