Deliberate Practice Part 7

Over the past couple of months I have been writing about “Deliberate Practice”. I have taken most of my information from both Geoff Colvin’s book “Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else” and from my own experiences as an athlete, coach, and instructor. The book is fantastic! It has given me scientific proof backing my long held theory that “natural talent” doesn’t exist and that anyone can achieve any level of performance they desire to reach. Over the course of the previous 6 posts on “Deliberate Practice I have given you ideas as to how to make your practice sessions more effective and “Deliberate”. In this post I want to explain why practicing deliberately will enable you to reach any level of performance you desire to reach and how some of the world’s top prodigies are nothing more than people who have been practicing deliberately longer than their contemporaries.

In Colvin’s book he refers to the “ten year rule”. Simply stated, the ten year rule is that few performers in any endeavor achieve any level of greatness prior to deliberately practicing for 10 years. These “overnight successes”, the people who burst onto the scene and seemly come out of nowhere and appear to have natural ability for what they are doing have been deliberately practicing for 10 or more years. The interesting thing is that this 10 year rule is ageless. What I mean is, the clock starts once you start practicing deliberately and has no bearing on your age when you begin your intense level of practice. For example a 15 year old kid can have the same level of mastery over their skill as a 25 year old man. If that 15 year old starts practicing deliberately when they are 5 years old they will posses the same skill level as the 25 year old who may have started practicing deliberately at the age of 15. But, because we live in a world that assumes the 25 year old should be better because of experience and the fact that they have been performing the skill longer we assume that a 15 year old who is as proficient as a 25 year old has “natural” talent. However the years of deliberate practice remain the same.

Think about what most of us do. Most athletes, if they ever do decide to practice deliberately never do so until their high school or college years. Most athletes just play until at some point they decide that they want to make a run at playing in college or professionally. So even though they may have been playing for 10 or more years they usually have only been deliberately practicing for 1 year or less. Believe it or not in my experience, most of the major league players I know never practice deliberately. The superstars do but everyone else just goes through the motions. Which only further lends credibility to the “natural talent” theory since most professional athletes or anyone for that matter would never admit that they didn’t work hard enough. Plus we all think that major league players know what they are doing and that they know how to practice. The sad reality is that most athletes, even at the major league level, never engage in deliberate practice. This can be for a variety of reasons and isn’t limited to laziness but usually lack of knowledge of how to practice properly or the proper techniques needed to perform the skill correctly. I think of my own career and at 31 years old I feel as though I could step into the major leagues right now and not only contribute but be one of the better hitters in Major League Baseball. This feeling of confidence has only happened recently and some could argue that I have reached this level of mastery at an age that most athletes come into their prime. The problem I have with that argument is that I have only been practicing deliberately for about 7 years. As most of you know I have been hitting off a tee everyday of my life since the age of 12. In those 19 years of practice I was unaware of how to practice properly and what the proper mechanics of hitting were until about 6-7 years ago when I finally began to figure it out (though I will be the first on to admit that I still have a lot to learn). I have no doubt that if I were to have began deliberately practicing at 12 years old that I would have achieved the same level of physical mastery at the age of 19. Think about that! If I had the same level of mastery over my swing at 19 as I do at 31 not only would I have been a very high draft pick but also would have been considered a “natural”. Somewhat ironic if you consider that my high school and college coaches and teammates would have told you that I was anything but a natural.

You might think that there are examples all over the world of people with natural talent. However, if you listen to them being interviewed and you do some research into their past you will find examples of deliberate practice all the time. From Pujols, to Bonds, to Manny, to Roy Halladay, each guy practices and works differently then their peers. Some of you may have seen the youtube video of Susan Boyle. She is the 47 year old British woman who was on “Britian’s got Talent”. All though she didn’t look like a great singer and has never (until recently) received any notoriety for her singing, she astonished the judges with her amazing talent. If you haven’t seen it I recommend you check it out. Anyway, when you do a little research into her past you find that she has been singing since she was a child. She grew up in a house where her parents sang and singing was a big part of the families’ life. Just because we had never heard of her we all think that she is a “natural”. However, it turns out she (whether she knew it or not) had been deliberately practicing for over 30 years!

