How To Tell If You Are An Expert

Scaramouche

Scaramouche

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
From a Globe and Mail column on sports

One way to determine whether you've mastered a skill is to see what happens when you're forced to perform the skill on autopilot. Sian Beillock of the University of Chicago and her colleagues found that expert golfers actually performed better putts when they were hurried, while novices performed worse. So if distraction or time pressure makes your game fall apart, you need to spend more time working on the basic mechanics of your stroke.

Psychologists and neuroscientists are finding that when we perform complex motor sequences that we are very familiar with, concentrating too much on the details makes our performance worse.

It's what causes choking.

As we master the skill, the steps become combined into a single action that is stored in our 'procedural' memory, beyond conscious control.

If you try to consciously monitor yourself, you break the skill back down into its components, and you end up looking like a novice.

Novices perform better when they focus on technique, but experts, for whom technique had progressed to subconscious control, perform better when they are distracted.

Novices perform best when they take their time.

Experts perform best when they are told to hurry up. Paying too much attention to their step-by-step actions can disrupt fluidness.


All of which explains why Randy G tells students to practice what they have learned for six weeks without playing. That is, build the 'procedural memory'.

And you can use this knowledge to throw off your opponent:

"Wow! That was a good shot! Were you doing something with your wrist?":grin::grin::grin:
 
Some call it paralysis by analysis. It can become pretty easy to talk ourselves out of a shot. Wasn't it Jack Nicholas that said you have 8 seconds to hit the ball in golf? I believe RandyG holds a similar view in pool.
 
T
Scaramouche said:
From a Globe and Mail column on sports

One way to determine whether you've mastered a skill is to see what happens when you're forced to perform the skill on autopilot. Sian Beillock of the University of Chicago and her colleagues found that expert golfers actually performed better putts when they were hurried, while novices performed worse. So if distraction or time pressure makes your game fall apart, you need to spend more time working on the basic mechanics of your stroke.

Psychologists and neuroscientists are finding that when we perform complex motor sequences that we are very familiar with, concentrating too much on the details makes our performance worse.

It's what causes choking.

As we master the skill, the steps become combined into a single action that is stored in our 'procedural' memory, beyond conscious control.

If you try to consciously monitor yourself, you break the skill back down into its components, and you end up looking like a novice.

Novices perform better when they focus on technique, but experts, for whom technique had progressed to subconscious control, perform better when they are distracted.

Novices perform best when they take their time.

Experts perform best when they are told to hurry up. Paying too much attention to their step-by-step actions can disrupt fluidness.


All of which explains why Randy G tells students to practice what they have learned for six weeks without playing. That is, build the 'procedural memory'.

And you can use this knowledge to throw off your opponent:
F
"Wow! That was a good shot! Were you doing something with your wrist?":grin::grin::grin:
Click to expand...

Tell that to archer and souquet
 
Rufus...Not just randyg! :grin: You do only have 8-10 seconds, before the "voice in your head" starts talking to you (which is death for many players...LOL)...and half of that time is taken up with the 'focus' part of the eye pattern. That means you better own a smooth, well-practiced preshot routine, that you can depend on, to deliver in about 5 seconds.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

dr9ball said:
Some call it paralysis by analysis. It can become pretty easy to talk ourselves out of a shot. Wasn't it Jack Nicholas that said you have 8 seconds to hit the ball in golf? I believe RandyG holds a similar view in pool.
Click to expand...
 
Scaramouche said:
From a Globe and Mail column on sports

One way to determine whether you've mastered a skill is to see what happens when you're forced to perform the skill on autopilot. Sian Beillock of the University of Chicago and her colleagues found that expert golfers actually performed better putts when they were hurried, while novices performed worse. So if distraction or time pressure makes your game fall apart, you need to spend more time working on the basic mechanics of your stroke.

Psychologists and neuroscientists are finding that when we perform complex motor sequences that we are very familiar with, concentrating too much on the details makes our performance worse.

It's what causes choking.

As we master the skill, the steps become combined into a single action that is stored in our 'procedural' memory, beyond conscious control.

If you try to consciously monitor yourself, you break the skill back down into its components, and you end up looking like a novice.

