Simple, Specific, Slow, Short, and Success - The Five "S"s of Great Practice

[mvmac]

Good stuff from Jason Sutton

Sutton forgot Howell's other instructor Dana Dahlquist I've posted video before of Howell doing these slow swings with Dana.

[mcbeck]

I did not say that you could not learn slowly.   I said if you train slowly you increase the learning curve. See my original post, 80.

You know much more about the mechanics of the stroke (golf, swimming, pitching, kicking, etc.) than I do.  But, you do not know the science of learning, the science of instruction and the laws of human movement learning.

I asked the human movement earning scientist to write something for you folks. It took awhile, but here is the introduction to a website which will plug his sports training academy of the future. It's mostly about WHAT will result from his training methodology. For proprietary reasons, there is not much on HOW the training will be done.

Best wishes to all.  You'll have fun with this...

Golf, baseball, softball, tennis, basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, hockey, field hockey, cricket, table tennis, jai alai, darts, track and field, swimming….etc.

If you are an athlete, parent, coach, administrator---or anyone responsible for the success of a sports team or organization---what you will find here could easily be the most important information you will ever encounter in your sports-related life.

Because here is where you will discover the most exciting new development in the history of sports training .

Here it is:

There is a new way to train athletes that is much better than anything that has ever been possible before.

By better, we mean much more effective and in significantly less time .

That means you can make more progress in your sport than what you ever could before.

Not only will you get better than was ever before possible, but you will also get there in far less time than traditional methods take…for less progress.

The days of suffering at the much lower levels that traditional methods have always left athletes floundering at---those days are over.

How is this possible?

Well, unbeknownst to the general public, a quiet, but very intensive, university-level research program has been going on for the past couple of decades, specifically to determine the scientific laws governing human movement learning .

This research has been very successful and the laws responsible for HOW the body actually learns movement have finally been clearly established.

Not only has this research determined how the body learns movement in general, but it is now known, specifically, how the body learns sports skills .

This research has also determined EXACTLY how sports skills MUST be taught if the objective is to reach the highest levels of skill humanly possible .

And, not surprisingly, these methods are nothing like the ways skills are taught in sports now.

No, this is not a fitness program. Not even close. Nor is it about strength or speed…or whatever else is being “taught” in sports today.

This is all about on-field, in-competition skill perfection : the pitching, the hits, the swings, the putts, the serves, the strokes, the kicks and so on.

The hits, shots, serves, putts, kicks, pitches, throws, spikes, passes and catches that actually win games, matches, tournaments, titles, medals and world championships…...

And the key defensive skills as well.

Whatever your sport, if there is a ball used in it, we will train you to be as good as you can possibly be at that sport and all the major skills that sport requires.

Because we offer the best ballistics skills training on the planet, by far.

And that is just the beginning of what we can do for you. In any sport we teach.

What is the most important thing in sports?

Answer: It is maximal control of your body . Being able to make your body do what you want, whenever you want. And therefore to have control over your bat, your racquet, your club and therefore, your ball….

Our training provides the perfection of robot-like control in your sport's skills.

Nothing is more important to winning than accuracy in, and repeatability of, sports skills. They are what operationally-define control. Making the ball go wherever you want it to go whenever you want is the very definition of skill.

And, NOTHING is harder to develop. OR teach.

Control is the most important thing in sports, but it is far and away the hardest thing to learn, and the hardest thing to generate in an athlete.

Unless you're us .

We have totally nailed how to perfect accuracy. And how to teach you to be accurate all the time .

And guess what? We can improve your velocity to greater heights, as well.

(How hard are great accuracy and repeatability to learn? Just watch any pro pitcher. Even he throws a lot of bad pitches. Every game. Or watch pro golfers, tennis players, and so forth. And that's the pros!)

Yes, traditional coaches know a lot about the mechanics of their sports, but they know much less about how to “make them happen” and stick.

Mechanics are only one factor in producing high accuracy and the ability to maintain that level of accuracy throughout entire competitive events.

Much less, entire careers...

Working on mechanics along with lots of practice will improve performance, we all agree on that. All instructors do that, and some do it really well.

We do that, too.

