“What you have done is removed the ball” should read

“What you have done is mentally removed the ball” …..

These are the golden years of learning sport. But the pressure can destroy the enjoyment, which in turn removes the confidence, which then removes the ability to perform well.

From a golf perspective, what you have done is removed the ball from the swing, which is correct and correctly set your own expectations, which may have been too high previously.

Most poor golfers try to hit the ball instead of performing the swing. Nick Faldo perfected his swing for over 3 months, without hitting a single ball! Then went on to win the open with a precise consistant swing.

“Swing it slow and watch it go. Swing to fast, and you’ll come last!”

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/070109_trust_instinct.html

Apparently, going with your gut often works better than protracted rumination even in purely intellectual persuits….

Good athletes know that you perform the best when you’re not thinking about what you’re doing. When you are in the “zone”. To constantly think about what to do, to force things, leads to poor performance. That’s why some people who have extreme talent never succeed. In professional sports it’s so much about psychology and mental strength.

As you’ve noticed, you don’t have to be a pro athlete to benefit from this kind of thinking. Some have more talent than others but the strategy works across the board.

Nice weekend

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John Quays: from the viewpoint of someone who has been involved in the martial arts at some level for over 20 years, you needn’t worry about your son ‘thinking his way through’. Hours and hours and hours of practicing fundamentals until they become instinctual is where your son will find his reward. In sparring and actual combat, there is no time to think. Everything is done at the level of instinct and reaction, and that is instilled by practice–not only physical practice, but more importantly, mental practice, as Steve has outlined in his post.

Accurate shooting is mechanical. You WILL hit the bullseye every time IF each element is present and done well. If ONE of the elements is off, the shots will not end up where you want them to go. Slowly drilling each aspect into the shooter’s mind is important so they can create proper muscle memory is key. Otherwise, the repetition only creates bad habits, which prevent the shooter from ever getting better.
~Monica

once i figured this out i realized that the part of my brain that handles coordination etc isn’t part of the ‘me’ that does stuff like complex math.

duh.

(the foregoing in no way advocates the targeting of squirrels etc)

Here is a link to the article:
http://gladwell.com/2000/2000_08_21_a_choking.htm

Pleasures in Small Motions: Mastering Billiards
http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Small-Motions-Mastering-Billiards/dp/1585745391/sr=8-1/qid=1172010344/ref=sr_1_1/002-1677061-9108817?ie=UTF8&s=books

It approaches pool from a cognitive direction and has helped me understand what goes on mentally while shooting pool. Most of the material can easily be applied to any sport where you must try to make precise results happen through repetitive mechanics. It goes over what you are saying above about detaching thoughts, only in a much less random approach.

Basically, the author states that you can only reasonably concentrate on a few things at a time. So most of the motions you are making need to be left up to your subconscious and it’s during practice sessions that you cognitively concentrate on those bits. When you go to take a non-practice shot, you focus on only the few things that need your immediate attention for that particular shot.

Does that help?

Trust me, stay the way you are. It’s fine.

Now, getting to the point..at last..i wonder how this could be applied to something as fast moving as martial art sparring matches, or any combat sport, as the person has to be thinking quickly all the time and concious of what he’s doing and doesn’t have the luxury to meditate during the activity.

i’m not dismissing it, btw, more interested in seeing if and how it could be employed in such a situation.

Geeks, and plenty of non-geeks, may only be good at one or two things in a given sport. Otherwise, we’d all be professional athletes. For me, I learned that I could do a few things on the basketball court well, and a few things terribly. So, I did my best to stick to those few things - and that worked well. I had fun, I helped my team, and I didn’t look ridiculous trying to do something I couldn’t. And the point of this is that - like discussed in this post - the things I did well, I could do without thinking. I just did them. Didn’t have to think. Overthinking = death in sports. As you commented, do all your thinking beforehand, not during.

If you don’t care about slow progress, by all means, never focus on details–this isn’t *bad*, it’s just inefficient. The most efficient way to progress is to balance details vs. repetition: “Practice doesn’t make perfect - perfect practice makes perfect.”