Welcome to my 2nd Blog,
Ed Chapman is a Class AA British PGA Golf Professional @ Al Badia Golf Club by InterContinental, Dubai Festival City
This weeks focus is on Myelination; what it is, why is it important and how can we get more of it. This then leads on to S.P.E.C.I.F.I.C., which is an acronym for how we should practice to produce the most myelin compared to "traditional" practice methods. I know acronyms have been around for ages but there's a reason for that; they work!
First question for you, which I'd like your answers to, what is a skill?
A skill is simply a task that we perform using our muscles which are sent electrical signals from our brain through nerve fibres. Simple. Whether it be hitting a golf ball 300 yards or writing a text message they are performed the same way.
And it gets even simpler....the more we practice something (i.e. the more times the electrical signal gets sent) the better we get at it! The youth of today can type text messages obscenely quickly or control players on Fifa with amazing speed and control. Why? Because they practice these skills over and over and over again. They weren't brilliant to start with but after practice they became experts if you like.......one does wonder what these kids could achieve if they put the same amount of effort and time into practising sports skills or studying what they could go on to achieve in life but that's another topic altogether!
Now, the key part, what is myelin (and myelination)?
Simply put, myelin is a coating (electrically insulating material to be precise) that covers the nerve fibres that the electrical signals travel down to move your muscles to perform a skill. The thicker the coating the quicker the signal, the quicker the signal.......the quicker and more accurately the skill is performed. Simple. The more myelin we have the better we can perform a skill..........now what is myelination? Simply put myelination is the process of getting more myelin. The way we practice has a massive effect on how quickly we myelinate skills, the old fashioned way (but sadly still used by many golfers) of "the rake and hit" where golfers just stand there hitting a shot, raking the next ball from the ball holder and hitting that before the previous shot has landed doesn't exactly accelerate our myelination.
Second question for you, which again I'd like your opinions, how should we practice to most effectively myelinate our skills?
For this I have thought of an acronym that has all the key practice traits that I believe someone should have, not just for golf, but for ANY skill you want to learn. Practice needs to be S.P.E.C.I.F.I.C.
Sweet Spot - practice must have the right level of difficulty to cultivate not just myelination but also the performers utmost concentration. The Goldilocks Rule: not too easy, not too hard BUT just the right amount of difficulty and level of creative failure (approx. 20-40% of the time should be failure - reaching to edge of ability level) to capture the performers interest.
Purpose - practice must lead to improving whatever skill the performer wishes to gain a higher level of proficiency in
Engaging - practice should use emotion to propel the performer towards their goal. It should completely immerse the performer in what they are doing.
Competitive - there should be an element of competitive practice to test the new/improved skill before it is used in the "heat of battle". See last weeks post of S.I.G. for ways of using competitive games in practice.
Intensity - practice should be of the right intensity for the skill being improved and where the performer is on their training schedule. For example, in a periodised training program the level of intensity will change through each macro cycle for skill acquisition or tournament preparation etc.
Feedback - one of the most important but most underused skills by performers is that of feedback. We only know how well we are improving by the feedback we get from each time the skill is performed. The type of practice we do should give strong, immediate feedback in real time so that we know how we are progressing.
Intelligent - practising smartly is a skill in itself. Creative/smart mistakes are a key to learning and should not be avoided. Don't be dumb and ignore mistakes, learn from them as they are a key source of feedback on the skill you are performing and shows you are testing the edges of your ability.
Constructive - I see lots of people practising destructively. If one aspect of your game is going really badly and you don't know what is going wrong the change to a different skill until you can get professional advice on what to change and practice to correct the mistake. Rather than thrashing around in the "too hard" zone.
Here's an example practice drill/game based on the above.
I have setup a "goal" to hit bunker shots both over and under. Using one club the aim of the game is to be able to control your ball flight enough to hit high & soft landing as well as low & running bunker shots. This game is at the edge of my ability as I did not succeed on every shot, the aim was not only to hit the ball flight I wanted but finish within 6' of the nearest flag. It has a purpose - improve ball flight control from the bunker. I had a target score to achieve so it was competitive and engaging plus I got feedback on every shot. As I ran out of shots and needed to score some points I found it quite intense and highly constructive to improving my bunker play.
