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PRACTICE PERFECT RULE #9: ANALYZE THE GAME
Use data to pick out the top performers. Observe and analyze performance data to discern what skills top performers have in common. Analyze and describe those skills in terms that provide a clear map to others who want to replicate them. Training, training, training. I just sat in a rehearsal with Helnuth Rilling rehearsing the […]
PRACTICE PERFECT RULE #8: CORRECT INSTEAD OF CRITIQUE
Strive to ask participants to redo an action differently or better rather than just telling them whether or how it could have been different. Try to shorten the feedback loop and achieve correction as quickly as possible after an action that requires intervention. Always maintain a teaching mentality and focus on the solution (“cut more […]
PRACTICE PERFECT RULE #7: DIFFERENTIATE DRILL FROM SCRIMMAGE
Mr. Matlock, “Can we please just sing through the whole song today?” Some students don’t understand the difference between scrimmage and drill. On the other hand, sometimes when a student asks the above question I know that I have drilled them “in the ground” and need something to freshen up rehearsal — time to modify […]
PERFECT PRACTICE RULE #5: REPLACE YOUR PURPOSE (WITH AN OBJECTIVE)
This is for teachers. I know it is true. Why can’t I make the time to plan like this? Replace the vague idea of a “purpose” with a manageable and measurable objective that is made ahead of practice and gives mastery guidance. Teach skills in a sequence of objectives of increasing complexity. Include objectives that […]
PERFECT PRACTICE RULE #6: BRIGHT SPOTS
I hear it many times. “I know this part. I don’t need to practice this section, it is my best one.” Can weaknesses be overcome through developing your strengths? This chapter points to the answer being, “yes.” Strengths can be great leverage!! So use them. Identify and practice areas of talent as well as areas […]
PRACTICE PERFECT RULE #4: UNLOCK CREATIVITY …WITH REPETITION
I watch interviews after a game where great athletes describe great plays that happened. The interviewer asked questions like, “How did you make it happen”? “What were you thinking?” “Was it planned?” The Athlete responds with how the game seemed to slow down and he was able see what he needed to do. This has […]
PERFECT PRACTICE RULE #3: LET THE MIND FOLLOW THE BODY
Stress learning skills all the way to automaticity so that participants can use them automatically–and before they consciously decide to. Build up layers of related automated skills so that participants can do complex tasks without actively thinking about them. Automate fundamentals, but also look for more complex and subtle skills that may also respond to […]
PERFECT PRACTICE RULE #2: PRACTICE THE 20
identify the 20 percent of things you could practice that will deliver 80 percent of the value. Practice the highest-priority things more than everything else combined. Keep practicing them: the value of practice begins at mastery! Save time by planing better in advance. Engage participants by repeating productive drills with minor variations instead of constantly […]
PRACTICE PERFECT RULE #1: ENCODE SUCCESS
Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better by Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway, Katie Yezzi and Dan Heath (Sep 19, 2012) Engineer practice activities so that the success rate is reliably high; if the activities are especially challenging, ensure that they end with a period of reliable success so your participants practice getting it right. Check for mastery constantly. […]
Enemies of Practice
The enemies of practice are pride and fear and self-satisfaction. To practice requires humility. It forces us to admit that we don’t know everything. It forces us to submit to feedback from people who can teach us. But surely practice isn’t a sign of weakness–after all, some of the people most famously disciplined about practice […]