The Sports Gene

By: David Epstein

Narrated by: David Epstein

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this ground-breaking and entertaining exploration of athletic success, award-winning writer David Epstein gets to the heart of the great nature vs. nurture debate, and explodes myths about how and why humans excel.

Along the way, Epstein exposes the flaws in the so-called 10,000-hour rule that states that rigorous practice from a young age is the only route to success. He shows why some skills that we imagine are innate are not – like the bullet-fast reactions of a baseball player – and why other characteristics that we assume are entirely voluntary, like the motivation to practice, might in fact have important genetic components. Throughout, The Sports Gene forces us to rethink the very nature of success.

©2013 David Epstein (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC. Published in the UK by Random House Audiobooks

fascinating

enthralling and enlightening. opened my mind to the nature nurture argument and acts as a counter balance to the 10000 hours argument providing a more nuanced explanation of where ability comes from.

interesting to the sportsman and scientist in me!

Well worth listening to. up to date and interesting account of where great sorting talent comes from. some combination of nature and nurture and hard work!

must like facts and figures....

I like many will know a rising sports star.Do they really have what it takes?

Brilliant

From a coaches perspective, I really enjoyed this, learnt some new things to research that'll ultimately be fit my athletes
Would highly recommend

Great

Thought it was brilliant and I learned a lot from this book about genes and how they might effect sports performance.

Brilliant - Follows the Science

Would you listen to The Sports Gene again? Why?

Yes, it's worth a repeated listen. The message is that the elites ARE different. Genes DO matter - greatly. Hard work will get you far, but it may never get you to the summit. While this may not be what the bleeding heart liberals want to hear, this is a book that deals in science, and those are the cold hard facts. The Chrissy Wellingtons and Usain Bolts of the world are born with God-given talent that, under the right environment, produces something that is simply not achieveable by hard work alone.

What other book might you compare The Sports Gene to, and why?

It's a direct opposite to Gladwell's book "Outliers" and the idea that 10,000hrs is all you need.

What does David Epstein bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

In a word: Research. Epstein has brilliantly backed up all statements with science and analysis.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Very easy to follow.

Beautifully written

Naturally I enjoyed parts of this audiobook more than others at times it was a bit too deep in the science. What is constant is the beautiful story telling, elegant use of prose and command of language that allows the slightly geeky science parts to flow smoothly into the fascinating real life examples of gifted performance athletes. Thumbs up

Good effort

Would you consider the audio edition of The Sports Gene to be better than the print version?

As always with audio non fiction, you can really focus on the content, which is fascinating.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sports Gene?

The examples of how athletes are perceived as gifted and the physiology behind some of the best athletes in the world.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes, but David Epstein's attempt at a handful of accents was terrible, he shouldn't have tried this.

Very interesting read

Highly recommended for those interested in sports performance and looking for another opinion to add to the 10,000 hour rule debate.
Very well narrated by D Epstein but the accents might not suit everyone.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful