9 Top Highlights from Bounce

What if I told you that talent is a myth?

You might be skeptical, but what if a two-time Olympian told you the same thing? That there’s actually no such thing as talent, and that becoming a champion is all about the power of practice and developing the right mindset.

In his book Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice, author Matthew Syed draws on the latest research in neuroscience and psychology to uncover the secrets of the world’s top athletes.

Matthew Syed is a British journalist, bestselling author, Olympic table tennis player, broadcaster, and highly acclaimed speaker in the field of high performance. His novel Bounce reveals the true secrets of sporting success and uncovers the science behind how you can become a champion.

So if you’ve ever wondered about things like: Why has one small street in Reading, England  produced more top table tennis players than the rest of the country combined? Why are the best figure skaters the ones who have fallen over the most? Or why does Tiger Woods never “choke” during the most important moments of his career? Then Bounce is the book you’ve been waiting for.

If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, then you can start by reading my nine top highlights from the book:

1. “There is absolutely no evidence of a fast track for high achievers”- Jack Nicholas
2. It has been found that a minimum of 10 years is required to reach world-class status at any complex task.
3. The essential problem regarding the attainment of excellence is that expert knowledge simply cannot be taught in the classroom over the course of a rainy afternoon or even over the course of a thousand rainy afternoons.
4. Do child prodigies prove the talent theory of excellence? The truth is that child prodigies do not have unusual genes—they have unusual upbringings. They have compressed thousands of hours of practice into the small period between birth and adolescence, which is why they have become world class.
5. A key aspect of brain transformation is myelin, a substance that wraps around the nerve fibers dramatically increases the speed at which signals pass through the brain. A 2005 experiment that scanned the brains of concert pianists found a direct relationship between the number of hours practice and the quantity of myelin in the musician’s body.
6. Purposeful practice builds new neurological connections, increases the size of specific sections of the brain, and enables the expert to co-opt new areas of gray matter during their quest to improve.
7. Very few businesses have introduced the principles of purposeful practice into the workplace.
8. The talent theory of expertise is not just merely flawed in theory, it is also insidious in practice, as it robs individuals and institutions of the motivation to change themselves and society.
9. The ninth highlight is…

As you know, perfect practice makes perfect. That means I can’t just give you all of the highlights. If you want to be great, you have to work for it. 

So if you want to unlock our ninth highlight from Bounce, you’re going to have to earn it by answering this question from 1Huddle’s Bounce game, which has just been added to our on-demand Game Shop. 

By the age of 20, the world’s best violinists have practiced for an average of _______ hours: 

1. 1,000
2. 5,000 
3. 10,000
4. 20,000 

Think you know the answer?

Email us at marketing@1huddle.co or DM us on Instagram or Twitter @1huddle. If you guess correctly, we will reveal our ninth and final highlight from Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice.