The Talent Code

Daniel Coyle's THE TALENT CODE will dip a novice reader into the wide, deep ocean of books and academic articles on talent: what it is, how to develop it, how to teach it faster and the like. *** The author spent two years traveling to Russia, Brazil, Curacao and other talent "hot spots"to find why a few places here and there consistently produce vastly more than their fair share of talented violinists, soccer stars, little league champions, chess masters and other standouts. Using often catchy jargon (ignition for motivation, sweet spot for the next step beyond present comfort level in an activity like tennis or golf, etc.), Daniel Coyle also roots his empirical findings in theories of the brain and especially myelin. *** He finds common physiological and habit-forming denominators among talented performers from Mozart through Einstein to Brzilian hockey super star Pele. If you study any great, mature practicioner of bowling, tai chi, novel writing (e.g. the Brontes), they will, according to Coyle, have each accumulated a minimum of 10,000 hours of "deep practice." As the Link trainer taught thousands of pilots instrument flying in record time, so certain sports like soccer improve fastest when their practice space is radically reduced. Golf swings are bettered ed when each practice swing is made to last 90 seconds and every minute error is simultaneously noted and instantly corrected. *** Generally speaking, progress in any muscular activity is a matter of tiny corrections rather than grand psychic intuitions transforming amateur to professional within 24 hours. *** The book offers a large current bibliography, good illustrations and dozens of examples of talent and teaching talent from bank robbing to the reading debate between the advocates of phonics and holistic learning. *** THE TALENT CODE begins better than it ends. Coyle quickly makes the case that talent flows from disciplined, long, learned behavior rather than genetic inheritance. In one sense, however, Coyle promises more than he delivers. THE TALENT CODE is for beginning students of the mysteries of talent, not for advanced psychologists or athletic coaches. -OOO-