Geoff Colvin

"Tiger was born into the home of an expert golfer and confessed 'golf addict' who loves to teach and is eager to begin teaching his new son as soon as possible."

"You learn ten times more in a crisis than during normal times."

"Average performers believe their errors were caused by factors outside their control: My opponent got lucky; the task was too hard; I just don't have any natural ability for this. Top performers, by contrast, believe they are responsible for their errors."

"Deliberate practice is a structured and specific set of personalized development activities."

"It is having the intensity and will to devote the majority of your time to seeking out the difficult and/or painful things you don't do well and then getting to work on improving in those areas. It also includes having others tell us exactly what's not right after each unsuccessful attempt so we can keep working at it until we get better."

"Everyone who has achieved exceptional performance has encountered terrible difficulties along the way. There are no exceptions. If you believe that doing the right kind of work can overcome the problems, then you have at least a chance of moving on to ever better performance. But those who see the setbacks as evidence that they lack the necessary gift will give up'quite logically, in light of their beliefs. They will never achieve what they might have."

"If you believe that if you do the work, properly designed, with intense focus for hours a day and years on end, your performance will grow dramatically better and eventually reach the highest levels, there's at least a chance you will do the work and achieve great performance."

"Everyone who has achieved exceptional performance has encountered terrible difficulties along the way. There are no exceptions."

"Anyone who thinks they've outgrown the benefits of a teacher's help should at least question that view."

"Professional golfer Moe Norman, who played from the 1950s to the 1970s, hit eight hundred golf balls a day, five days a week from age sixteen to thirty-two when he retired."

"What you want - really deeply want is fundamental, because deliberate practice is a heavy investment."

"Deliberate practice includes having others tell us exactly what's not right after each unsuccessful attempt so we can keep working at it until we get better."

"Deliberate practice requires that one identify certain sharply defined elements of performance that need to be improved, and then work intently on them."

"The most effective deliberate practice activities are those which can be repeated at high volume."

"A teacher or a coach can see things you yourself won't pick up on. They will know the theory of each activity and understand how performance can be improved in that area."

"Practicing without feedback is like bowling through a curtain that hangs down to knee level. You can work on technique all you like, but if you can't see the effects, two things will happen: You won't get any better, and you'll stop caring."

"Deliberate practice involves doing something so many times in practice you can perform flawlessly in the heat of competition."

"It is passion that drives creative achievers to labor in their field for decades."