Here’s how much practice you need to become the best in the world

Here’s how much practice you need to become the best in the world

By Claire Cameron Edited by Clara Moskowitz

What does it take to be the best at something? The answer may not lie in early childhood practice or lifelong, laser-focused dedication. Instead, the path to becoming exceptional at a skill can seem much more circuitous.

This is according to a new paper, Published today in ScienceWhich attempts to unravel what it takes to excel in a variety of subjects, from sports to chess to classical music. Somewhat counterintuitively, the artists who showed the greatest promise in their discipline as children rarely reached the pinnacle of their field as adults.

The findings debunk the “10,000-hour rule,” the idea that if someone spends 10,000 hours deliberately practicing a skill, they will master it, says Brooke McNamara, associate professor of psychology at Purdue University, who co-authored the new analysis. The rule that was popularized in the book outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, based on 1993 study Top performing violin students. McNamara explains that each of these students had accumulated an average of 10,000 hours of practice by the age of 20. Still he was not a world class artist.

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“Compared to their national-level counterparts (who are very good but not the best), world-class artists often start their discipline later,” she explains. They engage in many subjects right from the beginning and do not shine in one thing especially at a young age. “They accumulated less practice in their discipline and more practice in other disciplines and then rose to the top relatively late,” says McNamara.

“This pattern does not follow the idea of ​​deliberate practice theory or the 10,000-hour rule, which suggests that starting early and maximizing deliberate practice is the path to elite performance,” she adds.

The results were a surprise to Zach Hambrick, a co-author of the research and a psychology professor at Michigan State University. “I remember thinking, ‘This is crazy,'” he says. “I had never thought about the relative benefits of training in one discipline versus training in multiple disciplines. Specialization, by definition, is specialized.”

Importantly, the findings do not suggest that you do not need to practice or try to become a chess grandmaster or Wimbledon winner. McNamara says that instead they show that top adult performers tend to be “late bloomers”.

For example, in sports, world-class athletes reach their peak later than national-level athletes. Those who peak early achieve a level that is best for their age but not as high as the other group will eventually achieve at a later age.

The findings are interesting, says Edson Filho, an associate professor of sport, exercise and performance psychology at Boston University, who was not involved in the study. He points out that athletes in some sports, such as gymnastics, reach peak performance much earlier in life than others, and the analysis does not delve into other factors, such as money and coaching, which can influence who becomes the greatest athlete.

Research emphasizes that people change. Children may get tired or lose interest. He says, to become an expert you have to perform at a consistently high level in the most challenging situations. “It’s a long journey.”

These findings have implications for institutions and coaches, who may be biased toward directing resources at those children who show the most potential in a given area, rather than those who have the most potential to reach world-class levels. McNamara says the research also has a message for people who want to acquire a skill or have a dream, but who didn’t win their school competition or reach the top of their youth league: don’t be discouraged.

“For those who haven’t followed the eccentric path, know that you’re in good company!” She says. “Most world-class artists didn’t do that either.”

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