The Limited Success of Child Prodigies in Achieving Elite Performance
By
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Recycled flavour. You've tasted this bagel before.
Summary
The article examines why child prodigies rarely become elite performers, using Novak Djokovic's tennis career as an example. It discusses how intensive early training (hot-housing) of promising youngsters works but not as effectively as commonly believed, suggesting that early specialization doesn't guarantee long-term elite performance.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledNovak Djokovic first picked up a tennis racket when he was four years old.
At the age of 12 he left his native Serbia for a tennis academy in Germany.
He won his first major title—the 2008 Australian Open—when he was 20.
Hot-housing promising youngsters works—but not as well as you might think.
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