The Sports Gene Analysis

How much of what happens in our lives do we actually control? This is a question that mankind has been pondering for thousands of years. There are two different articles that could answer the question. David Epstein, the author of “The Sports Gene”, writes about a true story of fate, in which an amateur high jumper makes it to the top due to his god-given gift of a large Achille’s tendon. Malcom Gladwell argues in his piece, “Outliers,” that success depends on one’s willingness to practice or try again. Using extensive research and solid evidence, Malcom Gladwell creates a better argument that success is a result of hard work and dedication, and therefore better answers the question, “How much of what happens in our lives do we actually control?”

In the article “The sports Gene” Written by David Epstein published by the penguin group talks is about how an individual’s athletic success is depended on your genes. How much of what happens in our lives do we actually control? In our lives we can’t control everything that happens because things happen in our lives.

Some people believe that humans do not control their own destiny, and success is due to natural causes. Others believe that humans do control their own destiny, and success is due to hard work. The Sports Gene, written by Daniel Epstein, is about a young man named Donald Thomas who discovered his natural talent for high jumping through a friendly bet. Outliers: The Story of Success, written by Malcolm Gladwell, explains that hard work is more important than natural talent. Through thorough explanation, Gladwell produces a more convincing argument supporting hard work over natural talent for controlling what happens in our lives.

Every elite athlete makes it look easy. Splashing through the water or striding gracefully down the track making it look effortless. Some people assume they are “naturals,” that their perfect DNA sequence is what has brought them to this level. Others argue that hard work and drive is what has made the difference, separating the elite from the average. These thoughts are the ones that give rise to the age-old nature vs. nurture debate. Countless hours of studies and research has concluded: it’s both. High performance sports consultant Ross Tucker puts it this way, “The science of success is about the coming together of dozens, perhaps hundreds of factors” (1). The relationship of such factors, including genetics, types and lengths of

Experts argue about whether or not we have control over our lives. They question if destiny is determined by fate or by choices we make in our life. Two authors both take their sides on this topic producing evidence to support their claim. David Epstein author of The Sports Gene and Malcolm Gladwell author of Outliers: Story of Success both make an argument on how much we control in our lives in which they take different sides. David Epstein wrote about a track and field athlete who had incredible jumping ability despite never practicing high jumping. Malcolm Gladwell talks about how violinists were never able to float through musical school without putting in the practice hours. They each support their side with

Humans make decisions many times a day, but what truly influences us to make the choices that we do? Are we controlled by our inherited traits and what we as people were born with, or does it have to do more with how one was raised in adolescence?

Starting from my freshman year in high school I have always been more intrigued by the human mind and how it operates. Thanks to the study of psychology my curiosity only flourished even more as I got older. I find the observations psychology gives about human behavior very interesting, and I have been fascinated by it for as long as I can remember. I’ve been caught in between approaching the journey of being a sports psychologist and an industrial organizational psychologist. I am passionate about sports and studying Psychology. I plan on extending my knowledge in the mixture of the two and contributing it towards my future. I want to examine the various areas of sports psychology and also learn more about the idea of improving quality performance

The question people have been asking forever is; How much of what happens in our lives do we actually control? Two articles try to respond to this puzzling question, “The Sports Gene” and “The Outliers”. “The Sports Gene” by David Epstein is about a high school student named Donald Thomas trying high jump for the first time, and eventually becomes the world champion. “The Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell is about studies and experiments proving that hours of practice lead to success. Of the two articles, “The Outliers” best answers the question of how much control do we have of our lives, because it uses more reliable sources and scientists and experiments to support their answer.

To what degree can an individual’s choices and actions influence the direction of his or her life?

“I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfill our destiny, but our fate is sealed” (Paulo Coelho). In other words, people can control what they want to do in life, but they cannot choose what happens in that matter. Do people have a choice to succeed or is it naturally given to someone? In the Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell, the author argues that people make their own success in life, by using examples of music skill, performance, and other talents to back up his claim. On the other hand, The Sports Gene, by David Epstein, argues

Some people believe we have the ability to determine our own destinies, while others believe that our destiny has already been decided for us. The author’s Jon Krakauer and David Epstein, show both sides of this argument in their writing. Jon Krakauer shows throughout Into the Wild that no matter what a person does there will always be events that occur in life that we have no control over. The Sports Gene, follows the idea that our destiny is either predetermined, but a person can also work hard to determine elements. Jon Krakauer shows both sides of destiny in Into the Wild very clearly and by doing this he proves that we can control elements of our destiny, but there will always be other events that affect our lives.

In the Sports Gene, by David Epstein, describes a high jumper by the name of Donald Thomas. Thomas is well known for being athletically gifted. Thomas has had a lot of success as a high jumper. With that being said, in August of 2007, he would win the World Championships

Performance profiling is used in many sports and has been found to enhance coach-athlete communication by enabling the coach to understand how the athlete currently feels about their training or performance. This information has been found to assist the coach in the development of training sessions that take into account the athlete’s perspective.

So, how much control do we really have over our decisions and actions? How much can you control someone else's and your decisions? In class, we discussed some different scenarios in which one person or group of people was trying to control another person or group of people. In the first scenario, a lady played a specific song for her sons whenever she served a certain meal from the time they were born. She hoped to be able to prevent them from arguing about which meal they wanted. Whenever she played the music, she then

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to