Are people better?

[Sal Picante]

I def see people in USPSA getting better much quicker these days than in the past. There is an intense focus on training & practice and a cadre of professionals dedicated to master self-improvement.

Good read on the topic...

Money quote: "What the second half of the 20th century did see was a steady increase in the amount of time that people in different areas devoted to training, combined with a growing sophistication of training techniques. This was true in a huge number of fields, particularly highly competitive fields such as musical performance and dance, individual and team sports, and chess and other competitive games. This increase in the amount and sophistication of practice resulted in a steady improvement in the abilities of the performers in these various fields—an improvement that was not always obvious from year to year but that is dramatic when viewed over the course of several decades."

[okie john]

I think that people used to be better at more things across the board. But we now live in an area of specialization. Aided and abetted by the interwebs, we're more able to go deep in one area and more willing to ignore the rest.


Okie John

[Peally]

Great article, and the points are often reflected in how people practice shooting nowadays. Just shooting will get you nowhere without structured and repeatable practice.

[John Hearne]

Thanks for posting that. That is the best summary of effective practice that I've read. I knew a lot of the material but I've never seen that much specificity about the role of goal setting.

[Trooper224]

As with many things, shooting is now approached more as a science than in decades past. I think this is a key factor in the increased progression we see. Communication is also a factor that can't be underestimated. The internet, with all it's limitations, has made the sharing of information much more rapid than ever before. This has allowed participants in any activity to eliminate much of the guess work involved. Regarding sports, the contribution of performance enhancing drugs also plays a factor.

[BehindBlueI's]

a growing sophistication of training techniques.

That right there says it to me. We're better at getting better. Think of how much something like video analysis has helped in multiple sports. Not my wheelhouse, but I know seeing myself shoot in slow motion is pretty damned powerful in breaking my mind away from "what I think I'm doing" to "what I'm actually doing" and then getting better at the second. I'd reckon the same is true of swinging a bat or tennis racket or what-have-you.

[Sal Picante]

That right there says it to me. We're better at getting better. Think of how much something like video analysis has helped in multiple sports. Not my wheelhouse, but I know seeing myself shoot in slow motion is pretty damned powerful in breaking my mind away from "what I think I'm doing" to "what I'm actually doing" and then getting better at the second. I'd reckon the same is true of swinging a bat or tennis racket or what-have-you.

Dude ... I've been videoing myself at practice a lot (I forget sometimes... Sometimes, it is just too much material too) and it is fascinating stuff, really...

Very humbling.

[Kevin B.]

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing.

[Duces Tecum]

"Purposeful practice"? Isn't that a Gabe White thing?

[MVS]

Very interesting article. I recognized a number of things in there that I have heard from John Hearne. In regards to people getting better at hobbies, we have a lot more time for them when we don't have to spend all of our waking hours just trying to survive.