As a rule of thumb; if you want to be great at something, if you want to an elite performer, you have to practice – a lot. Author Malcolm Gladwell popularized the research of psychologist Anders Ericsson when he wrote about the 10,000 hour rule in Outliers. But, according to Ericsson, Gladwell misconstrued the research.
…the 10,000 hour rule was invented by Malcolm Gladwell who stated that “researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.” Gladwell cited our research on expert musicians as a stimulus for his provocative generalization to a magical number.
This magic number has been applied to everything from chess to sports, and is generally accepted as fact. But, author Davie Epstein is out to debunk this myth in his new book; The Sports Gene: Inside the Science Of Extraordinary Athletic Performance.
Epstein set out to rein in the misconceptions surrounding the 10,000 hour by investigating the role of genetics among elite competitors. In an interview with Outside Magazine, Epstein discussed his findings and the impact genes, ethnicity, social constructs, and practice on sports performance.
How Athletes Get Great | Out Side Online
