Tenets of Train2Trust
1. Context Specificity. Motor Learning 101: the
more your practice looks like a competitive (or just one where you are keeping score - or really
care) round of golf, the
more the practice will transfer to the golf course. The
less your practice looks like a competitive round of golf, the
less it will transfer to the golf course.
2. "Easy training, hard battle. Hard training, easy battle," - - legendary Russian military General Alexander Suvorov. In golf practice, this translates into making your practice
more difficult than the actual game. Traditional practice tends to do the opposite...
3. Feedback. Critical to learning
anything, golf being no exception. And: the feedback must be relevant, helpful and timely.
4. Embracing Failure. We can't learn anything without 'failing' first, and we must recognize a 'bad shot' as a wonderful learning opportunity - NOT something to be avoided. "Desired difficulties" are to be welcomed, not avoided.
5. Random, varied and chaotic practice. Golf is the most helter skelter game ever - yet we practice it in boring, rote, repetitive manners. Then we wonder why things don't work out on the course. Not in a Train2Trust session...
6. Interleaving and spacing: mixing up, and spreading out, boosts learning. 'Grooving' a certain club or shot often feels good emotionally - but falsely leads us to believe we are learning the skill. Interleaving produces better recall, as well as the ability to handle new situations - the inevitability of everything in golf. The "spacing effect" speaks to the phenomenon whereby learning (and retention) is greater, when practice is spread out over time (as opposed to training the same amount of time in a single session).
7. The magic of pauses, and rest: the brain - the piece that is doing ALL the learning - needs time to digest, process and assimilate all that is being learned. Practicing in 15-20 minute increments, followed by a break of approximately 5 minutes to
reflect upon and think about (
without physically doing) is crucial for learning that lasts, and transfers to the golf course.