But those traditional approaches are nowhere near good enough to improve an athlete’s performance to the really high levels of control of the body and control of the ball , that they can quickly get to if REAL INSTRUCTION---using the science of human movement learning---is applied.

Practicing the right things, the right way, supplied with the right opportunity and feedback, and given the highest degrees of task difficulty, all tied to the athlete’s ability to succeed, in an ever-progressive program, produces relentless progress towards increasingly-refined skill .

None of these things is done properly in traditional instruction. Because coaches know very little about the science of learning, the science of instruction and the science of human movement learning, in particular. No knowledge is more important in training athletes than those sciences.

The athlete must have all of these things for optimal progress.

The best instruction will produce the most body control, the most accuracy, the most velocity and the highest ability to produce these actions at will.

That translates to the highest, competitive performance levels.

For the athlete's entire career.

And there is only one place to get all these things .

The future of sports training is here now.

Here's what this all really means…..

It is now possible to train until you reach the peak of your personal potential.

Not the 'peak' of where traditional methods will leave you. Because ALL traditional training will ALWAYS leave you well BELOW the peak of your potential.

That is because all traditional methods are missing the key requirements for physical skill optimization. And that, in turn, is because all other instructors in the world, through no fault of their own, are unaware of the laws of human movement learning. So they don't know how to appropriately apply them for sports skill acquisition.

So, even if you have the most famous or credentialed coach in the world, you will only have second-best training. And more importantly, you will never attain your true peak performance in your sport.

Instead, you will only reach the level that your genetics, your coach's second-best instruction and your practice and play---all of these combined---has left you with.

If you're lucky, that level could help you make the team, or get a college scholarship, be a pro or even a world record holder.

Yes, it could even make you the best athlete ever at your sport.

And, if so, good for you.

But here's what it won’t make you: Anywhere near as good as you could really be .

And what if the most common outcome of traditional training happens instead? What if your regular practice and your traditional coaching are all you ever get? Will you still make the team, get a scholarship or be a pro?

Very doubtful.

99.9% of all athletes fail to make it to the level they aspire to.

Think about this: What if you have the genetic potential, but do not use the coaching that could have taken you to these higher levels of competition?

It's a pity, but that is exactly what is happening to all of the athletes in the world right now. Odds are, even if you do have good enough genetics, your current training path will not take you anywhere near where you actually could be, if instead, you did what we have our athletes do.

The ONLY way you can be as good as possible is to use training based on how the body REALLY learns athletic skill.

And there is only one place in the world you can go to get that training.

That is here, with us.

We not only know what to do, we wrote the book on the subject .

Literally.

Title:

"How to be a Pro in any Sport : Using the New Science of Human Movement Learning to Reach Peak Athletic Skill"

(In fact we have written more than one…..)

By the way, even if you are the greatest who ever lived in your sport, you are still not as good as you can be. You would be like everyone else we train: You would just be a beginner to us.

You would start higher in the program, because we do not re-teach what you already know. But you would still just be beginning your new path to even greater heights.

Much greater.

For example, in martial arts, a black belt is just the beginning for serious athletes….

HOW does the body really learn physical skill?

What methods do we use to get the athlete to the peak of his or her actual genetic ability?

We will tell you everything you need to know when we meet with you to discuss your or your athlete's situation and goals. In a relaxing, informative, confidential, and no-obligation, but FREE initial evaluation.

When you have this information, you will know then and there that we not only know the laws governing human movement learning, and that no other method is as good, but you will also be as certain as we are that the outcome we project for the athlete will be achieved.

We don't care what sport, skill level, age, gender, or national origin your athlete is, by the way. We also don't care if the training is for competitive athletes or weekend warriors.

If you show up, you will learn. You will get much better at your sport. Period.

We are the only instructors on Earth who can say with honesty that we can get athletes to the peak of their genetic ability , no matter how high that is.

And that level is well beyond what any other coach or method could even approach. Anyone, anywhere.

( But if you're a coach that wants to be the best instructor possible, we can train you also, of course …..)

"Extraordinary claims require

extraordinary evidence."

Carl Sagan

Don't believe us? Too good to be true?

We don't blame you for wondering.

But we don't mind healthy skepticism at all.

In fact, we think you should make us prove what we say.

