Bounce

Bounce shows you that training trumps talent every time, by explaining the science of deliberate practice, the mindset of high performers and how you can use those tools to become a master of whichever skill you choose.

Table tennis players often seem to have lightning fast reaction times, right?

But when scientists ran a bunch of tests on the English national team’s players, they found the best player, Desmond Douglas, to have the slowest reaction times.

How does this go together?

Douglas’s brain has been trained to quickly assess situations in a table tennis match, through years of practice, but only when he’s playing.

Because he’s seen so many balls fly towards him in so many different ways, his brain can easily estimate even the most complex trajectories and give him more time to react than other players with less practice.

However, that doesn’t make him a better driver. In an everyday car crash, he wouldn’t hit the brakes any faster than you or me.

The second thing that happens is that his brain uses other areas to perform than the brain of a beginner. Since a lot of his actions happen on autopilot, the subconscious parts of his brain are really in charge here.

Instead of wasting the resources of his prefrontal cortex on trying to get the ball spin right, he can use his brain to think about tactics, because the movements of his hand are taken care of.

Do you know the story of the 4 minute mile?

Basically, for thousands of years humans believed it was not possible to run a mile in less than 4 minutes.

It seemed like the human body just wasn’t capable of doing it.

The record stalled in the 1940’s, for 9 years no one could get past 4:01.

Then, in 1954, Roger Bannister finally broke the mark.

Within a month, another guy did it. Over the next 4 years, 20 more people broke the barrier, bringing the record all the way down to 3:56.

When the hell did it become so easy for so many people?

The moment someone did it, that had even the slightest relation to them.

11 of those 20 people come from UK-related countries (Ireland, NZ, AUS). Roger Bannister was British.

Syed calls this motivation by association. He says if we find even the slightest similarity between someone successful and ourselves, it can motivate us to multiply our work efforts.

What happened to Eminem when he finally got his shot to show everyone how good he was at rapping live on stage? He choked. Looking into hundreds of faces, knowing they were all expecting him to fail, the pressure to perform became so enormous, that all…