When we want to do something, there are generally two phases we go through. One of them being the “planning” phase, which is to make sure you have everything needed. The other being the actual “doing” phase where you go and do what you planned on doing. When we apply this concept to ourselves when trying to get better in some aspect, what do you think is the best “mixture” between the planning and doing phase? Surely you don’t want to waste your time not doing the proper things you need to for an improvement. You also don’t want to waste too much time not doing anything and lose the chance to learn from what you’ve done. What do you do?
The first thing we need to do is to ask ourselves “what is it that I want to get better at and what am I doing right now to get better at it?”. For the off-season athlete, this may be a specific move or skill you want to work on. We also need to analyze and understand what we are already doing because without that we are slowing down our own growth. This process is a combination of prior “doing” and current “planning” around that to produce a more effective “doing” phase. This process allows for good tracking of your growth towards your goal as well.
One step that cold be added to the “planning” phase is discussing with coaches and other experienced athletes. Coaches may be able to help you understand the things they believe you need to work on and can give you insight on ways to work on that. Experienced athletes can also be a help by sharing information on their own growth in reference to the same skill your learning. Even in the planning phase we are relying on prior doing from another person.
When in the “doing” phase of learning a new skill, we have to understand that we are experimenting. We are learning how to improve this skill through trial and error and consistency. We are not failing, we are going through the process of learning. By starting off simple, we can learn how to do the skill in a basic setting. Slowly, by adding different factors to make doing the skill harder, we can build our skill to meet the level of challenge. That last part requires some planning, to make sure the drills and exercises being done are effective and correct.
The above paragraphs were based on general examples, so take the time to understand the concept and put your own spin on the above idea of analysis and adjustments. Think of the people that you know who could help you out and the other resources you have available to you as well. Please comment below with any questions or what you plan on getting better at and how if you’d like to share!
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