Practice, Psychology, Training 27 January 2010

Author: Melissa Witmer

Brain science tells us that the brain uses different processes and different parts for gaining different types of knowledge. The type of conscious, or explicit, knowledge we learn in school is controlled by the prefrontal cortex. The logical prefrontal cortex can quickly solve rational problems and learn step by step tasks. Using the prefrontal cortex, we can analyze what we know, we can show our work in math problems, or explain to someone else how we performed a task.

 Practice, Psychology, Throwing, Training 13 January 2010

Author: Melissa Witmer

This is part II of the summary I began last week (located here). Today’s discussion has important implications for how we instruct new players in learning to a forehand.

In case you’re just joining us, I’m reviewing an article published in Sports Biomechanics called “Biomechanical analysis of the sidearm throwing motion for distance of a flying disc: a comparison of skilled and unskilled players.” (Being a scientist, I should make it clear that my analysis of the work reported is very similar to, but not exactly the same as the conclusions arrived at by the authors of the paper. So this is not a direct summary of the paper.)

 Practice, Psychology, Throwing, Training 31 December 2009

Author: Melissa Witmer

I am going to attempt a summary of an article published in Sports Biomechanics called “Biomechanical analysis of the sidearm throwing motion for distance of a flying disc: a comparison of skilled and unskilled players.” I am hoping to offer something brief, easily understood, and practical. If you want experimental details, or are looking for something more erudite, please read the paper : )

In this study ten skilled and seven unskilled players were taped throwing forehands as far as they could. The movements of their shoulders, arms, and wrist were analyzed. The initial velocity of the discs, spin rate of the discs, all angles of the disc, and distance of the throws were measured.

 Hammer, Practice, Scoober, Throwing, Thumber, Videos 30 December 2009

This video shows me throwing a scoober, thumber, hammer, push pass, high release backhand and air bounce backhand.

Popularity: 84%

 Practice, Throwing, Videos 30 December 2009

Find out how to throw a push pass, how to practice throwing, when it’s useful, how to defend against it and a few other tips.

Popularity: 54%

 Practice, Scoober, Throwing, Videos 30 December 2009

Find out how to throw a scoober, when it’s useful, how to get better at throwing a scoober, and some common mistakes people make when trying to throw.

Popularity: 44%

 Practice, Throwing, Thumber, Videos 30 December 2009

Find out how to throw a thumber including the different kinds of grips, how to practice throwing thumber, when to throw it and when not to and some tips for the thumber.

An article discussing the finer points of the thumber is available here: Throwing a Thumber

Popularity: 34%

 Practice, Throwing 17 November 2009

Obviously you want to be practicing the right throwing techniques. You should also learn how to practice the right practice techniques.

Research by psychologist K. Anders Ericsson indicates that anyone can become a master at any task if they devote 10 000 hours of deliberate practice. Um, that’s a lot of hours. What I want to focus on here is not the volume of practice, but the words “deliberate practice.” Even putting in the hours is not enough. It must be “deliberate” practice. If every hour you invest in throwing is deliberate practice, you will improve much more quickly that someone who just dicks around with the disc for twice as long.