Drills don’t work!

Don’t get me wrong, drills are great at helping someone learn a very discreet, very specific part of a movement or skill in perfect conditions. The problem is these perfect conditions very very rarely (verging on never) crop up in real life.

And the discreet part of the skill is never required in isolation.

I’ve always been frustrated when I get some rowers to do a drill. The thing being drilled gets better. Sometimes lots but most of the time only a little.

Once they stop the drill and paddle off as they would row normally, the thing being drilled goes out of the window.

I never understood this until a book (Winning at Sport by Chris Riddoch) explained it to me. My mind was blown.

We’re always told that practice makes perfect. In fact, we’re told that 10,000 hours of practice will make perfect.

So we practice something by compartmentalising it. A pianist practices his scales, a rower practices putting her oar in the water whilst the boat is stationary...

or a golfer goes to the range to hit balls off a rubber tee on an astroturf mat.

But we’re practising the wrong thing in the wrong way. We want to deconstruct the skill and make each part perfect in a perfect scenario.

But perfect never comes when performing. The boat is never stationary and exactly level for us to put our oar into the water. Rubber tees and astroturf mats are rarely found where our golf ball lies on the course...

And name me a piano piece which has a full scale in it (setting myself up for a fall, there’s probably some piece of music consisting only of musical scales).

So, practice the full skill under the conditions it would normally be performed...

Not a discreet part of it under perfect conditions.

Your performance will be better overall and more robust under pressure as a result.