John Hopkins Researchers: Possibly 2X learning speed by adding variation [WaPo]

[nevets88]

More research showing that adding some variation to practice speeds up progress.

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If you're trying to improve your golf swing or master that tricky guitar chord progression, here's some good news from researchers at Johns Hopkins University: You may be able to double how quickly you learn skills like these by introducing subtle variations into your practice routine.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/12/how-to-learn-new-skills-twice-as-fast/?tid=sm_tw

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“What we found is if you practice a slightly modified version of a task you want to master, you actually learn more and faster than if you just keep practicing the exact same thing multiple times in a row,” says Celnik. The work, described in the Jan. 28 edition of the journal Current Biology, has implications not only for leisure skills, like learning to play a musical instrument or a sport, but also for helping patients with stroke and other neurological conditions regain lost motor function, he says.

“Our results are important because little was known before about how reconsolidation works in relation to motor skill development. This shows how simple manipulations during training can lead to more rapid and larger motor skill gains because of reconsolidation,” says Celnik. “The goal is to develop novel behavioral interventions and training schedules that give people more improvement for the same amount of practice time.”

...

“If you make the altered task too different, people do not get the gain we observed during reconsolidation,” he says. “The modification between sessions needs to be subtle.”

http://m.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/want_to_learn_a_new_skill_faster_change_up_your_practice_sessions#.VsHQW7Dv1lI.twitter

[PJCdude]

So what you're trying to say, is maybe less swing building with one club and more randomized hitting like Driver-SW-8i-Hybrid-PW-5i etc?

[Lihu]

8 minutes ago, PJCdude said:

So what you're trying to say, is maybe less swing building with one club and more randomized hitting like Driver-SW-8i-Hybrid-PW-5i etc?

Also also possibly exaggerate feels as described LSW?

[BaldTexan]

This is interesting since I have seen the same idea stated in another book.  What is recommended is say hit a high cut with a driver then wait four or five minutes and hit a low draw with a seven iron.

More like you would be doing on the course than hitting thirty wedge shots in row trying to dial in the perfect shot and expecting that one really good shot equals "I got it perfected now"

Which I am so guilty of and can attest that that does not work out very well when playing on the course.

If you want to know the name of the book pm me and I'll let you know.

[PJCdude]

I feel like varying practice is good, but taking time with one club and working on just technique is valuable. I usually like to break hour-hour and a half practice sessions (when I have adequate time which is less frequent these days) into 3 parts:

PART 1: WARM-UP/SWING TECHNIQUE

I'll usually start with half wedge shots, making my way up to full shots and thinking about technique. I'll then take an iron (usually 7i) and focus on whatever swing keys I've been using lately, sometimes film, sometimes not but really spend time working out the kinks and THINKING about my swing. I'll then try the same swing with a long club (usually 2h) and driver.

PART 2: SHORT GAME

I'll then go over to the green and spend 20 minutes-half hour chipping, pitching and getting out of sand.

PART 3: PLAY THE COURSE

This is what Johns Hopkins was talking about and how I feel like you can take your range game to the course. I'll pick a course I usually play in my head and just estimate yardage etc and hit Driver-7i-chip, Driver-hybrid-Wedge etc. and follow what I would do on course. I try to forget what I was thinking about in Part 1 and concentrate more on pre-swing routine.

I'm no expert but this approach helped me shave 5 1/2 strokes this past year and I've seen many other people use it.