Novices perform better when they focus on technique, but experts, for whom technique had progressed to subconscious control, perform better when they are distracted.

Novices perform best when they take their time.

Experts perform best when they are told to hurry up. Paying too much attention to their step-by-step actions can disrupt fluidness.


All of which explains why Randy G tells students to practice what they have learned for six weeks without playing. That is, build the 'procedural memory'.

And you can use this knowledge to throw off your opponent:

"Wow! That was a good shot! Were you doing something with your wrist?":grin::grin::grin:
Click to expand...

???? everyone on azb is an expert! i play world class in my posts until someone actually SEES me play :)
 
What a great post. That's why it's critical to develop our three pre-shot routines separately.

The last Routine (Shooting or Execution Stage) we have about 10 seconds to get it over before the Demons get to us.

Don't confuse Johnny Archer's process. Although he is very anal with the first two steps, he gets his shot off right on time......SPF=randyg
 
That is maybe the least enlightening thing I've ever read. DUH!! Tell us something we don't already know. They're not saying WHY something is, they are merely mentioning an identifiable aspect of a skilled execution. To put it another way, Tiger Woods is an expert because he can do things in his sleep that a lesser player has to work REALLY hard to accomplish.....WOW, THAT'S NEWS.

Mika is an expert and I'm not because he can make shots without trying, and I have to think real hard about them. hmmmm, oh really.

Btw, "paralysis by analysis" is not the same thing. PbyA can affect anyone, from novice to expert. It is not a defining criteria of skill level. It is simply called "choking", and that happens at all levels.
 
Ha....reminds me of a story...

I hardly ever play golf anymore....I stopped by a golf course I work at from time to time...I was told of a skins game happening that afternoon. I said "what the heck..I feel like playing today"

Well I was chit catting with all the people I knew (But had not seen in a while) and then was told "your up"...I said oh wow...ok...striped one down the fairway and then stuck a 9 iron about 15 feet...

As I walked up to the green to mark my ball I started getting chased by a bee...It kept trying to land on me..I was like "what the hell" Like and idiot I am swinging my putter like a baseball bat trying to hit this bee that is attacking me...I backed my way back to the golf cart and grabbed a towel and started trying to swing it at the bee...All the while my playing partners are putting out....The next thing I know is this bee had a friend...I managed to hit one of them with the towel and my playing partner stepped on it...but the friend got me right behind the ear..."Damn!!!!" getting stung in the back of the ear hurts like a beeatch!!....

My partners had all put out and were now waiting for me to putt...I was out of breath from all my swinging and running around trying to get away from this bee...My "unmarked" ball was still sitting there...I walked up to it took one practice stroke and then putted it in like it had eyes....

My partners all had this look of (actually one said it) "you have GOT to be kidding me"...

It ended up being one of only 2 skins the whole day.:wink:

Pool is the same way...The less I think...the better I seem to play....Problem is...as soon as I start playing decent...I start thinking "why am I playing decent tonight"....I am usually done from there on....
 
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LAlouie...Actually the OP's post is correct. The time allowed to get the shot off, accurately and consistently, is well documented in many sports, including pool...and it IS a defining criteria for excellent play. The little "voice" in your head that appears within about 10 seconds is a voice of doubt. If you're not sure of your stroke and aim, the little voice can wreak havoc very quickly. That why it is so critical to have your "process" down pat, so you can "think before shooting, and shoot without thinking"'! Choking syndromes are something else altogether different. You are correct, though, that choking occurs in all ability levels, even professionals. There are many reasons why people "choke"...and ways to learn how to overcome them.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

LAlouie said:
Btw, "paralysis by analysis" is not the same thing. PbyA can affect anyone, from novice to expert. It is not a defining criteria of skill level. It is simply called "choking", and that happens at all levels.
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scott,,,I understand where the study is trying to go, but their I believe their rationale > conclusion is wrong.

