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I think the key is "deliberate practice" -- google it; but here's an OK article: http://www.fastcompany.com/3020758/leadership-now/why-deliberate-practice-is-th

by zvrba 12y ago

I think the key is "deliberate practice" -- google it; but here's an OK article: http://www.fastcompany.com/3020758/leadership-now/why-deliberate-practice-is-the-only-way-to-keep-getting-better http://www.fastcompany.com/3020758/leadership-now/why-delibe... But before learning about 'deliberate practice', I had first heard a saying that "practice makes permanent". You have to practice with the actual intention of getting better and perfecting your technique, otherwise you're just strengthening the old habits. Some context for the rest of the text: my hobbies are aikido and an old Japanese sword art, so I practice sword cuts a lot (wooden sword, no target -- yet). Deliberate practice is hard, it's taxing, both physically but also mentally. It requires not only that you focus on what you're doing but also consciously focusing on how you're doing it. By focusing on what and how simultaneously, you can draw a causal connection between the result (what) and how you achieved it. If you're not satisfied with the result, then you try to modify the "how" in a variety of ways until you feel the result has gotten better. This is mentally taxing and absolutely not fun. You're watching yourself making mistakes in real time, the mind wants but the body cannot (yet). Sometimes you even need to get a fundamentally new idea about "what" or "how" in order to break the (current) barrier. Suddenly an advice that you got from a teacher a year ago, and which didn't make sense then, makes sense NOW. And after having practiced for a while (usually up to 50 min; different exercises), I notice that I have reverted to "blind" practice, that I can no longer focus on "how", regardless how much I try. That's when I stop, regardless of how much "real time" has elapsed. --- Trying to write ten thousand different sentences will make you a better writer than writing the same sentence ten thousand times.

jwdunne 12y ago
That's the thing that stuck out for me in the article. It mentions practice, but there is no distinction from deliberate practice. It may well be that the highest performers did more deliberate practice, which totalled less practice overall. The last sentence of your comment sums up my thoughts exactly.
- a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
  It's completely unfalsifiable and therefore useless. There's no objective way to categorize practice as deliberate or not. It's just some stupid buzzword.
  - epochwolf 12y ago
    Just because there's no simple objective way to categorize and measure something doesn't mean it's automatically invalid.
recalibrator 12y ago
I assumed practice meant deliberate practice. Why should it not? How can you say it wasn't?
- zvrba 12y ago
  I assumed it was not because they only talk about "time spent practicing" surveyed from 88 different papers, which may include "practice" and "deliberate practice", and further down they write: > She hopes to investigate such factors as basic abilities, age when starting to learn the skill, confidence, positive or negative feedback, self-motivation and the ability to take risks. This doesn't seem to cover the introspective / deliberate part of practice. Though, I asked myself: if practice is not deliberate, is it "practice" at all? If not, what should we call it?
  - watwut 12y ago
    I think it is meat to be difference between putting headphones on and going to run for an hour versus having good training plan that is based on training best practices and focuses on your weaknesses. Or a difference between just playing songs you like and between playing 30 seconds of some difficult song over and over not because you like it, but because you need to learn that kind of notes sequence to progress.
nion 12y ago
While the article does not mention deliberate practice, the abstract of the original paper (linked from the article) does. http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/06/30/0956797614535810 http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/06/30/095679761453...
rgrieselhuber 12y ago
Which Japanese sword art?
- zvrba 12y ago
  I'd rather not say publicly.
  - rgrieselhuber 12y ago
    Now I'm really curious. :) I have a penchant for obscure sword schools.
    - zvrba 12y ago
      If you follow me on twitter (temporarily), I will send you a direct message :) Same username as here. Then I'll also explain the reason for "secrecy".
      - rgrieselhuber 12y ago
        Done!
prawks 12y ago
This resonated a lot with me as a golfer. Golf is a very individual-focused activity, with a large amount of minutiae to consider. Each shot is a new opportunity, and no two shots are ever alike. Mechanics are massively important, but focusing on them in the moment is often disastrous. It's more important to observe, in a meditative way, the body's motion after the mental decision and assess, learn, and grow in preparation for the next shot. In (slight) contrast to your ending quote, I offer Bruce Lee (un-verified, but interesting nonetheless): ":I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

by zvrba 12y ago

jwdunne 12y ago

That's the thing that stuck out for me in the article. It mentions practice, but there is no distinction from deliberate practice. It may well be that the highest performers did more deliberate practice, which totalled less practice overall. The last sentence of your comment sums up my thoughts exactly.

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
It's completely unfalsifiable and therefore useless. There's no objective way to categorize practice as deliberate or not. It's just some stupid buzzword.
- epochwolf 12y ago
  Just because there's no simple objective way to categorize and measure something doesn't mean it's automatically invalid.

recalibrator 12y ago

I assumed practice meant deliberate practice. Why should it not? How can you say it wasn't?

zvrba 12y ago
I assumed it was not because they only talk about "time spent practicing" surveyed from 88 different papers, which may include "practice" and "deliberate practice", and further down they write: > She hopes to investigate such factors as basic abilities, age when starting to learn the skill, confidence, positive or negative feedback, self-motivation and the ability to take risks. This doesn't seem to cover the introspective / deliberate part of practice. Though, I asked myself: if practice is not deliberate, is it "practice" at all? If not, what should we call it?
- watwut 12y ago
  I think it is meat to be difference between putting headphones on and going to run for an hour versus having good training plan that is based on training best practices and focuses on your weaknesses. Or a difference between just playing songs you like and between playing 30 seconds of some difficult song over and over not because you like it, but because you need to learn that kind of notes sequence to progress.

nion 12y ago

While the article does not mention deliberate practice, the abstract of the original paper (linked from the article) does. http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/06/30/0956797614535810 http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/06/30/095679761453...

rgrieselhuber 12y ago

Which Japanese sword art?

zvrba 12y ago
I'd rather not say publicly.
- rgrieselhuber 12y ago
  Now I'm really curious. :) I have a penchant for obscure sword schools.
  - zvrba 12y ago
    If you follow me on twitter (temporarily), I will send you a direct message :) Same username as here. Then I'll also explain the reason for "secrecy".
    - rgrieselhuber 12y ago
      Done!

prawks 12y ago

This resonated a lot with me as a golfer. Golf is a very individual-focused activity, with a large amount of minutiae to consider. Each shot is a new opportunity, and no two shots are ever alike. Mechanics are massively important, but focusing on them in the moment is often disastrous. It's more important to observe, in a meditative way, the body's motion after the mental decision and assess, learn, and grow in preparation for the next shot. In (slight) contrast to your ending quote, I offer Bruce Lee (un-verified, but interesting nonetheless): ":I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."