The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein

4.11 AVERAGE

jamietheriault's review against another edition

5.0
Loved this book.

dclark32's review against another edition

4.5
informative reflective medium-paced
Excellent. To better understand the science of athletic performance, this is going to be my standard recommendation. Much more science-based/information dense than I expected. I also appreciated the frank but sensitive treatment of potentially controversial topics.

junderscoreb's review against another edition

4.0
If you're a seven foot fall man living in the United States and you're between the ages of 20 and 40, you have a 17 percent of being in the NBA right now. Even if you are as bad at basketball at Ryan Hollins. One part of this book I liked was the author's swipes at Malcolm Gladwell, who he thinks gets his science wrong. It also vaguely made me want to go on a jog.

vasvalch's review against another edition

2.0
Не беше моето. Твърде голям обем за няколко основни тези, които просто се преразказват в различни варианти. Историите на някои спортисти бяха интересни, но щеше да е друга книга, ако те бяха основният фокус.

_pauldenil's review against another edition

5.0
Although the science may be a bit dated since its 2013 release, there's a lot to chew on here. Epstein excels at providing anecdotal and scientific evidence to build on various concepts. As someone who has never been interested in athletic prowess and views sports as a major cultural blind spot, I am surprised and delighted that I've developed a general appreciation for the subject matter.

aude_hofleitner's review against another edition

4.0
informative slow-paced
https://donnerpartymountainrunners.com/2025/01/book-of-the-month-the-sport-gene-by-david-epstein/

David Epstein explores the complex and sensitive topic of nurture vs. nature in sports performance. He starts the book by stating that he wants to go beyond the "it's complicated" answer. Throughout the book, he dives into different dimensions which show the influence of either nature, nurture or a combination of both (adaptation to high altitude, motivational factors, historical selection because of diseases, ...). I enjoyed exploring these various dimensions, some which I had heard of previously, others which were new to me. But at the end, the answer is still a mix of both ;-)

madisonrglick's review against another edition

4.0
(4.5) Wordy and long winded but I understand it's hard to write a book that's not when you have to cite authors and give credit to due people in each study. If you have any interest in athletics / genes / nature v nurture I would highly recommend.

In the end: sports are for everybody and every body just have to find the one that speaks to you. Props for including ATC in a story. Was worried for a sec when he started descending to discuss CTE but thankfully it didn't take a turn that would have me rating this book much lower.

caity5961's review against another edition

4.0
This was super interesting!

sadie_thor's review against another edition

3.75
informative medium-paced

anttialanen's review against another edition

5.0
Aika pitkälti parasta settiä, mitä urheilusta on tullut luettua. Just sopivassa suhteessa tiedettä, henkilötarinoita, huippu-urheilua ja vanhaa kunnon motia omaan liikkumiseen. Lopun pitkä kappale Eero Mäntyrannasta yllätti ja nostatti välittömät #suomi100-kylmikset.

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