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

Great book!

Excellent book, but David Epstein's accents are a bit.... Cringey. Content however is fantastic. 5 stars.

Fascinating

Very well written and an incredible insight into so many different myths and theories in sport.

Very Interesting

There were some very interesting points illuminated by this book, I highly recommend it to anyone whois interested in Sport and human mindset.

very good book. well written with lot of examples.

very good book. well written with lot of examples. makes the subject interesting and easy to understand.

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.