Comments on: To Learn Faster, Raise the Stakes

By: John Turner

John Turner — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:37:12 +0000

Here’s an interesting example from golf. In 1974, Joe Campbell became the men’s golf coach at Purdue University. Joe had been the PGA Tour rookie of the year in 1959 and won three tournaments in his tour career. He seemed to never hit a shot off-center and never seemed to struggle to break par. Early in his first year as coach, I asked Joe how he practiced. He said for years his routine had been to start by hitting pitching wedges and would only move on to the next longer club, the nine iron, after he had hit five shots exactly as he wanted. He did this through the entire set, ending-up with the driver, the longest club in the bag. Given his ability to seemingly hit every shot pure, what made the biggest impression on me was his comment that there were frequently days he never got to the fairway woods, much less the driver! As I read The Talent Code, it occurred to me this practice technique had all the elements of deep practice described in the book, and it is also an example of “raising the stakes.”

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and wish I had been able to read it as a teenager. My wife and I both played two sports in college and can see how our experiences could have benefited from the lessons shared in The Talent Code. The musical references are particularly interesting since our daughter plays French horn in one of the top orchestras in North America. The examples in the book of how musicians learn and grow sounded very familiar!

By: Casey Wheel

Casey Wheel — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:58:47 +0000

For basketball, a great warm up I have used is to swish 10 or 20 shots in a row, right in front of the basket. If it hits rim, start back at 0. Do this everyday, and you will get a quick feel of how your body is sequencing your shot (long or short). Aligns mind and body very quickly.

By: Michael Reddick

Michael Reddick — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:04:16 +0000

At the start of each of my practice sessions (I’m a pool player), I require myself to make a certain warm-up shot 10 times in a row. The warm-up shot requires nearly perfect form and technique in order to make the ball, so my adrenaline starts to kick in when I get to 7 or 8 in a row. I must control my body’s response to the adrenaline and mentally focus on maintaining proper technique. If I fail to make 10 in a row, I start again at zero and keep trying until I do. Most days I achieve 10 in a row on the first or second attempt and by that time my mind will be hyper focused and ready for the deep practice session that follows. Occasionally I can’t make 10 in a row, so I break down my cue and come back to the table when my mind is ready for the challenge.

By: Gt

Gt — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:15:41 +0000

As a violin teacher, i always make sure the goal is achievable. On top of “going back to zero” technique, i use
1.” plus/ minus one” technique. It is for simpler, but challenging task. If the kid get it right, it’s plus one. If the kid’s trial doesn’t work, it’s minus one. Depending on the time limit, you can aim for between +5 and +10.
2. Sometimes i set timer between 2 to 5 minutes to see how the progress goes under limited time while doing plus/minus one.

By: djcoyle

djcoyle — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:51:35 +0000

I love that, and I’ve found it’s really effective too. When it comes to motivation, it’s impossible to beat a good story.

By: Dale

Dale — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:54:52 +0000

It’s not a technical technic and it may sound a little silly but I create a narrative around the effort. Something along the lines of “No one has ever done this, it’s considered impossible, but…”

By: Rod Roth

Rod Roth — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:05:40 +0000

If what you practice is important to your financial well being, it doesn’t hurt to get a scare. In my case, there was a question as to whether my wife’s teaching contract would be renewed for next year. Really got my attention! And it made a huge difference in my effort to develop my futures trading method. You can’t plan these things, you just have to be lucky enough to get jolted out of your complacency every now and then.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:01:34 +0000

The idea is to make them able to produce the desired experience for the desired action.
Just making a game does not cut it.

By: djcoyle

djcoyle — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:45:59 +0000

Great point, Doc — if the goal is set too far out, the drill is just a frustration machine, isn’t it? Thanks very much.

By: Doc

Doc — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:54:20 +0000

I’ll apologize before hand if I am overstating the obvious but we have to make sure the participants have the ability to perform the act perfectly. The reason I say this is that I recently observed a high school softball coach employing a similar drill while working on defense. They kept on and on to no avail.. Problem was that the girls just didn’t have the throwing skills to do what was asked. The Coach (in my opinion) could have best spent that time teaching them to throw better.