Friday Ya Dig?

Did two sessions today. AM was sprint work. I did four 20 yard starts with a pulling sled+45lbs. Then six 20 yard starts without it. I am in the consciously competent stage of my sprint development. If someone points out a technique flaw I can correct it without too much trouble, but if no one is there to point it out I'm not sure I would notice it. Giff said something about my arm swing today and I fixed it fine, but I need to think about it to fix it. Either way I got some good starts in.

PM session I really wailed on my grip. As of this typing I finished about four minutes ago and fine motor movements with my fingers are difficult at best. I started with a warmup of 20 closes on the Tr. Then did 50 total reps on each hand with the #1. I ended with one set of 40 closes on each hand with the Tr. Forearms are totally jacked right now.

Back to the earlier phrase of "consiously competent". This is the third stage in the development of a skill. The stages are 1) unconsciouly incompetent; 2) consciously incompetent; 3) consciously competent; 4) unconsciously competent. The first stage is someone who basically doesn't know what they don't know. They are blissfully unaware of the deeper levels of complexity it takes to master the skill they are attempting to learn. If they stick with it they will soon move to the consciously incompetent stage. At this stage they become aware of what they don't know and are exposed to deeper levels of complexity in mastering the skill. The third stage is the stage where a person is pretty good at the skill and has a good deal of knowledge about what they are doing. This is the stage where they will still do things wrong, but are aware of it. The fourth stage represents a barrier that is crossed where they skill suddenly becomes easier to perform. They are now better at the skill without actually putting in any more effort than they normally would. This represents unconscious competence.

I heard this speech four times in my high school wrestling career. Our coaches swore by it. It was always our goal to pick a few moves that we would become unconsciously competent at that we could do at any time. Mine was an underhook to a single leg. It was by far my go to move and it served me well, especially against bigger and stronger opponents. Most of the time they never saw it coming. They thought that they could throw me around, but with an attack, attack, attack mentality I was able to do what I wanted to do on the mat.

My question to you is, What do you want to be unconsciouly competent at?

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them. -Orison Swett Marden