The Role of Long Sessions in Skill Development

I think we forget that we humans learn by watching and then trying to apply what we saw to the practical application. In this case pool. I think when you watch pool with a purpose and apply what you watched you learn. I also think gambling helps you remember what to do and not do. Long sessions against good players is most important to your confidence building and repertoire of shots.

crazysnake said:

Long sessions, unstructured, without focusing on a specific skill, would do more harm than good to your game.

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I've never heard that term...hey Frank lets match up and play some long sets, but they gotta have structure. Frank replied, with his giggle, ok we'll play a structured match, but ya might have to go over ''structured and unstructured rules'' since I'm new to this type of format. :sorry

when i coach in Europe i tell about long gambling sessions, long practice sessions and what fatigue does to the system

i believe now and again it does good

when fatigued the system/brain becomes very efficient
...cycles of approx 1 hour
when you start missing
that's usually when your opponent overtakes momentum for the next hour

in this efficient state a player is totally unconscious-competent (opposed to conscious competent)
for the brain (left hemisphere/ratio) is to tired to control things and be aware all the time
lovely
one learns how to play really good, flawless
and one learns that fatigue is relative and the sun will come out again as soon as the other guy's energy comes down again

Thank you for the response. That is very interesting.

As I said before, it is hard for me to articulate how or why, but I recently played in a 15 hour session, and I can't shake the idea that this single session caused some level of improvement--all be it--maybe minor improvement.

Also, I feel like I have heard stories from a number of pro caliber players of marathon gambling sessions, and I can't help but think that if so many great players have these, there maybe some benefit to them that exceeds the benefit of simply playing for that amount of time in broken sessions.

I think there is some truth in your post (I meant to quote the post of Eengat, but I dogged it.)

kollegedave

Here's How I see It

Here's How I see It

kollegedave said:

Thank you for the response. That is very interesting.

As I said before, it is hard for me to articulate how or why, but I recently played in a 15 hour session, and I can't shake the idea that this single session caused some level of improvement--all be it--maybe minor improvement.

Also, I feel like I have heard stories from a number of pro caliber players of marathon gambling sessions, and I can't help but think that if so many great players have these, there maybe some benefit to them that exceeds the benefit of simply playing for that amount of time in broken sessions.

I think there is some truth in your post (I meant to quote the post of Eengat, but I dogged it.)

kollegedave

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Dave a simple answer...."It calms ones mind'' allowing the body to act totally naturally thus, when making an error of a repetitive action, you notice it immedately. What this also is doing with pro players, is that slight fidget to get your weight right' on your approach when your getting down on your shot.... it becomes fine tuned with long play, if not your screwed, because that's the reality of what loooooooooooong session do to your arms, legs back, approach and swing rhythm then become second nature, then the zone is always close by, if the players cue ball speed drops in.

Long sessions

Long sessions

I follow a mastercoach-progrM with the dutch olympic comittee. And some 20 other coaches from other sports
A great opportunity where everytime we gather we get these great insightful presentations

Yesterday we met and spoke with Professor Schollhorn or something the like (can look his name up) about differential learning.

He showed us brain scans after different types of training
After DIFFERENTIAL TRAINING the brains activity levels were much higher AND more in alfa-state than after repetitive practice.

What this means: when your brain is in alfa, you learn quicker/better/more
Alfa-waves = brain frequency (beta,gamma,theta)

Then i asked him the question of this topic and his explanation was that a fatigued brain is automatically more in alfa-state, therefore learning better

Look this up DIFFERENTIAL LEARNING
mNy players in practice want to do thing they already master, so they falter little and can feel good about themself after the training
(Usually the outcome never satisfies)
According to differential learning proclaimers the brain needs to be overloaded, surprised, tested and challenged by continuously varying not only the front-office (different games, different types of drills nd training)
But also the setup and mechanics
This stimulates the brain tofind its own perfect setup

I played a kid a third of my age, he plays good. After five hours he was stuck a little and I could see his mental game unraveling/fatigue. He quit and said he was tired. Until one plays long sets, your never sure when your mind or body are going to change, you need to know this. Knowing this aspect of your game is just as important as eating every six hours, or when your bodies blood sugar starts going out of whack.

Eengat said:

I follow a mastercoach-progrM with the dutch olympic comittee. And some 20 other coaches from other sports
A great opportunity where everytime we gather we get these great insightful presentations

Yesterday we met and spoke with Professor Schollhorn or something the like (can look his name up) about differential learning.

He showed us brain scans after different types of training
After DIFFERENTIAL TRAINING the brains activity levels were much higher AND more in alfa-state than after repetitive practice.

What this means: when your brain is in alfa, you learn quicker/better/more
Alfa-waves = brain frequency (beta,gamma,theta)

Then i asked him the question of this topic and his explanation was that a fatigued brain is automatically more in alfa-state, therefore learning better

Look this up DIFFERENTIAL LEARNING
mNy players in practice want to do thing they already master, so they falter little and can feel good about themself after the training
(Usually the outcome never satisfies)
According to differential learning proclaimers the brain needs to be overloaded, surprised, tested and challenged by continuously varying not only the front-office (different games, different types of drills nd training)
But also the setup and mechanics
This stimulates the brain tofind its own perfect setup

Click to expand...

Thank you for this post! I think you are offering us a valuable hypothesis, which is to say, the brain learns best when in an alpha state, and getting the brain in an alpha state requires constant variation and challenge, but when this challenge takes place in the context of long competition the brain is even more receptive to the benefits of this variation.

I think this is consistent with what I have experienced. Recently, I have stepped up the variation in my practice, and now I think I am going to "double-down" on that.

kollegedave

Interesting stuff. !