Hi, I'm Elise Hugh, and you're listening to TED Talks Daily. Today's talk features really

fascinating research that cuts us all some slack. What I mean is, it turns out you can be a late bloomer

in your chosen sport or skill or specialty, and it's actually better for you in a lot of ways.

The talk is from journalist David Epstein at TEDx Manchester in 2020.

So I'd like to talk about the development of human potential.

And I'd like to start with maybe the most impactful modern story of development.

Many of you here have probably heard of the 10,000 hours rule. Maybe you even model your own

life after it. Basically, it's the idea that to become great in anything takes 10,000 hours

of focused practice, so you'd better get started as early as possible. The poster child for this story is Tiger Woods.

His father famously gave him a putter when he was seven months old.

At 10 months, he started imitating his father's swing.

At two, you can go on YouTube and see him on national television.

Fast forward to the age of 21, he's the greatest golfer in the world.

It's quintessential 10,000-hour story. Another that features in a number of best-selling books is that of

the three Polger sisters, whose father decided to teach them chess in a very technical manner

from a very early age, and really he wanted to show that with a head start and focused practice,

any child could become a genius in anything.

And in fact, two of his daughters went on to become grandmaster chess players.

So, when I became the science writer at Sports Illustrated magazine, I got curious.

If this 10,000 hours rule is correct, then we should see that elite athletes get a head start in so-called deliberate practice. This is coached error-correction-focused practice,

not just playing around.

And in fact, when scientists study elite athletes,

...