To take this point even further let’s take a look at two of the people that were studied in Colvin’s book, Wolfgang Mozart and Tiger Woods. What follows will be excerpts from Colvin’s book, “Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everyone Else”.

Mozart

“Mozart’s father was of course Leopold Mozart, a famous composer and performer in his own right. He was also a domineering parent who started his son on a program of intensive training in composition and performing at age three. Leopold was well qualified for his role as little Wolfgang’s teacher by more than his own eminence; he was deeply interested in how music was taught to children. While Leopold was only so-so as a musician he was highly accomplished as a pedagogue. His authoritative book on violin instruction, published the same year Woldgang was born, remained influential for decades.

So from the earliest age, Wolfgang was receiving heavy instruction from an expert teacher who lived with him. Of course his early compositions seem remarkable, but they raise some provocative questions. It’s interesting to note that the manuscripts are not in the boy’s own hand; Leopold always “corrected” them before anyone saw them. It seems noteworthy also that Leopold stopped composing at just the time he began teaching Wolfgang.”

“Mozart’s first work regarded today as a masterpiece, with its status confirmed by the number of recordings available, is his Piano Concerto No. 9, composed when he was twenty-one. That’s certainly an early age, but we must remember that by then Wolfgang had been through eighteen years of extremely hard, expert training.”

Tiger

“Tiger is born into the home of an expert golfer and confessed “golf addict” who loves to teach and is eager to begin teaching his new son as soon as possible.”

“Earl gives Tiger his first metal club, a putter, at the age of seven months. He sets up Tiger’s high chair in the garage, where earl is hitting balls into a net, and Tiger watches for hours on end. “It was like a movie being run over and over and over for his view.” Earl wrote. Earl develops new techniques for teaching the grip and the putting stroke to a student who cannot yet talk. Before Tiger is two, they are at the golf course playing and practicing regularly.”

“Amid all that has been written about his legend, a couple of facts are especially worth noting. First is the age at which he initially achieved outstanding performance at a level of play involving regular international competition. Let’s call it age nineteen, when he was a member of the U.S. Team in Walker Cup play (though he did not win his match). At that point he had been practicing golf with tremendous intensity, first under his father and after age four under professional teachers, for seventeen years.”

My hope is that from reading the above two examples you realize that natural talent doesn’t exist. I hope that you can see that your level of performance, your level of greatness is entirely under your control. You are completely unlimited in what you can accomplish both on and off the field. Look yourself in the mirror, evaluate how you are practicing and make the changes necessary to make sure you are practicing more deliberately. I have seen it work in my own life and in the lives of some of the athletes that I work with. Once you make the switch from regular practice to deliberate practice I know that you will be amazed at your increase in performance. If playing college or professional baseball is your dream then deliberate practice is the way to get there. Don’t waist another minute spinning your wheels. Make sure there is a purpose to everything thing you do. Mindless repetition might produce small gains in performance but deliberate practice will unlock your unlimited potential. Don’t be one of those people who makes the excuse “I just didn’t have enough talent”. Begin practicing deliberately and create your talent.

What If You Couldn't Fail?

About a month or so ago I was working with one of my clients who routinely produces exceptional results. I have been working with this particular client for more than 3 years and his growth as an athlete has been nothing less than remarkable. He has achieved a level of mastery over his physical skills so that now the bulk of his 60 minute lesson is spent on the mental aspects of the game. Oh sure, we usually take some time to make sure everything is working like it should and we run through a few drills that get his body ready to perform. Mostly however, I take time putting him in different mental scenarios that challenge his mind which in turn effects his physical performance. Our goal is to get him to achieve the same level of mastery over his mind as he has over his body. Once this happens the results that this athlete will produce will be scary!

During this particular lesson my client was struggling with repeating his mechanics. He had just witnessed another one of my clients (who is substantially bigger than him) hitting the ball with amazing force and velocity. I realized that his swing was being effected by his mental desire to hit as well as my previous client. This was causing him to produce much more effort than he normally does. As a result his mechanics were breaking down and he wasn’t hitting anywhere near like he normally does. What he didn’t realize is his normal, everyday, swing produces the same result as my previous client but his lack of confidence in his own abilities was causing him to produce a worse result.

Immediately I recognized the cause of his breakdown and approached him with an idea. I made his step out of the batter’s box, close his eyes, and imagine how he would swing if there was no other alternative but to succeed. I asked him, “How would you swing if it were guaranteed that you would hit the ball just as hard as my previous client?” How would you swing if it were guaranteed that you were going to hit the next ball harder then you ever have?”

With his eyes closed I could see a level of calmness come over him. Once he opened his eyes I looked at him and said, “For these next 10 pitches I want you to swing like there is no other alternative but success.” I have to say the results were astounding. Not only were the next 10 swings perfect but each pitch was hit in an identical way. Each pitch was hit harder then I had ever seen this athlete hit and each swing was executed with far less effort then he had shown in the past.

You see guys, when we produce effort in our mechanics we are coming from a place of doubt. You are saying that if I don’t try real hard then I won’t succeed. If I don’t swing as hard as I can then I won’t produce any power. When you are in that place mentally then you give power to failure. You make it more likely to happen and you are interfering with your subconscious mind’s ability to perform mechanics.

Think of it this way.... Your subconscious mind is responsible for all the movement in your body. Your heart beating, your breathing, your digestion, and your swing mechanics. Since we already know that in order to produce power we must execute good physical mechanics and since we know that our goal is to produce a repeatable mechanically sound swing then it’s important that we put ourselves in a place where we are allowing our subconscious mind to tell our body what to do. Any doubt, fear, or anxiety will inhibit the subconscious mind’s ability to produce the result you desire. So if effort is coming from a place of doubt then you can see why it will inhibit your ability to produce results.

What if you never experienced failure? What if your mind knew nothing but success and never knew what a bad swing was? You wouldn’t have any mental blocks and your ability to execute your mechanics would be easy. Dr. Joseph Murphy states in his book “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind”, “To use mental force or willpower is to presuppose that there is opposition. But, the act of imagining opposition creates opposition. If your attention is focused on the obstacles to obtaining what you desire, it is no longer concentrating on the means to obtain your desire.” In other words, by acknowledging in your mind that this swing might not be perfect or by acknowledging opposition in any way you are creating this opposition because then your mind is unable to completely focus on producing perfect mechanics.

Do yourself a favor. Only focus on the positive. Work and play as though there were no other alternative but for you to reach your goals. Keep your thoughts focused on the execution of perfect mechanics. Swing as though you will succeed. See yourself in your mind performing not as you think you can but as you desire to perform. Then get to work as though there was no other option but for you to realize this level of performance. You will be amazed at the results you produce.

Visualization

Unlimited Performance Baseball athlete David Nick was recently profiled in the OC Varsity Insider on ocvarsity.com. In the article written by Jonathan Kay David went on to describe a pre-game visualization routine that he goes through prior to every game. I thought it was a great example of how visualization can help you develop a mechanically sound and repeatable swing. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Less-seen tools: After practice, the day before each game, Nick steps into the batter’s box. There’s a bat in his hand, but there’s no ball coming his way. There’s no pitcher. He’s the only one on the field.

Sports psychology “is a big part of what we do,” Weber said. “But he’s taken it to the next level.”

Nick explains: “I get into the box, stare out to the mound, and I’ll have an at-bat. (The count) is 0-0; I’m looking for a fastball.”

He envisions the next day’s starting pitcher, the windup, how the ball will look coming out of this pitcher’s hand.

“Every time, I visualize squaring up to the ball, hitting it with backspin,” Nick said.