So we invite you to contact us as a first step in evaluating our veracity, our honesty, our truthfulness.

And our ability to produce more athletic progress than you could ever have imagined achieving.

We will be happy to prove that we are right, and that you or your athletes will make the progress we say he or she will.

And, you'll know how we will achieve that progress before we begin our program, because we'll explain how the body learns sports skill and how you must train if you want to be swept away in an unending current of athletic progress.

Your Custom Training Program

We have many services and programs available, but everything we do is customized for just you. No two programs are alike, because that would not allow you to advance at your own natural ability to make progress.

You will never be constrained from making all the progress of which you are uniquely capable.

You will fly as fast and as high as your capacity for improvement permits.

And the pricing is customized as well, based on your objectives, your program, and your ability to pay.

In fact, scholarships might be available for you…

But this may be the most important fact of all :

We are probably the only people you'll ever meet who care about your progress even more than you do .

Honestly and sincerely care.

That means that we are likely to be more motivated to help you succeed than even you are.

So we will never waver in our effort to generate your progress, even during your worst biorhythms.

Our Sport

You see, training athletes is OUR SPORT . It is what we compete at. And we are the best in the world at it and we plan to stay on top forever.

And as much as you want to win in competition, we want you to win even more than that, because that means we are winning at our sport.

The sport of being the best instructors on Earth.

Just as you will do anything to be a champion, we will do anything possible to make you one .

Because when you win, we win. And your winning is very likely to make us even happier than it makes you. Honestly and sincerely.

We will never let anyone else be better instructors than we are .

No one. Nowhere.

And when you meet us, you'll have no doubt about any of this.

Guaranteed.

Just like your progress.

Which is also guaranteed!

You?

If you're one of the few who won't be convinced, in spite of how right we are, don't use us.

Just keep doing what you are doing. We wish you the best of luck.

(We hope you'll be back when whatever you're trying bottoms out…..)

But, if you want to know what the most advanced scientific understanding of physical skill acquisition ever-formulated is based on, and what is possible for you , given this discovery, you should get in touch .

Remember, we love explaining how this works, and what we can do for you .

[Abu3baid]

I don't want to quote the previous post but it is pretty much OT Start a new thread selling your stuff ;)

[mmoan2]

I understand this thread, truly. Usually when I'm at the range practicing now, I get a lot of weird looks as I drill the same move over and over in slow motion without hitting a ball. However, is there ever a point where breaking down swing pieces and doing them slowly just causes analysis paralysis? I think the key might be to have a specific training plan in mind so I'm not working on various swing tidbits haphazardly, but I'm finding now that I don't feel like I've gotten any better at my full swing in a long time no matter how hard I try to isolate my perceived weaknesses and work on them slowly and deliberately. Is there ever a time to just practice full swings at the range to groove an athletic move, even if it may not be ideal?

[billchao]

I understand this thread, truly. Usually when I'm at the range practicing now, I get a lot of weird looks as I drill the same move over and over in slow motion without hitting a ball. However, is there ever a point where breaking down swing pieces and doing them slowly just causes analysis paralysis? I think the key might be to have a specific training plan in mind so I'm not working on various swing tidbits haphazardly, but I'm finding now that I don't feel like I've gotten any better at my full swing in a long time no matter how hard I try to isolate my perceived weaknesses and work on them slowly and deliberately. Is there ever a time to just practice full swings at the range to groove an athletic move, even if it may not be ideal?

Two things: Are you working on your priority piece, as identified by a knowledgeable observer? Are you using quality feedback such as a video camera to confirm you are making the changes properly? If you can answer yes to both these questions, I really can't see how you're not improving. When I practice things properly, the moves eventually become natural to me, and my old moves seem awkward. It's really like you're rewiring your swing.

[mmoan2]

Two things:

Are you working on your priority piece, as identified by a knowledgeable observer?

Are you using quality feedback such as a video camera to confirm you are making the changes properly?

If you can answer yes to both these questions, I really can't see how you're not improving. When I practice things properly, the moves eventually become natural to me, and my old moves seem awkward. It's really like you're rewiring your swing.

The answer is no on both counts. Problem solved! One of those "no duh" kinda questions, I guess.

