David Perell, founder of online writing school Write of Passage, was in his high school days an aspiring golfer. He regularly recounts an experience he had at a high school golf tournament to reflect on the power of practice as an explainer for excellence. After having some fun and competing with friends at a weekend tournament, Perell noticed that even though the golfing was done, there was someone at the range. The person who had just won the tournament by obliterating the competition by eight or more strokes wasn’t off basking in the brilliance of his performance but was at the range practicing. Moreover, this teenager wasn’t just randomly hitting balls. He was there with a coach and some form of electronic device which was taking measurements of his swing and ball shots. They were concertedly working on intentional improvement. This practice was not just prolific but purposeful. The image stuck in Perell’s head as evidence of the stark contrast between the seriousness which he was bringing to his game compared to what those at the next level were doing. The golfer Perell observed was none other than Bryson DeChambeau who has since gone on to the PGA tour and won multiple tournaments including a major, the US Open in 2020.
To ingrain is to burn a behavior into your brain. It’s through regimented repetition that we, in time, reduce the amount of cognition required. Practice makes a skill more automatic. As the fundamentals become fluid to execute, we can devote our thinking to the next level of skill. As our skills become expert and flow, we now have mental resources to allocate to tactics. By carefully constructing our capability chassis, we build the ability to race forward at higher speeds. We would be remiss if we treat practices like they’re hit and miss. The purpose of practice isn’t simply to pass time. It’s to improve. Practice must be purposefully designed to meet its participants where they are. Practice is pursued by individuals whether part of a solo or team effort. The practice should be structured to meet the needs of those playing the game. Practice is for learners at all stages. It’s not reserved for beginners.
Neither is practice something that’s one and done. We don’t improve in an instant. Progress takes time and commitment. Practice is about repetition. This isn’t to suggest that each practice is the same each time, but that practice must be pursued in order to promote the development of a specific skill. Its repetitive nature is a distinguishing characteristic of practice. It’s what sets it apart, for example, from a workshop. A workshop is an introduction to an idea. We sit and listen or get limited hands-on experience on a subject and then leave. We may have kindled a desire to learn more or to sign up for a series of lessons, but the workshop alone isn’t going to allow us to develop much in the way of skill.
Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway, and Katie Yezzi wrote Perfect Practice. The authors write that their book was driven by seeking answers to questions like, “What does effective practice look like? What separates true practice from repetition or performance? And what were the key design principles to ensure that practice truly made performance better?”
High performers prize practice. They recognize as the authors write, “Deliberately engineered and designed, practice can revolutionize our most important endeavors.” Increasing time on task is a hallmark of high performers. A common refrain said of those at the top of the game is that they’re the first one to work or practice and the last ones to leave. Work works and practice is a key driver of success. Nonetheless, the authors continue, “There’s more to the picture than the not-surprising surprise that the best still practice.”
Yes, proper practice can benefit learners at every level and the best practice a lot. However, a takeaway from studying productive practices is that quality of practice trumps quantity. What is done is more important than for how long it’s done. We can see this, as David Perell did, by going to any golf driving range. The weekenders stride up to a mat and swing away with whatever may be their favorite club in their bag. There’s little intent behind each shot other than trying to make some kind of contact with the ball. They randomly rip away for a few minutes before heading off to the first tee. Moreover, the practice sessions for weekenders are more warmups for a round. They aren’t taking trips to the golf course for the sole purpose of improving through practice. Whereas those with higher skills are acting with more intention in their range sessions. For the skilled, practice is done for a purpose. They may be mirroring a potential round seeking to use the range time to practice playing a full course. They are treating each swing like it will be a shot on a coming round. The first swing is their drive on the first hole, followed up by their approach shot to the green on the par 4 first hole. Alternately, they may be working primarily with a single club during an entire range session. Perhaps, they’re trying to consistently hit 100 or more balls to land in a certain target area. The objectives for a given practice session may vary, but the point is that there is a defined purpose for each practice. They aren’t randomly rolling through the motions.
As the late legendary US College basketball coach John Wooden reminded us, “Never mistake activity for achievement. Bustling bodies making noise can be deceptive.” Trainer, Michael Goldstein, is quoted in Practice Perfect observing, “A kid who practices hours of sloppy pick-up basketball every day is going to develop less than a kid who practices really well for two hours a day with good instruction and feedback.” Playing is different than practicing. Consistency and intent are the critical contributions to purposeful practice. These out do frequency and intensity. Quality practice isn’t easy and it’s not an accident. It requires effort, concentration, and a plan. All to say that practice doesn’t make perfect but perfect practice makes perfect. We improve through repeating something properly. Our actions repeated are likely to become routinized behaviors. However, if we’re doing things casually, without intention, or absent attention to detail, our skill development is likely to be sloppy. Mastery comes from meticulous execution done over and over. The authors write, “A critical goal of practice, then, should be ensuring that participants encode success—that they practice getting it right—whatever ‘it’ might be.” Continuing, they suggest, “Being great at the most important things is more important than being good at more things that are merely useful.” It’s about targeting specific skills to develop that meet you where you are today. In their book Peak, Ericsson and Pool write, “So here we have purposeful practice in a nutshell: Get outside your comfort zone but do it in a focused way, with clear goals, a plan for reaching those goals, and a way to monitor your progress. Oh, and figure out a way to maintain your motivation.”
If the purpose of practice is to promote progress, on what is it we’re supposed to focus? This is a key question behind targeted training. Consciously working on improving elements that are foundational to a domain is where practice time should be spent. This begs the question of how do we determine what’s most important in each area? We form our foundation with a focus on fundamentals. What are the fundamentals in your arena? Purposeful practice is built on the pareto principle. We’re trying to allocate our attention to the 20% of tasks that will bring us 80% of the benefit. Those actions that will bring us the most bang for our buck are what are the most important to practice.
If we’re working in an established field or domain, then these key components may be clear. Many sports and subjects have been done by millions of people over hundreds of years. A path of progression has been formed with which teachers, coaches, and students are familiar. This proven path clearly defines the tasks to focus on at each stage of development. If you’re in a domain where this type of clarity hasn’t been delineated, then as the authors in Perfect Practice suggest seek counsel from informed people in your arena. Ask each expert in your field what the top five most important things are upon which to practice. The authors write, “Using the five most frequently cited ideas as your answer won’t be perfect, but it will be darned good and will allow you to begin practicing each topic to excellence. The goal is not to be good at basic skills and then move on. The goal, again, is to be great at the most important things.” An alternate approach is to look at high performers in your field and learn from them what to practice. Copying what others that are doing well have done is a sound strategy. Who are the standouts in your craft? What are they doing today? What did they do at earlier stages? Taking a diligent and deep dive into determining answers to these questions will provide you with the information to craft a purposeful practice.
The higher levels you reach or the more unique your playing field, the tougher it is to determine what to work on to improve. Drawing on the wisdom of those that have come before and that are subject experts becomes increasingly important. As a McKinsey report on the best education programs prepared for the UK government observed, “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.” Teachers and coaches are the ones planning and preparing purposeful practices. It is their understanding of the required skills and the readiness of students that form the basis of deciding upon what to focus for training sessions.
Purposeful practice is composed of repetition for a reason. For you, there’s a time for it in every season. Any time of year and at any stage of development in your career, this kind of practice is something to keep near. Practice for a purpose. Before you begin, ensure that what you’re about to do will get you closer to a win. The pathway to progress is paved with purposeful practice. The best take on high quantities of high-quality practice to hone their craft. When we prioritize purposeful practice, we seek to trade easy for effective. We aim to stay away from shortcuts and embrace the process. Around a third of the chapters in this book revolve around this general theme of how to get better. Where we prioritize purposeful practice we’re Embracing Effort, willing to Face Feedback, Intent on Improvement, seeking to Joy in the Journey, on a quest to Keep Kneading Knowledge, are Motivated by Mastery, and aim to Zero-in on our Zone of Proximal Development.
