Tennis Improvement Memo 446. Learning Ability is a Double-Edged Sword

▶ While "learning ability" might sound like a good thing

We possess learning ability.

It is thanks to this learning ability that we memorize our own phone numbers after repeating them many times.

While learning ability might sound like a good thing, it can also act in undesirable directions.

This time, I will discuss specific measures to ensure that this does not happen in tennis.

▶ The fear of becoming "unable to forget"

For example, in tennis schools and tennis instructional books, instruction that focuses on form is generally practiced.

If you follow them, your learning ability will kick in, and you will develop a habit of focusing on your form.

You could also rephrase "focusing" as "thinking about."

The fact that you think about people you dislike or unpleasant events even when you don't want to is an "effect" of learning ability that has made thinking about them a habit.effect.

That is when it becomes troublesome.

Just as you cannot forget a phone number you have memorized even if you try, you will end up thinking about people you dislike or unpleasant events every chance you get.

▶ The subconscious does not evaluate whether something is "good or bad"

In the same way, even if you try not to think about your form, due to the effect of learning ability, you will be unable to forget it and will be unable to stop thinking about it.

The subconscious does not evaluate whether something is good or bad.

The subconscious reinforces reaction patterns to information obtained through the five senses, regardless of whether they are good or bad.

Early Buddhism is very strict on this point, and warns that "Body, speech, and mind (actions, words, and thoughts) become patterned after just one occurrence, so be careful."

▶ Good athletic ability, but terrible at tennis

Players who follow conventional tennis instruction and focus on their form are, due to the effect of learning ability that works regardless of our intentions, strengthening the habit of focusing.

The fear of being unable to stop focusing even when you try not to.

Aren't there people like this around you?

Their athletic ability is decent.

Even though they were top-class in everything during gym class as children, there are many people who are terrible at tennis specifically when they start as adults.

Such people have a high innate learning ability, which is why the neural circuits for focusing on form are firmly formed.

I asked, "Aren't there people like this around you?" but what about yourself?

I, of all people, was "that kind of person".

▶ If you try to "stop thinking about it," you end up thinking about it

What should you do?

I have good news.

Just as you forget phone numbers you don't use, you can also make a habit of not focusing on your form.

However, the more you try not to think about it, as I think you will realize if you try, it is counterproductive because you "end up thinking about it".

The more you try to "stop thinking" about people you dislike or unpleasant events, the more you end up thinking about them.

▶ Overwriting brain circuits by "focusing on the ball"

Therefore, you must overwrite your existing brain circuits with "something".

In tennis, that something is "focusing on the ball" as it were.

As noted in the "Free Guidebook: Tips for Tennis Improvement" the things we can direct our consciousness (focus) toward are limited to "one thing at a time" .

At the level of an instant (a moment), multitasking is impossible .

If you are worrying about a presentation scheduled for tomorrow, watching TV, and talking to a friend, you will never be able to taste the "flavor" of the meal you are currently eating.

Since it is impossible at the instant (which is said to be 1/65th of a second), even if that is extended to a second or a minute, "what is impossible remains impossible" .

▶ A "lifestyle that makes you worse" at tennis

Many players might still be wondering, "What's wrong with being conscious of my form?" .

However, because being conscious of your form means you "cannot focus on the ball" in accordance with the principle of "one thing at a time," it is ultimately "bad" if you aspire to improve at tennis.

The word "bad" (aku) originally contains the nuance of "clumsy" .

Therefore, engaging in bad criminal acts is a reckless and unrewarding way of life, despite the overwhelmingly high possibility of being caught or discovered, so it can be called a "poor way of life" .

"What's wrong with being conscious of my form?"

That is because it is a lifestyle that makes you worse at tennis .

▶ If you focus on the ball, you cannot be conscious of your form

Multitasking is just a collection of "one thing at a time" tasks.

It just looks like multitasking because single tasks are processed sequentially over time and grouped together.

However, when viewed at the instant, it is still "one thing at a time" .

Even if the moment is extended, it is just a "stacking of moments," so the fact that it is a collection of individual things does not change at all.

The multitasking of worrying about tomorrow's presentation while tasting your current meal is impossible.

Precisely because multitasking is impossible, if you focus on the ball, you cannot be conscious of your form and through that learning ability, you can overwrite and save your brain circuits anew.

▶ People who "cannot get better" even after playing tennis for over 10 years

Learning ability is a "double-edged sword".

If used well, it brings us wonderful results, but if used poorly, it acts in a way that makes things not go well at all.

If the curriculum is content that hinders the demonstration of ability, it is the same as studying English for a total of over 10 years—3 years, 3 years, 4 years—and ending up saying, "I can't speak English..." .

Unless they have study abroad experience, the number of Japanese people who can have daily conversations with native speakers in English despite graduating from university is likely only a handful .

Tennis is exactly the same.

If the content hinders the demonstration of ability , even if you practice for over 10 years, you will end up saying, "I can't play tennis..." .

▶ People who "put things in parentheses" every time

"English is just a language. Anyone can learn it if they try!"

What the prep school instructor says is absolutely correct.

But depending on the "way" you do it, the effect of your learning ability will be worlds apart .

We Japanese do not consciously think about "form (grammar)" every time we speak Japanese.

It is the same as that.

People who have been playing tennis for over 10 years but have not improved at all may have had habits—like the ones native speakers don't even do, such as "putting things in parentheses" in English—firmly reinforced by their excellent learning ability.

▶ "For what purpose" do you learn?

But please try to assess it calmly.

Is the purpose of us studying English not to be able to have English conversations with foreigners (and sometimes even between Japanese people)?

Can you have smooth communication where you listen to the other person's story and convey your own opinion while putting things in parentheses in your head?

"One thing at a time" is the principle.

When you are putting things in parentheses, you cannot hear the voice of the person you are speaking English with.

When you are listening to the other person's voice, you cannot put things in parentheses, so you cannot organize your own opinions with this method.

Japanese English education can no longer be called "English education," but rather a special "exam quiz" just to pass university entrance exams .

Tennis is the same.

Is the reason you practice not to improve ?

"One thing at a time" is the principle.

When you are focusing on the ball, you cannot be conscious of your form.

When you are conscious of your form, you cannot focus on the ball, so you will not improve at tennis with this method.

Common tennis instruction can no longer be called "tennis instruction," but rather a special "superficial lesson" just to correct form .

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