I'm going to use my phone camera to post some swings in the My Swing section here to at least get started. I have been waiting to do so after buying an Exilim, but being out of work for 6 months really did me in on the savings and disposable income front.

I also want to sign up for Evolvr because I certainly can't afford in-person lessons right now, and I don't trust many pros anyway. Will my Galaxy SIII camera be adequate enough to be usable?

Thanks

[iacas]

I also want to sign up for Evolvr because I certainly can't afford in-person lessons right now, and I don't trust many pros anyway. Will my Galaxy SIII camera be adequate enough to be usable?

Absolutely. That one does some high-speed stuff too, doesn't it?

BTW, here's a video that shows me practicing by applying the 5S:

[mmoan2]

Absolutely. That one does some high-speed stuff too, doesn't it?

BTW, here's a video that shows me practicing by applying the 5S:

I think the S3 is stuck at 30fps, if I'm not mistaken. It's the S4 and S5 that do 60 and 120 respectively, as do the iPhones.

Sunday I conned someone to come to the range and film me. I'll post then and thanks again for the help.

[teeitup22]

My mindset has completely changed due to this article. I used to just hit a lot of balls trying to be great on the range... only to get to the course and find my swing did not hold up. Now I am content to not look as pretty on the range (doing more punch shots, working on the corrects feels) but I feel more confident heading to the golf course. Hopefully the results on the course will be much more positive.

[iacas]

My mindset has completely changed due to this article. I used to just hit a lot of balls trying to be great on the range... only to get to the course and find my swing did not hold up. Now I am content to not look as pretty on the range (doing more punch shots, working on the corrects feels) but I feel more confident heading to the golf course. Hopefully the results on the course will be much more positive.

Good!

I think the takeaway is something we wrote up in Lowest Score Wins - since there's no scoring on the practice range, "winning" at practice would be based on how well you practice, not how good the shots are.

[nevets88]

I think the S3 is stuck at 30fps, if I'm not mistaken. It's the S4 and S5 that do 60 and 120 respectively, as do the iPhones.

Sunday I conned someone to come to the range and film me. I'll post then and thanks again for the help.

I thought the S4 goes as high as 240fps?

[mvmac]

[saevel25]

So what is he working on? Those are some interesting set ups for drills.

[nevets88]

So what is he working on? Those are some interesting set ups for drills.

I'm guessing he's working on keeping the shaft from going under plane from P4 to P7? He's going over the stick. That tube retractor thingamajig, for extension, so he doesn't shift (ha ha, I wrote sh*t) the plane left.

[mvmac]

So what is he working on? Those are some interesting set ups for drills.

Probably Key #4/5 oriented. Club face "rolling" less, controlling the overtaking rate so the hands don't exit so high. If the club head "rolls" he won't be able to slide the training aid on the ground. It's actually a putting aid.

The shaft in the ground just gives him a feel for how the sweetspot is traveling, how he wants the arms and pivot to work in order to have the club swing slightly above the stick and then slightly below it.

I assume he wants it to look more like the right pic and less like the left pic. His instructor Mike Bender is a big fan of the positions he's practicing, club face staying more "square to the arc" as the body keeping pivoting. Byrd can have a tendency to stay closed for too long, sag the right knee, send the path too far out and roll the forearms on the way though.

[mvmac]

I guess it worked.

[Millwrong12]

This is really great information. You guys sure have talent

[saevel25]

Quote:

LM : A normal training session for a long snapper isn't very long — usually around 30 minutes – if it's strictly a snapping workout. The first 25 minutes should be spent on stretching and form work, with repetition and muscle memory being the focus, all without a ball. The last 5 minutes is spent live snapping with a ball, and fine tuning any mistakes or issues with form. A good goal is 20-25 good snaps. Too many more than that and you'll wear yourself out and compromise your form.

Even in other sports simple, specific, slow, short practice is successful. Liam McCullough is an Ohio State football prospect entering in 2015. He was recruited as a long snapper. Yes, Ohio State is that arrogant they would use a scholarship on a long snapper.  :)

This is his response to being ask what is a typical practice for a long snapper.

A simple 30 minutes a day gets you a division I scholarship as a long snapper.

Practice correctly to get big gains.