Practicing for on demand performance

[feudist]

For your consideration

Whether your goal is winning on the street or the playing fields of Eaton, a common feature of both is the requirement to execute skills cold.

This stands in contrast to most practice methods where a number of repetitions are usually executed, and the gain in performance is tracked.

All well and good, but what is being tracked? Arguably, it is the ability to perform after multiple reps.

Another way of practice is possible. Known as "Random Training", this method has been shown to increase retention of execution ability.

It works by practicing different skills every repetition. For example, instead of practicing five freestyle draws at seven yards, instead:

1) Draw freestyle at seven

2) Pressout freestyle at seven

3) Draw SHO at seven

4) SHO low ready to extension at seven

5) WHO low ready to extension at seven

Now, if you draw freestyle at seven on rep #6, your earlier freestyle draw has had time to be "forgotten" from short term memory.

This rep now forces you to "remember" how to execute-cold.

As an analogy, take practicing the multiplication table.

The first time you solve 8x5 your brain has to retrieve the memory.

But if you immediately practice 8x5 again, your just parroting the same answer. But, solving several problems before returning to 8x5 gives you practice at

retrieval. Practicing retrieval seems to be the key to creating long term memory ( what is commonly called "muscle memory" is an aspect of that).

In testing, subjects shooting free throws using simple repetition versus Random training scored better on the test at the of the practice session. But, when

brought back days later and tested again, the subjects using Random practice methods scored higher on the test.

Another practice scheme that strengthens retrieval execution is called "Variable Training".

Here, on each repetition some parameter of the drill is changed.

Range to target, number of rounds fired, size/aspect of the target, and shooter movement would be examples.

Drawing and firing one shot at seven yards would be followed by firing at three yards, then ten etc.

The training effect here is making the skill execution more stable, by practicing more varied conditions.

You're already ahead of me, aren't you?

"What about combining Random and Variable practice?"

Yep.

BTDT. It was quite different. Usually my practice sessions leave me with a pleasant buzz. This left me feeling that my nervous system had

been...stretched-into odd shapes.And it was fatiguing, mentally.

Source: Dr. Richard Magill "Motor Learning and Control"

[EM_]

I find this very interesting. Good post!

[Totem Polar]

I've used-and teach-random training in another discipline to great effect. It's my opinion that, one, you're never as good at a practiced skill as you are right after just doing it and, two, for a skill that needs to be "on demand" it doesn't matter if you can do something correctly 9 out of 10 times, 19 out of 20 or whatever; it matters that you can do it well right out of the gate, every time. I definitely believe in the ideas in the OP.

[GJM]

Interesting timing on this thread.

I have never much liked drills/tests that do the same thing over and over. While they are often done in an attempt to "improve" consistency, I have wondered whether they do improve on demand performance, plus they quickly become boring to me.

[Mr_White]

Interesting timing on this thread.

I have never much liked drills/tests that do the same thing over and over. While they are often done in an attempt to "improve" consistency, I have wondered whether they do improve on demand performance, plus they quickly become boring to me.

Bolded part is the operative factor for me in some instances, even when a drill can legitimately and productively be repetitive. Sometimes my attention just runs out of gas if my interest is not there or doesn't stay strong enough.

Thanks for posting the article, feudist, very interesting!

[JeffJ]

I see a stack of pistol drill flashcards in my future, thanks for posting this.

[BaiHu]

Great article and this is a technique I use for teaching my students (martial arts, not guns ) after they've got some good fundamentals.

IMO, you cannot teach someone variable or random drills until they've gotten some basic fundamentals solid. This is not something you can teach to the person who just picked up a gun or just learned to draw. There is a place for this, but it's not out of the box.

As for boredom, I wrestle with that word all of the time, specifically with kids.

Lil' Bobby 'learns' something from me after repeating the movement 10 times and says, "I'm bored, can we learn X?"

Problems that arise:
1. Your student starts teaching you how to teach them by derailing your lesson plan. Caveat: make sure your lesson plan doesn't suck by looking at the number of long term students you've attracted with the current plan.
2. Your student equates boredom with 'success'.

I find it incredibly odd that the typical child that is 'bored' will have no problem running a 'stage' on a computer game for 3 hours straight until they 'just get to the next level', but ask them to do 100 repetitions over an hour of a movement that only takes 1 second is somehow torture Of course, I'm being facetious, but it is a sad 'sign of the times'. I played video games, but I was outside 10x's more than I was on a video game.

Problem:
1. Some people just aren't cut out for certain disciplines and maybe the one you're teaching isn't enjoyable to them.
2. Some people just don't know they like something until they get over the repetition/boredom hump and enter the ZOMG, I love doing this over and over again phase. I call this phase the Potato Chip Phenomenon; you just can't have one chip, you just munch the whole bag mindlessly.

Once the foundation is built well enough, then I'm all for using the above technique whole hog. I'll definitely be trying this out tomorrow for my shooting. Funny how we don't always take our day to day template and lay it upon a 'new skill'.

I could probably blab a bit more, but this seems like a good place to stop and let someone else chime in.

[EM_]

I see a stack of pistol drill flashcards in my future, thanks for posting this.

I think that's what these are for:
http://www.tridentconcepts.com/product/tacost/

Might throw that on the old Christmas list.

[ToddG]

I'd like to read more about this before jumping to too many conclusions.

First, as BaiHu said, until someone has the fundamentals correct it's wasteful to jump around in practice.

Second, I'd like to see exactly what was measured and exactly what the differences were in the practice routines in the "basketball free throw" study. Were people just throwing one attempted free throw and then moving on to other things immediately, or did they simply practice free throws for a short while as opposed to for hours on end?

Third, as has been touched on tangentially, how does boredom -- which is very subjective -- play into all of this? Would someone who isn't bored after 100 draws to a 8" circle be less well served by this than someone who stops paying attention after three draws?

[feudist]

I think that's what these are for:
http://www.tridentconcepts.com/product/tacost/

Might throw that on the old Christmas list.

Thanks, maclin.

Just ordered those