Practice ... Patience ... Perseverance!!

SMALL CHANGES CAN TRANSLATE INTO BIG GAINS

Significant progress often starts with what we might perceive to be insignificant changes. The Gold Medal performance of Aries Merritt in the 110m hurdles at the Olympics is proof of this fact. In 2008 Merritt finished a disappointing fourth at the US Olympic trails which meant that he lost out on the opportunity to represent the USA at the Olympics in Beijing. Merritt turned this disappointment into the motivation for his eventual success. He went back to the drawing board and started the painfully slow process of making small changes to his technique which he eventually credited for his success at the Olympics in London this year.

 

 

Merritt changed the way he starts a race by starting with his left rather than his right foot and shortened his strides to the first hurdle from eight to seven strides. These small changes might have gone unnoticed in a race that took less than 13 seconds, yet it made all the difference in the outcome of the race. When he was asked whether he had now perfected his technique, he answered that his technique will never be perfect. He believes that he is too high when he sails over the hurdles. This reduces the changes of him hitting the hurdle, but if he is lower, he would spend less time in the air and more time on the ground which would translate into a faster time. Merritt has now set his sights on breaking the world record in the 110m hurdles, which he believes is possible by making small changes.

Aries Merritt’s performance is definitely admirable, because he was brave enough to look beyond his immediate performance in 2008 towards his ultimate goal and to commit himself to make the changes necessary to achieve this goal. Most of us will admire his performance and maybe even dream of achieving our sporting or life goals in a similar fashion. The truth is, we do not have to merely admire Merritt, we can learn from him and apply the same principles to achieve success.

However, few of us are willing to make the commitment require to eventually experiencing the results we desire. In today’s fast pace society many of us struggle to wrap our minds around the fact that if we want bigger gains we might have to commit time and effort to refining the small details. In sport this translates to making the required changes to our technique to eventually achieve the results we want.

Steve Robson (2012) argues that the popular belief that “practice makes perfect” is actually not true. He believes that it is probably more accurate that “perfect practice makes perfect”. If we want to improve our sport performance, merely putting in the hours will not lead to better results. Training and/or practicing is important but the difference in performance is determined by how we train. If we train haphazardly and reinforce poor techniques, these movements will be etched into our brain. The more we reinforce the poor technique through our training, the more we reinforce these techniques in our mental pathways that control our movement. Therefore, if we continue doing the same things, we cannot expect different results. If we want different results we must be prepared to do things differently. This means that, as triathletes, once we are fit and able to do the basics of swim, cycle and run, we need to hone our technique if we want to see significant improvement in our times. The good news is that in terms of our motor skills and sporting techniques, there is nothing that cannot be changed (i.e., improved), the bad news is that it will not be easy because it will require practice, patience and persistence.

 

We are not all equally gifted in terms of genetics, but we can all improve our performance if we are willing to put in the hours. Those of us who are serious about producing better results need to realize that we cannot continue to train aimlessly, reinforcing our mental pathways for poor technique and then be surprised at our lack of improvement. Many of us know this, but few of us are willing to do what Merritt did and commit to the process of relearning skills and techniques. The process of relearning a skill or improving a technique is often slow and exceptionally frustrating, because we feel as if we are going nowhere despite doing everything we need to do and more.

First attempts at learning new skills and/or improving our techniques are often clumsy and feels unsuccessful but if we trust the process and continue to train with good technique, we will reinforce new mental pathways which will eventually lead to improved performance. Initially it will require a lot of attention and effort but if we continue to reinforce the new technique, the movement will become easier and smoother and will require less effort and concentration to initiate and carry out the activity. Merritt would probably tell us that he initially had to focus all his attention on remembering to start with his left foot and to only take seven strides to the first hurdle. By the time he reached the Olympics, I am convinced that he would have reinforced his new technique to the point that he would not have to think about it anymore. It would have become his autopilot. This is why many top sportsmen and woman will say that they think of nothing when they compete because the mental pathways responsible for the technique have become so much part of them that they no longer needed to focus on any aspect of their technique. This is when we refer to athletes being in the zone.

It sounds simple, but it is a frustrating process, which is why many of us do not commit to the process or give up before we see results. The brain needs time and practice to reinforce new mental pathways. This is why it is important to persist with your training drills despite the frustration at what appear to be either lack of progress or even deteriorating performance.

It is also important to remember that the mental pathways for your old bad habits or techniques remain in your brain’s filing system for the rest of your life. As such, particularly in the early days of new skills or technique training, the old pathways will switching on and initiate the old faulty movements, the moment we allow our minds to wonder – this is especially likely when we get tired and frustrated. This is why we tend to have a few good days and then a bad day when we start the process. The bad skill and technique remain our autopilot and the moment we take our eye of the ball, it switches on.

The good news is that persistent practice of the new skill will eventually reinforce the new mental pathways to the extent where it becomes part of our mental fabric and ultimately, our new autopilot. The old mental pathways do not disappear, but they do get weaker due to reduced use and activation, rendering them less likely to “fire” and causing the memory for the movement to fade. However, if we slip back into practicing the unwanted technique, we switch the mental pathways back on and strengthen them once again. There is no shortcut, but if you want it bad enough, you will tolerate the slow progress and frustration because the eventual success will be worthwhile.

 

PRACTICE ... PATIENCE ... PERSEVERANCE!!