The Sports Gene By David Epstein Analysis

371 Words1 Page

In the 2013 article “The Sports Gene”, the author, David Epstein discusses two high jumpers with extremely different backgrounds, training, and experiences, who competed in the World Championship. Stefan Holm was an Olympic champion who endured intense training for 20 years. On the other hand, Donald Thomas was a former college basketball star, who discovered his talent for high jumping through a bet with a friend. The central idea of the passage is that there are many pathways and means that lead to success, such as training and practice or giftedness and genetics. Some people reach success through hard work and dedication. For example, Stefan Holm had been training and preparing for the competition for 20 years (Epstein 17). He prepared

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Outliers And Epstein's Sport Genes

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    When you train hard enough you can master or finesse a skill, therefore several people don't require training. Specific people are born with genetic enhancements that assist them with the skill and grants them an upper hand. David Epstein believes that genetics assist with the activity and does all of the work(Epstein,7). Malcom Gladwell believes that training pays off, moreover that if you train hard for plenty of hours you could surpass a prodigy(Gladwell,11). In Gladwell's writing Outliers, he talks about facts on how if you train for 10k hours you can master a skill. In Epstein's writing Sports Gene it revolves around a boy that was born with a genetic enhancement that doesn't train nevertheless is almost a pro without any training at

    Read More

  • Mundanity Of Excellence Summary

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    We see that in the reading “Mundanity of Excellence,” by Daniel F Chambliss, the focus is on nature of excellence as it pertains to Olympic swimming. Mr. Chambliss supplies the reader with his experience and sociological approach to his theory that “talent is useless.” I will now provide you with a brief commentary on how sociology relates to developing human talent. It is perceived that one’s natural goal is to accomplish perfection in a “talent” or gift. This ranges from numerous types of talents whether it is sports, entertainment, acting, or even a technical skill. In a sociologist way of thinking we realize that excellence is not only achieved by quantitative or qualitative improvements, it encompasses several factors. I want to

    Read More

  • Discuss the argument that the current pre-dominance of black athletes

    1253 Words  | 3 Pages

    The issue of race in sport is somewhat baffling in that many people would rather not address at all even though sport has been intricately intertwined with racial issues throughout the Twentieth century. Those who would have us omit the topic altogether argue that analyses typically single out the black athlete, and then attempt to explain his/her inordinate success in ways different than we do with other groups. Critics contend that this is racist, since it perpetuates the idea that blacks are different, and often inferior. Edwards (1972) asserts that a typical theme resulting from such analysis is that blacks are physically superior, but intellectually inferior, to whites. Hoberman (1997) has further made the case that physical prowess, especially in such sports as basketball, has become a defining characteristic of the African-American community, and that beliefs about physical superiority are closely related to an anti-intellectualism that permeates black male culture. Essentially, Hoberman’s argument is that inordinate attention and idolization of prominent black athletes such as Michael Jordan has focused attention away from more realistic and important role models, and this, in turn has stunted intellectual, and social economic development in black communities.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Identity In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sports play a large part of an athletic student’s life, weighing heavily on one’s identity. In his essay, “Cut”, Bob Greene relays how he and several others are cut from their middle school sports team because “[they weren’t] good enough” (Greene 58). Because of this cut, Greene and his peers end up pushing harder than ever in other areas of their life. He notes, “an inordinately large proportion of successful men share… the memory

    Read More

  • The Link between Sports and Success in Death of a Salesman and Fences

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    As Miller and Wilson revealed, athleticism is not always analogous with success. Willy regarded Biff highly because he observed Biff’s presence and athleticism, and he believed these qualities would result in immediate success. Today many parents associate sports with success and therefore pressure their children to excel in sports. In today’s society it is very rare that fears of discrimination would cause children to not pursue a lucrative career in sports. Both Miller and Wilson knew the impact of sports on family dynamics, and how sports have evolved from a leisure time activity to a full-time commitment. Clearly, many of the qualitative aspects of sports--competition, teamwork and physical dexterity can contribute to being a success in almost any career.

    Read More

  • The Rules Of Life: Epictetus View

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    The example of an athlete is adapted to clarify this belief. If one wants to be a star athlete, then it is important for one to train properly and work hard before the event. Supposing that one does not prepare for the event, then the expectation sh...

