THE TALENT CODE NOTES

- Every expert in every field is the result of around 10,000 hours of committed practice, also known as “deep practice.” Deep practice is defined as working on technique, seeking constant feedback, and working ruthlessly on shoring up weaknesses.
- World class expertise requires roughly a decade of committed practice.
- Do you have the rage to master? If you have to ask that question about somebody they don’t have the rage to master.
- Myelin – Barn ball, mini hoops, 3 on 3 full court
o Z Boys – swimming pool
o Brazil – Futsal
- Guilds: Around the age of 7 they would go spend 5-10 years working with a master. They would learn things from the ground up. (Mixing paint and preparing canvas for the painters)
- Ron Howard: was the son of Jean Howard, an actress, and Rance Howard, a director, writer, and actor. Howard graduated from John Burroughs High School, and later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts but did not graduate. Ron is now an American film director and producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s while playing Andy Griffith's TV son, Opie Taylor, on The Andy Griffith Show.
- Watch the movie, “Small Wonders”
o The inspiring story of Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras and her passion for teaching. A single mother, she moved to East Harlem and began teaching violin to support her family. When the Board of Education eliminated her position due to budget cuts, Roberta refused to stop. Instead she started her own non-profit organization in 1990 to fund a violin program for three East Harlem public schools. The popularity of her program is so astounding that a lottery was established to fairly select 150 students each year for instruction. Roberta's unique teaching technique and immeasurable energy capture the respect and love of her students as well as recognition from such famed violinists as Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman. Through rigorous instruction she focuses their attention and instills in them discipline and commitment. But what the kids learn extends far beyond the realm of music and inspires them to achieve in the bigger arenas of their lives.
- Is it possible to judge ability solely by the way people describe the way they practice and train?
- It’s not the hours spent but the deep practice hours spent.
- If you turn it over, why did you turn it over? If your in a shooting slump, why are you in a shooting slump? If you miss a blockout, why did you miss a blockout?
- Future hotbeds can be predicted.
- Dandelions spread throughout suburban yards with one puff. Overtime that puff will bring many flowers.
- Passion: Hotbeds treat bare bones practice with focus and intensity.
- You learn first by struggling and then by getting through it and succeding.
- The words you never here from the one that “made it” are…effortless, automatic, easy, natural.
- The McPherson Test: Musical children wre asked how long they planned to play. There answers were broken down into three categories: short term, medium term, long term. The children who said, “I want to be a musician for the long run” outperformed everybody else. It’s all about the perception of themselves.
- Recruits: coaches sons and sons of pros. They want to be like their Dad which is who they love the most and look up to. They also think of being a pro as normal.
- If you want “X” later, you better do “Y” like crazy now.
- Programs/groups: It’s all about creating belonging. You want people to say look. “those people over there are doing something terrifically worthwhile.” Youth programs are the key at the high school level.
- Talent hotbeds tended to be junky, unattractive places. Most of the buildings were makeshift, the fields were weedy and uneven, and the walls were bald. If your in a nice, easy, pleasant environment, its easy to naturally shut off and not work as hard.
- People who lose a parent: They learn that nothing is guaranteed or safe which can create a massive outpouring of energy that can be created by a lack of safety. These people can overcome the many obstacles and frustrations standing in the path of achievement.
- Talent requires deep practice, deep practice requires vast amounts of energy, and primal cues trigger huge outpourings of energy.
- Violen – one school succeded that had the lottery for the students and the other school that bought everybody violens died off because there wasn’t the same excitement and motivation in the kids.
- Why do breakthrough performances sometimes ignite talent booms and sometimes not? They are able to keep the ignition firing.
- Curacao’s: Curiel “lives at the field.” He says you need three things to be a player; heart, mind, and balls.
- 1987 Spartak Tennis Club: The coach Rauza Islanova started her class with 25 seven year olds. Every two weeks or so she would reduce it by one. Of the seven players that made the final selection, three became top 10 in the world.
- Verbal cues: However small can be very powerful.
- KIPP: Verbal cue, “Your all going to college.”
- Take youth programs to go watch college teams practice and bring them to high school practices. It gives them a vision that they can see and chase.
- Master Coaches: quiet, reserved, older, most have been teaching 30-40years. They listen more than they talk. They didn’t give pep talks or inspiring speeches. They give small, targeted, highly specific adjustments. They understand the person they are talking to and know how to relay the information to them.
- JaMarcus Russell: He is like anybody else, he can’t do it by himself. You can’t put him on the field and say win a super bowl. He needs mentoring and development.
- Pay attention to what your children are fascinated by and praise them for there effort.