Why does he do this? It’s a recent development, from the past few years, after Weber passed out the book Heads-Up Baseball, by Tom Hanson and Ken Ravizza.

“It gets me in the right mind-set,” Nick said of his batters box routine. “It builds my confidence up. Along with visualization, I’ll think of recent successes I’ve had.”

For those of you who are unfamiliar with who David is he is one of the top high school players in the country. He has already committed to play at UCLA and is projected to go in the first couple of rounds of this years professional draft. David and I have been working together for close to 6 years and I have had the privilege of watching him grow, mature, and develop as a baseball player.

David is a great example to other players not just because of his exceptional ability but rather as an example of how to develop that ability. His work ethic is unparalleled, his commitment to development is second to none, and it is easy to see why he is having the level of success he is now experiencing. Aside from the physical work that he does David is a great example of how visualization can be such a powerful tool in the development of an athlete.

In addition to the pre-game visualization above David uses different forms of visualization as part of his daily routine. In the time we have worked together I have seen David take countless dry swings in front of the mirror. He begins and ends each practice session with mirror work, breaking down each aspect of the swing. You can see him visualizing a pitched ball and then taking a swing in front of the mirror making sure his movements are perfect.

Whether he realizes it or not his work in front of the mirror is another form of visualization. He is reinforcing proper physical mechanics into his subconscious mind which will better enable him to repeat those mechanics during a game. This is one of the things that separates David from other players. His ability to repeat proper mechanics and avoid mechanical breakdown is amazing.

Other players could greatly benefit from mimicking David’s visualization techniques. Remember that our goal as hitters is to repeat proper mechanics in order to best enable ourselves to succeed. Since the mind can’t distinguish between what is real and what is imagined you have the ability to repeat a perfect swing thousands of times throughout a given day. You have complete control over what you visualize and as such can guarantee your swing is perfect. You also have the power to visualize entire at-bats. You can imagine facing tomorrow’s starting pitcher. You can see all of his pitches and visualize success against him. You will find that when it does come time to face him you will feel as though you have already done it. Your confidence will be greater and you will be more likely to repeat proper mechanics during that at-bat.

Visualization is a powerful tool. Many of the top athletes use it regularly to help increase their performance. David is a perfect example of an athlete who uses this powerful tool to help raise his level of performance. It’s easy, you don’t need any additional equipment, and you can do it virtually anywhere. There is no reason that you can’t use visualization to better your game. In a world where there is a number of expensive machines and tools to help you better your swing the best tool is free.

Deliberate Practice Part 6

In the sixth blog on deliberate practice we are going to discuss the final element that makes your practice session deliberate and effective. This element is probably what really separates elite performers from everyone else. Most people will be unwilling to add this element of practice to their practice session and it will test your true desire to perform at an elite level. This sixth element of deliberate practice is, “It isn’t much fun.”

I know, I know, baseball is supposed to be fun and it should be. However in order for you to reach the elite levels of performance your practice sessions can’t always be fun. Let me explain why. It’s never enjoyable to engage in any activity that we aren’t very good at. We are always drawn to performing activities that we are good at because it feels good and is fun to succeed. Many athletes don’t take the time to work on the things that they struggle with, it’s too hard on their ego. It’s much easier to simply ignore your weaknesses and continue to work on the things you are good at primarily because this allows us to have success during our practice session which allows us to feel good about our abilities as an athlete. Very rarely will you find an athlete that is committed to and consistently works on their weaknesses. When you do find this athlete they will be the first to tell you that spending time on their weaknesses isn’t fun at all but they realize that it is a necessity if they ever want to reach the levels of performance that they desire to reach.

