I actually got switched on to your blog by a work colleague who read what I’d written and thought I should check you out.

In essence, an average athelete (or employee!) uses a practice/training event to go over the things they’ve already mastered. An Olympian (or Paralympian) will train on the things they’ve yet to master – in your post the SEALs training over and over until they master and perfect what they want to achieve.

Best regards
John

In our youth soccer soccer club we work with the players on technique and the ability to apply it in the games (their test). Basically we have started this year to tell the parents that the players are ready to be judged when they do a skill showing unconscious competence. Basically if the players can not do the skill under pressure without thinking about it then it is still developing and we as coaches are still working to clean things up on their technique. We pulled this from the 4 stages of competence model, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence

This really helps the coaches show the parents where kids are on the scale and when they should be tested and ultimately judged on their technique and tactics.

Such a good blog that I copied it and posted it outside of the locker room, highlighted the best stuff (ok, my favorite points) and attached a practical/specific example for our athletes to utilize over the course of a season. Here is the content of the attachment…

Example of Skill Mastery in Realistic Conditions and Under Pressure
We will use the 100 scy back in our example
• Fast swimmers are excellent kickers
• Become a proficient dolphin kicker
• Dolphin kick underwater for speed
• Dolphin kick underwater faster than you can swim on top
• Dolphin kick underwater at speed for max distance
• Dolphin kick underwater with speed, to max distance and with a high heartrate
• Dolphin kick underwater with speed, to distance, with a high heartrate and lactate burn
• Dolphin kick underwater with speed, dist, high heartrate, lactate burn off of last wall
• Dolphin kick underwater with speed, high heartrate, lactate burn, on last wall, in a race
• Dolphin kick underwater with speed, high hr, lactate, last wall, in a race, at the biggest meet of your career

Of the ten qualities to become a great 100 scy backstroke kicker, the first 8 happen in practice. The last 2 do not happen if the first 8 are not in place- Simply put, these are RACE REQUIREMENTS. It begs the question- “What are the requirements of your race and how will you utilize your practice time to master them.”

Thank you for your willingness to share via books, blog and your research as it makes a difference in many peoples lives.

BD

You know that moment after somebody succeeds in a big event when the reporter asks, “How does it feel?” and the successful person struggles to come up with answer? I think a large part of that is because the only honest answer is this: “You know, it felt exactly like it did in practice.”

1.”A winner practices until he gets it right. A champion practices until he can’t get it wrong.”

2. I believe Charles Duhigg addresses another important element of the tendency of individuals to focus on the externals in a big competition. Duhigg believes (and I agree with) that too often people allow the external factors effect them leading up to a big competition. No matter what these external factors are, they should not effect your carved-out routine. In order to illustrate his points, Duhigg references Michael Phelps’ routine on race day. “When the race arrives, he’s more than halfway through his plan and he’s been victorious at every step. The actual race is just another step in a pattern that started earlier that day and has been nothing but victories. Winning is a natural extension.”

Another great blog. Wrapped up in the sentence:

“Every single contingency was practiced to the point where we were tired of it”

contains all the great things of:

Persistance
Determination
Grit
Growth Mindset
Understanding
Preperation
Standards
An attitude of excellence

all the good things required in sport