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Goldilocks Drills - A Proven Way To Build Feel

The fastest way to learn something is to use a reference window. With movement and sport this leads to "goldilocks drills". Instead of trying to do it perfectly each time, try to vary what you are working on each swing. In this way, you'll build a reference of "too much" or "too little" and give your brain a chance to practice "just right".

Tags: Practice Strategies, Concept, Intermediate

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This video is Goldilocks drills for skill building.

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So there are two major phases to taking whatever you learn and turning it into something

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you can use on the course.

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First, you got to build a technique and then the second piece is taking that technique

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and creating a skill with it.

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So for example, let's say I'm playing basketball.

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To connect the technique to shooting a jump shot, I'm going to push with my legs, I'm going

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to push with my arms and the last thing that's going to move with my wrist.

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Pretty easy technique, right?

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I can teach someone how to do that movement in probably about five minutes.

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In order for them to shoot a high percentage from the field in an NBA finals game, they're

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going to have to put in lots of reps in order to train that technique and build a skill.

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Now when it comes to precision activities, one of the best ways to build skills is with

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Goldilocks drills.

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So doing something that is a little short, a little long and then just right.

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So this can be applied broadly to either ball flights, contacts, or it can be applied specifically

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to movements.

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So for instance, let's say I'm working on my ball flight, I could hit one.

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Let's say I want to hit a little draw.

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I could hit a shot that goes pretty much straight, then I could hit a big hook and then

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I try to hit one kind of rate between the two.

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So that we call them Goldilocks drills because you do one that's a little too hot, a little

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too cold and then find the one that's just right.

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You can do this also with movement training.

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So you could do a Goldilocks drill if you're working on that lateral shift during transition.

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You could do one that's too much.

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You could do one that's not enough and then you could do one that's kind of right in

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between the two.

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If you're working on shallow movements, you could do super shallow as much as you can.

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You could do not shallow at all and then you could kind of find that midway region.

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Using Goldilocks drills is going to be much more beneficial for long-term skill building

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than just trying to put in rep after rep after rep of doing it perfectly.

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I know for a lot of you that's going to sound counterproductive or counterintuitive.

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But there's there've been numerous motor learning studies where they've shown that

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this gives you a better chance of developing that skill.

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So there's some famous ones with wedge shots where golfers were going to be tested at hitting 90 yards.

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If you have two groups of golfers, one group hits 100 yards and 80 yards and then the second group of golfers

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only hits 90 yards for their practice.

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The group that hits 180 is going to tend to have better proficiency at hitting 90 when they get tested,

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even though they've hit fewer shots at 90.

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Then the group who did nothing but hit 90.

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And part of it is because the brain basically has no reference.

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So if you're only hitting at 90 and then you hit one that's 95 and you hit one that's 85,

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the brain doesn't really have a whole lot to calibrate on.

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Where if you're hitting some shots at 80 and then you hit some shots at 100,

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you have these two different reference frames and you know it's kind of in the middle.

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You can apply that globally to any of the skills or any of the techniques that I talk about here

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in this program.

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And ultimately that'll help you develop your own memory bank so you can take these techniques

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and build some skills that you can use that will hold up on the course.

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Some great, some of my favorite places to use Goldie lock drills are contact drills.

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So hit it a little thin, hit it a little fat, try to hit it perfect, doing tempo training.

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So swing too easy, swing as hard as you can, swing kind of your normal stock move of 90%

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80% whatever that may be.

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Length of backswing, so do a little too short, little too long and then find that one that's just right.

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Extension on the way through or a amount of racing, a amount of slide, a amount of shallowing,

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a amount of motorcycle, I like to use Goldie lock drills with a lot of the techniques that I do

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when we've established the technique and now we've the student is demonstrated that they can

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do it, you know, let's say five times out of ten.

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Once I want to start turning that technique into a skill, I'm usually going to challenge them

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and one of my favorite ways of challenge is with Goldie lock drills.

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