In Geoff Colvin’s book “Talent is Overrated” he states, “Doing things we know how to do well is enjoyable, and that’s exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands.” Looking back at my own life and my experience as an athlete, coach, and instructor I know that Mr. Colvin is correct in this statement. As everyone knows baseball has been my passion (some may say obsession) my entire life. While baseball has always been number one with me there are many other sports that I have enjoyed through out my life. My willingness to work on my weakness and consistently get out and practice even when it wasn’t very much fun proves to me my love for baseball as opposed to how I approached other sports. As a result I have completely transformed myself as a baseball player while I plateaued in the other sports in which I participate. For me basketball is one of these sports. As a young athlete I was very good at basketball and I had a lot of fun playing basketball. The difference for me in basketball as opposed to baseball was I was completely unwilling to work on the things that I was weak at. For me to play basketball it always had to be fun and when it wasn’t I had no desire to play. Baseball however was completely different. I became obsessed with turning my weaknesses into my strengths, even if practice wasn’t fun I was determined to be the best player I could. To this day I will spend hours in the cage or one the field if it means I will improve. My desire to play baseball at the highest level out weighed any lack of fun I might be having. This unwillingness to apply the same deliberate practice in basketball allow other athletes to catch up to my abilities as I got older. I was no longer the stand out on the court and it wasn’t long before I wasn’t good enough to play anymore.

In many of my clients I see the reluctance to put in the work necessary to sure up their weaknesses. Many of my clients’ egos are too fragile and they limit the results they can produce because of they unwillingness to look past the lack of fun. As such many of them who were at one time performing far better than their peers become average players as they get older. Now I am not saying that practice should never be fun but what I am saying is that if you want to experience the fun of playing at an elite level then you might need to sacrifice some fun during practice sessions.


I encourage you to look into the future and focus on where you want to go as an athlete. Set aside the “fun” of your practice sessions in order to experience the fun of unlimited success. Geoff Colvin said it best when he said, “If it seems a bit depressing that the most important thing you can do to improve performance is not fun, take consolation in this fact: It must be so. If the activities that lead to greatness were easy and fun, then everyone would do them and they would not distinguish the best from the rest. The reality that deliberate practice is hard can even be seen as good news. It means that most people won’t do it. So your willingness to do it will distinguish you all the more.”

Consistent Mindset Consistent Results

As the high school season approaches the halfway point its good to take a step back and evaluate your performance over the first half of the season. I have been very fortunate over this past year to witness some incredible growth and development in many of my athletes. Some of the things they have been able to do in a relatively short period of time is truly remarkable. I have been fortunate enough to witness some athletes become completely transformed as players.

As it has a tendency to happen with younger players some of my athletes develop some frustration not because of poor numbers but rather inconsistency in their performance. Many of my athletes have made such great improvement in their abilities and they have had games early in the year that were so much better then games they had the previous season that they develop some level of frustration when they aren’t performing at this higher level every game. As such I get questions from my athletes as to why they can be inconsistent at times?

Obviously it’s difficult to maintain a high level of performance at all times. But, what is the reason behind this? Why is it that we can play at a certain level one day and the next day not even resemble the player we were the day before?

It’s important to remember that the mind plays an important if not crucial role in the performance of the body. You body’s ability to perform proper mechanics depends on your mental state at the time you are trying to perform those mechanics. Different thoughts, emotions, and mental states can either enhance or inhibit your body’s ability to perform proper mechanics. If you were to play one game in a different mental state then you did the previous game then chances are you physical performance will be affected regardless if there is something wrong with you physically.

Inconsistent performance is usually the product of inconsistencies somewhere else in your life. These inconsistencies include:

