On Sun AM’s I coach 1-hr group technique sessions. I look forward to these sessions every week primarily because we have time to experiment with all sorts of different ways to learn a skill. Last session we worked making loud, obnoxious “juicy mistakes”. What…you don’t know what “juicy mistakes” are? Well, it’s a learning technique that requires you to intentionally do a specific skill loudly & with exaggerated, even obnoxious, movements. In other words, you try to do the skill as big, as bold & as huge as you can possibly do it. Crazy, right?! One of the swimmers thought so & she asked the obvious question: “What’s the point of doing it big & huge when we really want to do it more refined & calmer?” The answer lies in “juicy mistakes”!
“Juicy Mistakes”
“Juicy mistakes” (a phrase coined in William Westney’s book The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self) are based on the concept of kinesthetic learning (learning through movement). We’ve all learned this way…when we were kids. Just watch any child working on something new – they very quickly turn it into play. The adults all stand around & try give them instructions on HOW exactly to do it…but the child just wants to have fun! We adults should take note.
The brain is perfectly designed to learn this way. The same areas of the brain that activate & process movement are the exact same parts that process learning. So, when we move our bodies while doing something new, both motor & cognitive development takes place. Brilliant. Also, when we move our bodies in big & bold ways (rather than trying to0 quickly to make the movement small, refined & perfect), we up the fun factor which…you guessed it…enhances our learning!
Making Practice NOT Fun
The key is to somehow make the learning & the practice big, bold & fun. And I am quite serious when I encourage folks to make their practice “fun”! But how to do that? Maybe it’s easier to start with what makes practice not fun:
- Fear of making a mistake – Making a mistake = failure.
- Feeling restricted – There’s only 1 RIGHT way to do this.
- Ego-driven – If I do this wrong, I’ll look stupid.
- Desire for perfection – I feel good about myself only when I don’t make mistakes.
- Goal driven – I have to practice this until I get it right.
- Tension – If I just try harder, I’ll get it.
- Anger/Self-Defeat – I’ll never get this.
Making Practice Oh SO Much More Fun
Now, let’s move on to those “juicy mistakes”! For my Sun. swimmers, I had them…
- Make BIG huge movements – Easy, everyone can make the movement bigger!
- Put 200% energy into movements – Wow, no restrictions!
- Feel, hear & see the movements – This is so much easier when the motions are big!
- Notice the connections between body parts & movements – Again, so much easier with exaggerated movements.
- Experience the outcome – If the motions are bigger, the outcome is more obvious.
- Place NO judgement on results – I’m having so much fun that I could care less about how far/fast I went!
After 1 length of doing these big, loud, obnoxious movements, I saw smiles, heard laughter & felt the energy go up. After a few lengths of having fun with these exaggerated movements, several swimmers said that they understood the skill we were working on quite a bit better. I call that success!
My challenge to you, dear athletes. When you’re working on learning or acquiring skills, make them big, loud, obnoxious & JUICY! I guarantee that you’ll have way more fun…and as a result, learn more too!
Happy Training,
Coach Michelle
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