Insight: July 22

Are we all naturally talented? This week, Insight asks whether people are born with talent, or if there is untapped potential in all of us.

Jenny Brockie speaks to those who believe they achieved greatness through hard work and dedication, and child prodigies who all but came out of the womb toting a paintbrush or swinging a tennis racket.

And not a talent show judge to be seen for miles…

At age 30, Dan quit his full-time job to test the ’10,000 Hour Rule’ – the theory that anyone can become an expert in anything if they simply complete 10,000 hours of ‘dedicated practice’.

With next to no previous experience, Dan’s goal is to become a pro-golfer after he completes his 10,000 hours of practice. He’s just past half way, and his handicap has already placed him in the top 4 per cent of golfers in the United States.

Guests include:

Dan McLaughlin
Dan McLaughlin is on a mission. In 2010, despite having only played a few rounds of golf in his life, Dan quit his job and dedicated himself full time to trying to reach the sport’s pinnacle: the PGA Tour. He wanted to test the theory that 10,000 hours of practice can propel a person to expertise – regardless of existing talent. “If you were willing to drop everything and completely dedicate yourself, how far could you go? Could you make it to the top?”

Anders Ericsson
Anders Ericsson is considered to be the father of the 10,000 hours theory. In 1993, he pioneered a study into the practice behaviours of expert musicians. The landmark paper concludes that anyone can become an expert in music, sports and chess, with specific training, irrespective of innate talent. “With the right kind of training, you can do basically incredible things,” he says.

Neil D’Costa
Neil D’Costa has an eye for spotting cricket talent. A coach and talent scout, Neil played an integral role in first identifying and then nurturing the talents of Australian captain Michael Clarke, fast bowler Mitchell Starc, and batsman Phil Hughes. Neil believes that while all the practice in the world might make you great, without having that natural talent to begin with, you can never be brilliant. “You have to have a base talent,” he says.

Alisa Camplin
At age 19, Alisa Camplin had never skied. Just eight years later, she won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics. “My passion was to become an Olympian… at the beginning, aerial skiing was just a vehicle, and then I fell in love with the sport,” she says. Alisa largely attributes her success to her determination and hunger to win, which she in turn believes are a by-product of her upbringing.

Andrew Bulley
Andrew Bulley coached Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios from the age of four to 14. He said Nick shone from the very beginning. Andrew believes that to be an elite player you have to start young and train hard, but that you need a natural pool of talent to begin with. “I think that if they did 10,000 hours of quality training they’d be an excellent tennis player, but that extra one per cent that they need to be elite, it doesn’t come with training.”

Tuesday at 8.30pm on SBS ONE.