by Coach Mat | 12 Jan, 2019 | Competitive/Performance Training, Design Principles, Fitness Training, Focal Point Training, Focal Points, How To Train?, Learning Methods, Neurological Training, Plateau (No Progress), Progression, Self-Coaching, Skill Mastery, Training Theory
Continued from Part 2… I’ve mentioned before that my wife, Gail, is an ‘occupational therapist’. Occupational therapists, as they are called in the US, help people learn (or relearn) how to accomplish daily tasks that their damaged brain lost...
by Coach Mat | 29 Dec, 2018 | Competitive/Performance Training, Design Principles, Fitness Training, Flow State, Focal Point Training, Focal Points, How To Train?, Learning Methods, Neurological Training, Neuromuscular Training, Plateau (No Progress), Progression, Recommended Reading, Self-Coaching, Skill Mastery, Training Theory
It should be well understood that there is a process, and usually a long process we must follow in moving from a novice to an expert in the fundamental skills for an art or sport. There is a process or a path to follow, but there is not a single ‘recipe’...
by Coach Mat | 29 Dec, 2018 | Competitive/Performance Training, Design Principles, Fitness Training, Focal Point Training, Focal Points, How To Train?, Learning Methods, Neurological Training, Plateau (No Progress), Progression, Self-Coaching, Skill Mastery, Training Theory
Continued from Part 1… Stages Of Attention Control Not only is your neuromuscular (motor) control being trained, so is your attention, because the two are working together intimately in the development process. At first the attention is directed onto the part of...
by Coach Mat | 15 Apr, 2017 | External Feedback, Feedback Loop, How To Train?, Internal Feedback, Learning Methods, Neuromuscular Training, Proprioception, Self-Coaching
In a live training session the coach can watch and offer you vital feedback on how closely some part of your body position or movement pattern is matching the ideal. Then hopefully, they will also offer you practical guidance on how to bring it even closer. Some...
by Coach Mat | 1 Jan, 2017 | Kaizen (Continual Improvement), Learning Methods, Mastery Process, Mastery Training, Mental Training, Plateau (No Progress), Recommended Reading, Training Psychology
As I near the end of this discussion of Anders Ericsson’s principles of Deliberate Practice which he laid out in his recent book Peak, I will give you the punch line right at the beginning: You get masterful swimming in return according to your investment of...
by Coach Mat | 25 Dec, 2016 | Attention/Focus, Drills For Skills, Feedback Loop, How To Train?, Internal Feedback, Learning Methods, Proprioception, Recommended Reading, Self-Coaching, Skill Mastery
Along with the previous article in this series describing the role of focal points (mental representations), we are getting to the heart of the practice with the feedback loop. If you have ever learned to play an instrument (or tried to) or just listened to music...
