Bounce by Matthew Syed is a book on a theory that champions are made not born. That champions are created from circumstance, practice and determination. It was a fascinating book that everyone should read - I'm sure not everyone would agree with the theories, but it did make me think. Some of his insights into what motivated children - even to do well in a maths test - really made me consider how I approach encouraging my children to keep trying at challenging tasks and how I praise them for any 'jobs well done'.
In Bounce Matthew Syed - an award-winning Times columnist and three-time Commonwealth table-tennis champion - reveals what really lies behind world-beating achievement in sport, and other walks of life besides. The answers - taking in the latest in neuroscience, psychology and economics - will change the way we look at sports stars and revolutionise our ideas about what it takes to become the best. From the upbringing of Mozart to the mindset of Mohammed Ali - via the recruitment policies of Enron - Bounce weaves together fascinating stories and telling insights and statistics into a wonderfully thought-provoking read. Bounce looks at big questions - such as the real nature of talent, what kind of practice actually works, how to achieve motivation, drugs in both sport and life, and whether black people really are faster runners.
This book would make an interesting choice as a book club read. Its not your normal book club type of choice, but I think it would invoke a great deal of debate. THere were bits of the book that were a bit tedious to get through, but the theories and examples he gives are all brilliant. The book would make an interesting companion book to Andre Agassi's autobiography too.
Read.
Fascinating - thanks Kate for the lend of the book.
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