    Read More

  • You Will Become Clever Through Your Mistakes Quotes

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    That being said no matter what size you are the skills you possess is where talent is born for athletes. The first main component in this book that I will discuss in my paper is deep practice. Deep practice challenges the intuition of talent and tries to go against it. Our thought process

    Read More

  • Extra Opportunities In Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers he writes about how success comes from a numerous factors from extra opportunities that can open doors to genetic advantages that can be the difference in edging out competition. An “outlier” that I am quite familiar is my uncle Travis Knight. He is an obvious outlier because he stands at 7 feet tall and played basketball at the University of Connecticut and he played in the National Basketball Association for 7 seasons. His professional career was a result of many of the topics Malcolm Gladwell discusses, Early advantages often result in increased coaching or placement in accelerated programs which means more experience and significantly more practice than those who do not have the same opportunities.

    Read More

  • Sport Of Gymnastics Scholarship Essay

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    Perseverance, dedication, and discipline, these are the qualities that have been instilled in me throughout my training. My sport requires failing repeatedly until consistency is found in perfection. Therefore, perseverance proved crucial as I attempted skill progressions and difficult routines. Dedication was essential whenever I watched others miss practice for social events. I didn’t recognize the immediate benefits of my deep rooted commitment until months and years later; now I have applied this devotion to every aspect of my life.

    Read More

  • Sports Specialization

    1826 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sports specialization among young people is when a child or teenager trains for and competes in only one sport. They work extremely hard year-round in order to become well-rounded in every aspect of the game. They make sacrifices and put their health in jeopardy in order to become the ultimate participant in their sport. One of the many young athletes who is only participating in and focusing on one sport is fifteen-year-old OJ Mayo from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the young talented athlete who is predicted to be the next LeBron James in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This young athlete provides evidence of striving for perfection in this single sport when reviewing his daily schedule versus that of his siblings. He says, “The other kids go home and sleep. I come back to the gym” (Thompson, 2004). He is obviously putting forth a lot of effort in his sport to become successful at an early age.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of How To Transform An Everyday, Ordinary Hoop Court

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone wants to get better at something, but some want it more than others. In “How to Transform an Everyday, Ordinary Hoop Court into a Place of Higher Learning and You at the Podium”, the narrator wants to get better at basketball, so he wakes up everyday at 4:30 to go with his dad to his work. Everyday, the narrator would wait 3 hours in his dad’s car until the gym opened, only to sit on the bench and watch the other men play basketball. Finally, one of the best players, Dante, tells the narrator he can play but he’ll get “smoked”. However, the narrator proved him wrong. The narrator learns that if you persevere, work hard, and have confidence, your dreams may come true. In How to Transform an Everyday, Ordinary Hoop Court into a Place

    Read More

  • History of Women in Sports

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hult, J. S. (1994). The story of women's athletics: Manipulating a dream 1890-1985. In D. M. Costa & S. R. Gurthrie (Eds.), Women and sport: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 83-106). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography On Genetics

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    Research at the University of Utah in sports science has recently discovered just how much genes effect one’s athleticism. We all have two copies of each gene, one from each of our parents. If one of the copies are bad, for example, in carrying oxygen in the blood, that person will probably struggle more with running and other aerobic activities. Some “sports genes” that have been discovered are ATCN-3 which provides high-velocity movement in people, and ACE which controls the blood flow through the circulatory system. Most great athletes have two good copies of those genes. Some national team coaches find it useful to send athletes trying out for their team to have genetic testing done to see if they carry the genes useful to that particular sport. I think that that isn’t really fair to many athletes that may not be lucky enough to have good athletic genes. I can relate to this study because I play softball and field hockey, and I certainly believe that I do not have two good copies of the gene ACE because I tend to lose my breath very quickly.

    Read More

  • Why Are Athletes Overpaid

    451 Words  | 1 Pages

    This demonstrates how much athletes' are putting at risk when they go out on the court. In addition, athletes' are the reasons that many jobs exist today. In the article, it states, " Without the showstopping feats of

    Read More

  • Talent Identification

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    Millions of children worldwide participate in a multitude of sports, either in school or outside of school. As they grow older, they get better, but some of them stop playing. We have discussed that the best and sometimes oldest of the kids (in their age groups) are given more chances and more opportunities, as well as better coaching. This results in them gaining more experience and practice. Ultimately, some of them end up being national or world-class athletes competing and representing their country. In order for that to happen, they have to be recognized as talented and be presented with a chance to become great.

    Read More

More about The Sports Gene By David Epstein Analysis

Open Document