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The Sports Gene Talent, Practice and the Truth About Success

Paperback (02 Jan 2014)

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Publisher's Synopsis

'A wonderful book. Thoughtful…fascinating' Malcolm Gladwell

Do you believe some people are born athletes?

Is sporting talent innate or something that can be achieved through endurance and practise?


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.

- Shows why some skills that we imagine are innate are not - like the bullet-fast reactions of a baseball player.

- Uncovers 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.

About the Publisher

Yellow Jersey Press

Yellow Jersey Press, launched in 1998, is a sports publisher with a literary edge. It is home to titles from some of sport's greatest heroes, like Frank Bruno, Diego Maradona and Seve Ballesteros, and some of sport's greatest writers including William Fotheringham, Gary Imlach, Paul Kimmage and H.G. Bissinger. It is the publisher of four winners of the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year award, including the 2011 winner, A Life Too Short, by Ronald Reng.

Book information

ISBN: 9780224091626
Publisher: Random House
Imprint: Yellow Jersey Press
Pub date:
DEWEY: 796
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: 352
Weight: 248g
Height: 127mm
Width: 197mm
Spine width: 22mm