Inconsistent Work Habits- Many times athletes will be consistent with their work habits in the preseason. It’s easy to find time to get in your extra work or get to a lesson. However, once the season starts extra time becomes scarce and some athletes feel like they don’t need to get in their extra work because they are practicing or playing games everyday. The problem is, during practice and games the player rarely works on the same drills they work on during their lesson or on their own. In addition they aren’t getting the same number of swings that they got in the preseason. Even though they are spending more time on the field, the time for their personal development has reduced. As a result the athlete experiences a reduction in performance. Sometimes they do their extra work and then have some success. This leads some athletes to believe that they are “fixed”. Therefore they slack off on the work and their performance suffers. Whatever the case maybe if an athlete is inconsistent with their work habits they will be inconsistent in their performance.
Inconsistent Emotions- As much as we try to leave our problems off of the field it is extremely difficult. Anything can happen before a game to change us emotionally and add negative emotion into our life. One game might be played on a day where everything goes right. The player gets an A in a class, they have a good time with friends, whatever. That day the player is full of positive emotions and it carries over in the game. When an athlete is in this positive state it becomes easier for them to perform good mechanics. Conversely, an athlete may have a bad day and for whatever reason they show up to the field full of negativity and negative emotion. This negativity produces roadblocks in the mind and roadblocks to the body’s ability to perform proper mechanics. This can cause a reduction in performance and inconsistencies in the player’s overall performance. It’s important that the athlete do what they can to foster only positive emotions. More important it’s important that the athlete tries to stay consistent with their emotions from game to game.
Inconsistent Thoughts- An athlete who is unaware of their thoughts is setting themselves up for inconsistent performance. The thoughts we have at any given time produce either fluidity or tension in the body which obviously effects the body’s ability to perform. It’s important that athletes become aware of their thoughts at any given time. This way they can not only repeat proper physical mechanics but they can repeat good thoughts enabling their bodies to perform. This is why I always recommend that players keep a journal. With the journal they can have a record of how they performed in a game, what they were feeling and what they were thinking. They will begin to notice familiar patterns when they are performing well and then they can reproduce these same thoughts and feelings to maximize their performance and keep their performance consistent.

Inconsistent performance can be very frustrating for every athlete. Many athlete makes the mistake of looking only at physical reasons for these inconsistencies. What we must remember is that the mind controls the body. Any breakdown in physical mechanics usually has a mental origin. If you can keep your mindset consistent you will be able to keep you performance consistent. Start a journal, record your thoughts and emotions from game to game. Try to recreate the thoughts you were having when you were performing well. You will find that the more you recreate these thoughts the more consistent your performance will become.

An Example of a Limited Mindset

The other day I was watching a major league baseball game and I heard a couple of comments that are perfect examples of the limited mindset that is pervasive in baseball today. During the game the commentators (both of which are former major league players) were talking about an upcoming rookie in the organization. The rookie had just hit a homerun and they began to discuss the rookie’s “natural power”. One of the commentators said, “There are two things you can’t teach. You can’t teach power and you can’t teach talent.”

If you have been reading some of my other blogs you know that I couldn’t disagree with this statement more. First of all, you can teach both talent and power! Sure, there is a lot that has to go into the development of that power and talent but I have seen it done too many times to ever buy into this limited thinking. I have seen a 130 pound athlete go from a singles hitter into a hitter who has the capability of hitting the ball over 400 feet. I have see a player who is 5 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds completely change as a hitter and is now capable of driving the ball as well as any hitter I work with. I have seen a pitcher who used to max out at 86 mph develop into a pitcher who would throw consistently in the 90's. I have seen my own abilities completely change to where I am now able to do the things that people thought I wasn’t “born” to do. All of this experience has taught me that you can be as good as you want to be. I have learned that if you are willing to take the necessary steps you can make yourself into any level of player that you desire to be.

Don’t buy into the idea of limitation. Don’t allow the limitations of others prevent you from becoming the athlete you want to become. People buy into this idea because it’s easy. It’s easy to say you’re limited then it is to admit you didn’t play as well as you could have. It’s easy to say that you “did the best with what you were given” then it is to look yourself in the mirror and say that you could have been better. Don’t allow this to happen to you. Take responsibility for your level of play. If you desire to get better don’t allow anyone or anything get in your way. Learn as much as you can. Do research on your own. Find out what it is the best players in the game are doing and apply that to your game. If you really want to reach extraordinary levels of performance you can. You can be as good as you can envision yourself being. Be open to change, master your mechanics and master your mind. The level of performance you desire to reach is within your grasp. You are limited by nothing!