I noticed a Facebook post where Jeremy Jones was talking about practice.
He felt given the choice of a 5 hour session of practice or some 2 hour sessions, he felt more would be accomplished by playing the longer session.
I guess it's different for different people. Certainly what a pro level player calls "practice" though is probably not the same type of practice an aspiring B or C level player calls practice. Even a good A player will have a different practice regimen than a top level pro or any B or C player.
Over the last couple of decades, there have been quite a few great studies done on learning and development of skills and talents with regards to study/practice time. The research indicates that short practice/study sessions, focused on a specific goal, produce the best results for most people. This is because typically it's difficult to keep 100% focus for long periods of time. And when it comes to learning, or developing skills, quality of practice usually trumps quantity.
A good example is studying for a final exam.... You can spend 5 hours studying the day before the exam, or you can spend 30 minutes a couple of times a day over a period of 5 days leading to the exam. That 5 hour study session will seem good and strong, 100% focused, for some of that time, but not for all the time. The mind will wonder, distractions will creep in, thoughts that have nothing to do with what you are trying to study. So that5 hours may look and sound great, but the quality of actual study time isn't ideal.
With dedicated 30 to 40min sessions, however, you stand a better chance of remaining 100% focused on what you're doing for that entire time. It's quality time. And you might find an hour or 2 is all quality for you, when others might do better with shorter time periods.
The same study habits have shown to be effective in developing skills in sports. Practice is more useful if you are 100% dedicated/focused on the task. If you feel yourself slipping into boredom, or losing focus, take a break. Go eat, watch tv, read a book, whatever.... The worse thing you can do is beat in the time, nonchalantly, simply because you told yourself you were going to practice for 2 hours, or 5 hours, or whatever predefined time limit you chose. If the quality of practice drops, it's time to quit, take a break and come back to it later when you can give 100%.
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