I was reading through this book completly unrelated to pick up when i came across something that i found interesting

. . . greatness isn't handed to anyone; it requires a lot of hard work.
Yet that isn't enough, since many people work hard for many decades
without approaching greatness or even getting significantly better.
What's missing? The best people in any Held are those who devote
the most hours to what researchers call "deliberate practice." It's
activity that is explicitly intended to improve performance, that
reaches tor objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides
feedback on results and involves high levels ot repetition. For
example, simply hitting a bucket of balls is not deliberate practice,
which is why most golfers don't get better. Hitting an 8-iron 300
times with the goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80
percent of the time, continually observing the results and making
appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours every day—that's
deliberate practice. Consistency is crucial. As Ericsson, a professor
at Florida State University, notes, "Elite performers in many diverse
domains have been found to practice on the average roughly the same
amount every day, including' weekends." Evidence crosses a remarkable
range ot fields. In a study of 20-year-old violinists by Ericsson
and colleagues, the best group averaged 10,000 hours of deliberate
practice over their lives; the next best averaged 7,500 hours, the next
best 5,000.: It's the same story in surgery, insurance sales and virtually
every sport—more deliberate practice equals better performance;
tons of it equals great performance.


Specific Practice Makes Perfect
The adage that "practice makes perfect" has merit, but it should be amended
to include "only when perfectly practiced." Apart from favorable genetics,
what it takes for an athlete to excel is a willingness to devote thousands of
hours to the practice of a particular skill. Authorities in the field of motor
learning contend that roughly ten thousand hours of practice of a particular
skill is required before someone can manage to become "great" at it.'
Moreover, the way the skill must be practiced is not merely similar to the
way you would perform it in competition, but exactly as you would perform
it in competition. The neural training that results in superior skill development
is highly specific, and only by practicing perfectly will you become
perfect at that skill. If you practice the skill in a way that differs significantly
from the way it is performed in competition, you will not perfect
that skill; you will befuddle it.

_________________
Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

yeah, i played tennis as a teenager and practiced my ass off, playing after school for 10-15 hours a week. but i only got real results when the school coach guided me through targets and objectives. this advice is golden. i have a certain amount of "natural game" but you reach what's known as a "plateau" when you're not getting any better. you need advice, guidance and goals from those with more experience to get anywhere... because otherwise how would you know if where "anywhere" was in the first place?

good post.