Can you “do” what you “know”?
What is the disconnect between “knowing” something and being able to “do” what you know. MTB Skills: How We Actually Learn
There has been an amazing amount written about MTB skills and even more how-to videos on youtube of various quality. These are all great ways to increase your knowledge of MTB skills.
However, knowledge is worthless if you can’t put that knowledge into action on your bike!
I understand it. Why can’t I do it?
Why is it so hard to actually do a skill you understand? You watched a video or read a well-written article on the skill, you know exactly how to do the skill, yet you still struggle!
Why? Because the wrong part of your brain understands the skill.
As a matter of fact, the part of your brain that watched that MTB skills video or read that article has absolutely zero input in doing a physical skill.
A completely different part of your brain handles physical skills.
How do I fix this?
What you need to do is train the correct part of your brain to do the skill, which is hard/impossible to do by just reading or listening.
The book Choke by Sian Beilock covers this well. I will explain what this book and 35 years of coaching people just like you has taught me.
Apart from this, I have always noticed a disconnect between “knowing” something and being able to “do” what you know (both in me and in my students). Choke explained the reasons for this better than anything else I have read on the subject and the book conveniently uses riding a bike as an example.
When Greg Minnaar works with me he makes me sign a contract saying that he is not a qualified MTB coach as this is not his field of expertize.
What does the research say:
According to Choke, as an expert gets better and better at doing a skill they start to forget stuff. Their example:
“Think about riding a bike. How exactly do you do this? Well, yes, first you have to get on a bike and pedal.
But there is a lot more to it than that. You have to balance, hold on to the handlebars, look at what is in front of you. If you miss any of these steps, falling is a real possibility.
This usually doesn’t happen when proficient bike riders are actually riding, but if you were to ask a bike rider to explain the “how-tos” of this complex skill, he would forget details. This is because the proficient bike rider is trying to remember information about bike riding that is kept as procedural memory, as we psychologists term it.
Procedural memory is implicit or unconscious. You can think of procedural memory as your cognitive toolbox that contains a recipe that, if followed, will produce a successful bike ride, golf putt, baseball swing… Interestingly, these recipes operate largely outside of your conscious awareness. … because when you are good at performing a skill, you do it too quickly to monitor it consciously. …
Procedural memory is often distinguished from another form of memory: our explicit memory that supports our ability to reason on the spot or to recall the exact details of a conversation we had with our spouse the week before. … Simply put, explicit and procedural memories or largely housed in different parts of the brain …”
What is the most effective way of learning to mountain bike?
So, how do we train our “procedural memory? Drills, with a focus on quality, not quantity! Remember, perfect practice makes perfect. Not just any drills, of course – drills designed to get you doing the correct recipe.
In brief, this is how to master any physical skill, from playing an instrument to ultimate fighting.
What gets in our way when learning the correct way to do something? Our experience! If we are experienced but doing things incorrectly we have solid (but incorrect) procedural memories (bad habits).
In this case, being a complete beginner is better than an experienced rider when learning, as the complete beginner has no procedural memory. The experienced rider has to weaken their incorrect procedural memory while strengthening the new, correct procedural memory.
Often experienced athletes have to take a step or two back before progressing as it takes time to erase old, ingrained bad habits and replace them with the correct habits.
To sum up, take a skills progression course and most importantly do your drills!
This is why “skilled” athletes rarely make good coaches, they can’t access their procedural memory to articulate what they are doing.
I hope this has helped you understand how to get better at riding or any endeavor. Put in your work and you will see big rewards!
Please share this article with anyone you think may benefit and feel free to call or e-mail with any questions.
Thanks and create your best ride yet,
Gene
Great insight Gene! Looking forward to the Scottsdale class this December
Glad you found it insightful. Looking forward to meeting you in December!