EFFECTIVE PRACTICE
To become better and more efficient at certain skills we must practise the thing that we want to improve, it's common sense really... But why do some people seem to progress way quicker than others?
27 October 2020
Because 'Practice' is an incredibly broad term. There's a big difference between giving 100% of your attention and effort towards your practice every time you do it and simply going through the motions without any focus or enthusiasm
I sustained a pretty serious hip injury in May this year which left me unable to bodyboard until recently, so in that time I decided i'd learn to balance on one hand because, well... It's also kinda fun.
Accomplishing this challenge took a huge amount of time, effort, trust and (you guessed it) PRACTICE. Along the way I learned a lot about how to practise effectively and have figured out, for myself at least, what helps me to progress in the quickest way possible.
Here's some of my top tips to practise effectively and make better progress:.
1) BE CONSISTENT - If you're trying to learn a new skill or refine a specific technique to perfection then you need to keep everything fresh in your mind. If you're not practising every day (or close to every day) then the progress you make in one session can be lost before your next session. Remember: Having six 30 minute sessions a week will amount to more progression rather than one session a week that lasts for 3 hours. As soon as quality and performance begins to drop during any practice, your potential to make substantial gains diminishes if technique or skill is required in whatever it is that you're practising. A great quote to get this point across is 'It doesn't take a huge effort, just a little effort, every day'.
2) FOCUS INTENSELY - Don't scroll around on Instagram and Facebook and don't expect to get better at something without putting in the mental effort required to learn. Minimise your distractions and try to focus on the task at hand. Yoga is amazing at improving your focus and concentration. In the Yoga world it's called 'Drishti'. Drishti is a means for developing concentrated intention and by practising Yoga daily for years I learned how to bring all of my awareness to a single point of focus. Developing this has definitely carried over into everything else I practise now because I'm able to focus intensely without feeling distracted. If you feel like you're always distracted when you are practising I'd highly recommend you focus on where your awareness is resting. Realise what's distracting you and either deal with it so it's not on your mind anymore or let it go and deal with it later. Your performance will increase drastically if you can bring all of your awareness to the task at hand. Yoga and meditation can help immensely if you have a loud and distracted mind.
3) ADDRESS YOUR WEAKNESSES - It's time to kill your ego and stop practising only the things you're good at. The most progression can be made when you address the parts of your practise that are holding you back. Who cares if that means taking a few steps back so you can continue on your march forwards? Only your ego does, so let go of caring what others think of you and start addressing your weaknesses. Work on them and soon enough they won't be a weakness anymore.
4) PLAY WITH YOUR EDGE - To progress you need to find the sweet spot where you can feel somewhat comfortable with the task you're practising while still challenging your abilities. I didn't learn to balance on one hand by trying to jump onto one hand and hope that i'd miraculously find balance, and I also didn't learn to balance on one hand by staying on two hands and hoping that the handstand gods would visit me in my dreams to give me a magic potion that makes me instantly know how to balance on one hand. I took a step-by-step approach. I practised coming up onto my fingertips and holding that for 20 seconds on each arm, 10 times... every day for a few months! Then eventually I was doing the same drill but on one fingertip and built that up gradually until I was doing it for 35 seconds each set. Every day I was playing with the edge of my abilities. I was choosing progressions to practise that were possible to achieve if I gave my best effort at the time. I wasn't doing things that I was comfortable doing because that doesn't get me any further on my journey. So find the right progressions, in whatever it is that you do, so that you are challenging yourself but also getting some quality time/reps in the bag.
It took me about 4-6 months of practising my handstand drills for 1-2 hours a day, 6 days a week, but I finally began hitting some of my goals in June when I performed my first ever 20sec OAHS. People now seem to think i’m ‘lucky’ or ‘blessed with superhuman coordination’ which is how I’m able to balance on one hand. Ummm… This isn’t luck. I worked incredibly long and hard for this. This is just what happens when you practice effectively and don’t give up.
So, there it is... the best advice i have for you. If you would like a single statement to sum all of this up, a statement you can draw on your bedroom mirror to remind yourself what effective practice means then here you go:
“Effective practice is consistent, intensely focussed and targets weaknesses that lie at the edge of one’s current abilities.”