Hey guys,
I'm really interested to know what your practice method is. What do you think is a good technique for learning a REALLY hard trick faster?
I am really interested in improving my practice methods so I can learn 3 low and other tricks a lot quicker.
I've been working on 3 low for quite a few years now, although I've never really pushed hard with the practice. Doing a bit here and there hasn't really helped me much - a big part of the problem has been motivation. Because it's such a hard skill and you don't get that much pay off, it can be hard to keep up the practice.
Here's my thoughts and a methods that I use with training and also teaching.
Any thoughts are welcome
Rich
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1) Film yourself and watch
It's amazing what you see when you watch yourself. Often you pick up technique problems, stance, style etc.
The more you film yourself, the more comfortable you'll be with a camera pointing at you.
2) Get feedback from others that have some knowledge.
It's important to get advice from others. You don't have to accept the advice and you can pick and choose what you will try. Sometimes it can take more than one person saying the same thing before you take the advice and start to make a change.
3) Focus on one RELEVANT technique correction at a time.
Often I hear people giving really technical advice to beginners which makes it harder for them to learn because they're thinking too much and not 'feeling' it. This is where I think it's important to judge what is a 'relevant' technique correction. e.g. When learning 2 low, it's important to focus on the timing of the diabolos before you even think about correction.
Also, if you focus on too many technique corrections at once, it's too much for your brain. Try to focus on one at a time, until it becomes a habit, and then move on to the next one.
4) Small wins/goals
It can take years to master really hard tricks like 3 high and 3 low. Therefore it's easy to get disheartened when you can't do the trick. Technique corrections can become your way of being motivated because they're much easier to achieve and you can see progress. I've found this to be one of the main things that can keep people trying and enjoying themselves.
5) Take breaks often
If you're practicing the same trick over and over and making mistakes, chances are you're brain is memorising how to do it wrong. Once I start making a real mess of things, I immediately stop with that trick and come back later.
6) Visualisation
This is a lot more successful than you might think. There's a lot of scientific evidence to suggest that visualisation is just as good as real practice. It's not easy to do but I think it has huge benefits - sometimes you can't practice. Also, you can visualise yourself doing the trick 100% correct, rather than practicing it for real and not succeeding with the trick.
7) Focus
While it's good to lose yourself in the moment with juggling, it's also really beneficial if you are focused when trying hard tricks. I'm not talking about over-thinking things, just being really focussed and present with what you're doing.
This is a form of meditation and it can really make a difference. The next time you're struggling with a hard trick, take notice of what your brain was thinking about when you made the last attempt. Were you focussed on what you were doing or were you distracted with something else?
Relax your mind
Whenever you get frustrated or angry at not being able to do a trick, different areas of your brain begin to work (ones that control emotion) and you will definitely lose focus and it'll be harder to do anything except rage. I think of frustration like something that blocks our brains from actually learning.
If you're ever frustrated with a trick, relax, let go of your anger and re-focus or take a break and come back later.
9) Don't be afraid to fail
Something that is important to remember is that for as long as you juggle, there will ALWAYS be a trick or skill that you can't do, so get used to 'failure' as long as you don't keep repeating the same mistake over and over and over without trying something new or taking a break
10) Really small sessions really often
For the last 2 weeks I've been doing three to four 3low attempts every 1-2 hours throughout the day. The results have been amazing. I think this is about the best way to learn a hard trick (if you have the time) because it's easier to focus when you are making the attempt and if things aren't working, it doesn't matter too much because you can try again in a couple of hours.
I've left this one for last because it's the thing that inspired me to write this post. While it's great to have long sessions, I've found it can be hard to be motivated to keep trying hard tricks that you keep failing at (like 3 low for me). This method has really helped my motivation and technique.
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