How to Practice Effectively

Mastering any physical skill, be it performing a pirouette, playing an instrument or throwing a baseball, takes practice. Practice is the repetition of an action with the goal of improvement, and it helps us perform with more ease speed and confidence.

…Mastery isn’t simply about the amount of hours of practice. It’s also the quality and effectiveness of that practice. Effective practice is consistent, intensely focused, and targets content or weaknesses that lie at the edge of one’s current abilities. So, if effective practice is the key, how can we get the most out of our practice time?

Try these tips…

Focus on the task at hand. Minimize potential distractions by turning off the computer or TV and putting your cell phone on airplane mode. In one study, researchers observed 260 students studying. On average, those students were able to stay on task for only six minutes at a time. Laptops, smartphones, and particularly Facebook, were the root of most distractions.

Start out slowly or in slow motion. Coordination is built with repetitions, whether correct or incorrect. If you gradually increase the speed of the quality repetitions, you have a better chance of doing them correctly.

Next, frequent repetitions with allotted breaks are common practice habits of elite performers. Studies have shown that many top athletes, musicians and dancers spend 50 to 60 hours per week on activities related to their craft. Many divide their time used for effective practice into multiple daily practice sessions of limited duration.

And, finally, practice in your brain in vivid detail. It’s a bit surprising, but a number of studies suggest that once a physical motion has been established, it can be reinforced just by imagining it. In one study, 144 basketball players were divided into two groups. Group A physically practiced one-handed free throws, while Group B only mentally practiced them. When they were tested at the end of the two-week experiment, the intermediate and experienced players in both groups had improved by nearly the same amount.

As scientists get closer to unraveling the secrets of our brains, our understanding of effective practice will only improve. In the meantime, effective practice is the best way we have of pushing our individual limits, achieving new heights, and maximizing our potential.

Excerpt from TED Ed video “How to practice effectively…for just about anything”
– Annie Bosler and Don Greene. Published on February 27, 2017.

See the full video on https://youtu.be/f2O6mQkFiiw