This will not be my only entry to this new thread. My perspective is unique as I am, by actual count, the worst distance caster that entered SOR 2012.
They say it takes a thousand repetitions to make a new skill second nature, and several thousand repetitions to overwrite an old skill with a new one. (They, in this case, are unnamed firearms trainers, who probably are not strong on the science of motor learning.) That said, they are probably correct.
I have no way to prove that I could cast further before going to SOR. I am confident that had I been able to put to use what I learned on Wednesday and Thursday, "I coulda been a ...." Well probably not a "contenda," but maybe not made it painful for audience and me alike.
Some may recall, I started a distance thread a year or so ago. Well, everything in that thread, in terms of what good casters are doing, was/is correct. BUT THERE'S SO MUCH MORE!!
I won't write much here about the neurophysiology of "Muscle memory," though I did get my MS in that. I plan to write about some added technique details, as I currently understand them, on how the many greats did so well this past weekend.
It can be stated with absolute certainty that casting 153' and beyond, (the wall or better at SOR), requires technical understanding and execution. Further, since the complex motions take so short a time, the patterns of motion cannot be adjusted consciously during the effort. The pattern must be programmed beyond the conscious intellect, into, quite literally, the spine of the caster.
It is good to know that in order for patterns to become so repeatable, they must be repeated and success appreciated such that the brain feels pleasure. Linking the correct motion with pleasure probably induces that pattern of motion to be learned at a spinal level, thus committed to "muscle memory." It is, essentially, fun stuff.
Just as there are many golfers who understand what is needed very well, yet cannot compete at higher levels because of some combination of life circumstance and choice of parents, so it is that I must accept that I'll never beat the best at this game. I still enjoy trying to get better at it. (Admittedly, my embarassing performance on Sunday shook my dream of ever getting really good. It did set the bar such that it will be easy to improve, as I really could not get much worse. Hope is essential to motivation. I've self checked. I still have hope.
Technique details to be posted if there seems to be any interest.
Thanks for reading.
They say it takes a thousand repetitions to make a new skill second nature, and several thousand repetitions to overwrite an old skill with a new one. (They, in this case, are unnamed firearms trainers, who probably are not strong on the science of motor learning.) That said, they are probably correct.
I have no way to prove that I could cast further before going to SOR. I am confident that had I been able to put to use what I learned on Wednesday and Thursday, "I coulda been a ...." Well probably not a "contenda," but maybe not made it painful for audience and me alike.
Some may recall, I started a distance thread a year or so ago. Well, everything in that thread, in terms of what good casters are doing, was/is correct. BUT THERE'S SO MUCH MORE!!
I won't write much here about the neurophysiology of "Muscle memory," though I did get my MS in that. I plan to write about some added technique details, as I currently understand them, on how the many greats did so well this past weekend.
It can be stated with absolute certainty that casting 153' and beyond, (the wall or better at SOR), requires technical understanding and execution. Further, since the complex motions take so short a time, the patterns of motion cannot be adjusted consciously during the effort. The pattern must be programmed beyond the conscious intellect, into, quite literally, the spine of the caster.
It is good to know that in order for patterns to become so repeatable, they must be repeated and success appreciated such that the brain feels pleasure. Linking the correct motion with pleasure probably induces that pattern of motion to be learned at a spinal level, thus committed to "muscle memory." It is, essentially, fun stuff.
Just as there are many golfers who understand what is needed very well, yet cannot compete at higher levels because of some combination of life circumstance and choice of parents, so it is that I must accept that I'll never beat the best at this game. I still enjoy trying to get better at it. (Admittedly, my embarassing performance on Sunday shook my dream of ever getting really good. It did set the bar such that it will be easy to improve, as I really could not get much worse. Hope is essential to motivation. I've self checked. I still have hope.
Technique details to be posted if there seems to be any interest.
Thanks for reading.