Give it a go and let me know what you think to it.
Progression of this game would be to use lower lofted clubs and/or sloping lies.
Hope you enjoyed my blog again this week. Next week I will be debunking my least favourite golfing sayings and offering my re-framed alternatives! Until then,
Happy Golfing
Ed
Now, the key part, what is myelin (and myelination)?
Simply put, myelin is a coating (electrically insulating material to be precise) that covers the nerve fibres that the electrical signals travel down to move your muscles to perform a skill. The thicker the coating the quicker the signal, the quicker the signal.......the quicker and more accurately the skill is performed. Simple. The more myelin we have the better we can perform a skill..........now what is myelination? Simply put myelination is the process of getting more myelin. The way we practice has a massive effect on how quickly we myelinate skills, the old fashioned way (but sadly still used by many golfers) of "the rake and hit" where golfers just stand there hitting a shot, raking the next ball from the ball holder and hitting that before the previous shot has landed doesn't exactly accelerate our myelination.
Second question for you, which again I'd like your opinions, how should we practice to most effectively myelinate our skills?
For this I have thought of an acronym that has all the key practice traits that I believe someone should have, not just for golf, but for ANY skill you want to learn. Practice needs to be S.P.E.C.I.F.I.C.
Sweet Spot - practice must have the right level of difficulty to cultivate not just myelination but also the performers utmost concentration. The Goldilocks Rule: not too easy, not too hard BUT just the right amount of difficulty and level of creative failure (approx. 20-40% of the time should be failure - reaching to edge of ability level) to capture the performers interest.
Purpose - practice must lead to improving whatever skill the performer wishes to gain a higher level of proficiency in
Engaging - practice should use emotion to propel the performer towards their goal. It should completely immerse the performer in what they are doing.
Competitive - there should be an element of competitive practice to test the new/improved skill before it is used in the "heat of battle". See last weeks post of S.I.G. for ways of using competitive games in practice.
Intensity - practice should be of the right intensity for the skill being improved and where the performer is on their training schedule. For example, in a periodised training program the level of intensity will change through each macro cycle for skill acquisition or tournament preparation etc.
Feedback - one of the most important but most underused skills by performers is that of feedback. We only know how well we are improving by the feedback we get from each time the skill is performed. The type of practice we do should give strong, immediate feedback in real time so that we know how we are progressing.
Intelligent - practising smartly is a skill in itself. Creative/smart mistakes are a key to learning and should not be avoided. Don't be dumb and ignore mistakes, learn from them as they are a key source of feedback on the skill you are performing and shows you are testing the edges of your ability.
Constructive - I see lots of people practising destructively. If one aspect of your game is going really badly and you don't know what is going wrong the change to a different skill until you can get professional advice on what to change and practice to correct the mistake. Rather than thrashing around in the "too hard" zone.
Here's an example practice drill/game based on the above.
I have setup a "goal" to hit bunker shots both over and under. Using one club the aim of the game is to be able to control your ball flight enough to hit high & soft landing as well as low & running bunker shots. This game is at the edge of my ability as I did not succeed on every shot, the aim was not only to hit the ball flight I wanted but finish within 6' of the nearest flag. It has a purpose - improve ball flight control from the bunker. I had a target score to achieve so it was competitive and engaging plus I got feedback on every shot. As I ran out of shots and needed to score some points I found it quite intense and highly constructive to improving my bunker play.
Give it a go and let me know what you think to it.
Progression of this game would be to use lower lofted clubs and/or sloping lies.
Hope you enjoyed my blog again this week. Next week I will be debunking my least favourite golfing sayings and offering my re-framed alternatives! Until then,
Happy Golfing
Ed
Coaching educational book I am currently reading: The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle.........again
General book I am reading: Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
Next on my list: The Champion in All of Us: 12 Rules for Success by Steve Backley
Next week................Debunking my least favourite golfing sayings
Ed Chapman is a Class AA British PGA Golf Professional @ Al Badia Golf Club by InterContinental, Dubai Festival City
Bibliography
The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
The Talent Code blog by Daniel Coyle
Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice by Matthew Syed
@MindShiftKQED
The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
The Talent Code blog by Daniel Coyle
Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice by Matthew Syed
@MindShiftKQED
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