One MAJOR aspect in sport is the notion of "being in stroke". In pool it's seeing the shot easily...in these moments ALL players of all levels play at a faster pace, because they are so locked in. In other sports, it is basically the same thing,,,as if you are so in rhythm that the game slows down. Therefore, the idea of playing without conscience, with fluidity and rhythm, is something that all levels experience.
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One way to determine whether you've mastered a skill is to see what happens when you're forced to perform the skill on autopilot. Sian Beillock of the University of Chicago and her colleagues found that expert golfers actually performed better putts when they were hurried, while novices performed worse. So if distraction or time pressure makes your game fall apart, you need to spend more time working on the basic mechanics of your stroke. Psychologists and neuroscientists are finding that when we perform complex motor sequences that we are very familiar with, concentrating too much on the details makes our performance worse.
It's what causes choking.

Again, this is referring to CHOKING, not the mastering a a skill level.
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As we master the skill, the steps become combined into a single action that is stored in our 'procedural' memory, beyond conscious control. If you try to consciously monitor yourself, you break the skill back down into its components, and you end up looking like a novice.

Yes, I agree, in that the "expert" would have better mastery of a given skill, and thus is less apt to THINK about his game. And yes, a lesser skilled players can become better by practice and repitition to the point where he IS thinking less about tough shots.
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Novices perform better when they focus on technique, but experts, for whom technique had progressed to subconscious control, perform better when they are distracted.

I will certainly agree that experts are born with natural skills and thus they have taken their skill to such a level that what they do is done quickly and with greater execution,,,and that because "lesser skilled"( I prefer "lesser skilled". Novices means newbie and it is an unfair comparison. A newbie is a newbie) are essentially "by the book players" they probably do better when they proceed through a sequence of steps.
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Novices perform best when they take their time. Experts perform best when they are told to hurry up. Paying too much attention to their step-by-step actions can disrupt fluidness.

Again, the notion of fluidity, in stroke, rhythm is not the defining criteria of "expert". It is not that I disagree with anything that is said, it is that I disagree that these things seperate the expert from the lesser skilled. The problem with the above statement is that it does not address the fact that all players in all sports play to their own rhythm. In pool of course, you know all this as you have seen many many "experts" play at different speeds.

The study continually comes back to this idea of fluidity, speed, subconscious execution, and rhythm as DEFINING an expert. This is SO not true. The players in sport who display these qualities are the more NATURALLY GIFTED, and they are identified as such. For instance, Michael Jordan is more "naturally gifted" than Larry Bird, but are they not BOTH experts?? Off hand, I would say that Efren is more naturally gifted than Archer. They are still BOTH experts. Imo, the study doesn't come close to identifying what makes an "expert".

To begin with, the truly great players identify the problem immediately and are creative enough to think of a solution. This process of identification/solution can be immediate and INSTINCTIVE, thus leading me to the primary criteria in "expert" - he is gifted and what he does is instinctive. Experts also sees details that elude others, and the better the expert, the better he sees and understands details....there is seeing the problem/solution and there is seeing both and ALL the potential consequences,,the details. The lesser skilled just pockets a ball,,,the expert sees all the nuances of hitting the ball and the consequences of any given hit. The third is the level of execution. These three things are qualities that are virtually unknown to the "novice", and not as fully understood by a lesser player
 
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This goes right along with my theory that we need to speed pool way up if we want it televised. America will never stop flipping the channels away from pool if we keep allowing zombies to play.

If it's the same rules for everyone it is fine. You would start rewarding the players who can think the fastest which would not be the end of the world.

Or we can just keep doing the same thing and just be okay with pool players being broke.
 
Luxury said:
This goes right along with my theory that we need to speed pool way up if we want it televised. America will never stop flipping the channels away from pool if we keep allowing zombies to play.
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Some snooker tournaments run on a 25 second shot clock. Ronnie O'Sullivan rolls through at about 17 seconds per shot.

Seems to me that 9-ball that I've seen with a shot clock allows 40 seconds on that smaller table.
 
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i do play better distracted and with a good rhythm. I'M AN EXPERT! :grin-square:

when i'm "in-stroke" the game seems easy and i see the entire shot. my concentration is not forced and i remember little about the game just played. i believe that there are some mind mechanics which can relegate concentration duties to the subconscious regions of our brains allowing us to perform difficult tasks without "thinking".
 
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