1. Deliberate practice develops skills that other people have already figured out how to do and
for which effective training techniques have been established. The practice regimen should be
designed and overseen by a teacher or coach who is familiar with the abilities of expert performers
and with how those abilities can best be developed.
Are you following a practice regimen designed by an expert who is overseeing your development?
Are you working with a PGA Professional? A Mental Coach? A Physical Trainer? What are the skills
of the expert golfer? What skills are you practicing? For a list of skills worth considering adding to
your regimen, check out my previous article.
2. Deliberate practice takes place outside one’s comfort zone and requires a student to constantly try
things that are just beyond his or her current abilities. Thus it demands near-maximal effort, which
is generally not enjoyable.
Are you pushing yourself every time you practice? Are you working on your weaknesses as well
as your strengths? Or, do you just go through the motions when you practice hoping you will get
better some day?
3. Deliberate practice involves well-defined, specific goals and often involves improving some aspect
of the target performance; it is not aimed at some vague overall improvement. Once an overall
goal has been set, a teacher or coach will develop a plan for making a series of small changes that
will add up to the desired larger change. Improving some aspect of the target performance allows
a performer to see that his or her performances have been improved by the training.
With a technical, mental, and or physical expert, have you identified a specific goal to aspire to? Do
you have a step-by-step plan to achieve your goal?
4. Deliberate practice is deliberate, that is, it requires a person’s full attention and conscious actions.
It isn’t enough to simply follow a teacher’s or coach’s directions. The student must concentrate on
the specific goal for his or her practice activity so that adjustments can be made to control practice.
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