Everyone knows that David Beckham crosses the ball better than anyone else and that Tiger Woods never “chokes”. But what are the hidden factors which allow the most successful sports stars to rise above their competitors – and are they shared by virtuosos in other fields? 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. Along the way Matthew talks to a Hungarian father whose educational theories saw his daughters become three of the best chess players of all time, meets a female East German athlete who became a man, and explains why one small street in Reading – his own – has produced more top table-tennis players than the rest of Britain put together. Fresh, ground-breaking and tackling subjects with broad appeal, Bounce is sure to be one of the most talked about books of the year.
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