PRACTICING SUCKS!!! Not many people will admit it,
but it’s true. Ask anyone who has ever had to practice
something hundreds, perhaps thousands of times until the
body could do it absolutely correctly, automatically.
That person will tell you that practicing is, at the
very least, REALLY, REALLY annoying.
It doesn’t matter what you’re
practicing -- whether it’s a gymnastic step, an ice
skating move, a tennis serve, a golf swing, or a piece
on a musical instrument. The simple truth is
practicing, at best, is a boring, tedious occupation
and what’s worse is---most people do it wrong. (Speaking
of occupations, have you ever wondered why doctors
“practice” but they never “perform”?)
“Wow,” you’re thinking,
“Here’s someone who finally admits to hating
practice as much as I do.” Oh, did you think
that people who practice actually enjoy it??? Think again!!! What we enjoy is the
results we get from good, productive practice. And
that’s something that beginning to intermediate students
almost never do.
Before going any further, let’s
first define “practice”. Practice is the monotonous
repetition of one small exercise again, and again, and
again, and yet again in order to teach some part of the
body to execute it perfectly, automatically and
consistently, or to drive you crazy --- whichever comes
first.
