Practice time limits

[GTP_CargoRatt]

I spoke a bit about this subject briefly in another thread but I wanted to go into it a bit deeper here in hopes of maybe helping people trying to improve their times and how long of a stint they should do at one time. This information comes from my doctor (shrink) as I ask her this question just out of curiosity. I asked her this question. When trying to improve upon a mark set in a game/competition, how long should you go before taking a break. Her response was this. When trying to improve or break a mark, the brain usually reaches its peak performance between 45 min. to 1 hour 30 min. After that, it just becomes repetitive and loss of concentration sets in resulting in mistakes. She also said that your mind should be free of distractions when in this peak period. I have taking her advice and even done some experiments of my own and I must say, what she told me seems to be true. Also, she said no TV, music or any other distractions should be allowed. Hope this helps anyone having problems improving.

 

[VELOCI_2NR]

I know it's different for everyone, but I usually need something to listen to while in my peak to make it so I don't concentrate too much and get overzealous on a good lap and end up screwing it up. I ran a stint of 4 hours last night and I noticed in the first two, I sucked horribly, in the next hour, my times started to improve, and in the beginning of the fourth hour (at about 2AM) I finally got into "the zone" and was running super consistenly and fairly quick (bunch of .6s and .7s) and that gave way to one good lap that is now my record. But during this time, I was listening to my friend tell his life story to me. Music usually works too

 

[AndRome]

I spoke a bit about this subject briefly in another thread but I wanted to go into it a bit deeper here in hopes of maybe helping people trying to improve their times and how long of a stint they should do at one time. This information comes from my doctor (shrink) as I ask her this question just out of curiosity. I asked her this question. When trying to improve upon a mark set in a game/competition, how long should you go before taking a break. Her response was this. When trying to improve or break a mark, the brain usually reaches its peak performance between 45 min. to 1 hour 30 min. After that, it just becomes repetitive and loss of concentration sets in resulting in mistakes. She also said that your mind should be free of distractions when in this peak period. I have taking her advice and even done some experiments of my own and I must say, what she told me seems to be true. Also, she said no TV, music or any other distractions should be allowed. Hope this helps anyone having at the problems improving.

Thanks, this is something I have noticed, but hearing in form your shrink will cause me to adjust. Usually get my best time between 30-45 minutes, and that's with my kids jumping around me an throwing balls at the back of my head.

 

[GTP_CargoRatt]

Yea, thats another thing we talked about is how people get into the "zone" in competition. That was interesting as she said that the brain baisically goes into full auto mode and you can do no wrong during that time. Scientists still don't really understand the hows and whys of it. A good example, if you follow basketball, is Michael Jordan in the one game where he couldn't miss a shot even if he tried. He later said that it was like something just took over and he was just along for the ride, lol. Being truely "in the zone" is a rare thing and doesn't happen to everyone...according to my doc.

 

[Dhalism]

When you say Jordan, you of course mean Senna at Monaco 88?

"Suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was kind of driving by instinct, only I was in a different dimension. I was way over the limit, but still I was able to find even more. It frightened me because I realised I was well beyond my conscious understanding."

About doing no wrong - a fella named Jos de Kroon once was asked about what practice was for - "you need to practice so much that you never choke, right?" - to which he replied "no you need to practice so much that even if you choke you're still better then everyone else."

I think being in the zone requires certain combination of factors. You need to be well practiced, otherwise your skills will not be embedded in subconsciousness, you need to be motivated, have extreme desire to win, have an extreme level of concentration and do something that would put you on the limit of mental capacity.

I know before i went to the StarCraft 2 tournaments i've played and won in i could never sleep more then 3 hours because of nerves. And at first i thought it was a hindrance, before i realized that it actually put me "in the zone" in important games, because my brain could concentrate on only one task and my subconsciousness took over all the tasks it could. Granted this "zone" was far and away from perfection and only mattered on a small local level but it still was always far and _above_ my then present form.

 

[GTP_CargoRatt]

Your second to last paragraph is entirely correct. Same type of things my doc also spoke of. And as far as practice, you can never practice too much. Its just the point of hitting that magic time starts diminishing after a certain time when done without a break. Just trying to make it clear as I was told by a professional. She studies athletes is how she is knowledgeable in that area. I'm no athlete, but its just one of her interests that she studies.

 

[Dhalism]

Your second to last paragraph is entirely correct. Same type of things my doc also spoke of. And as far as practice, you can never practice too much. Its just the point of hitting that magic time starts diminishing after a certain time when done without a break. Just trying to make it clear as I was told by a professional. She studies athletes is how she is knowledgeable in that area. I'm no athlete, but its just one of her interests that she studies.

well of course i agree I've been hammering TRM for 2 days before breaking previous best, and oh the things i've said about myself! I wish i was less stubborn and more capable of taking breaks.
I think it's also important to not only take breaks trying to achieve your mental peak but as a part of taking care of your health. Stretching, eye excersizes and such.

 

[GTP_CargoRatt]

well of course i agree I've been hammering TRM for 2 days before breaking previous best, and oh the things i've said about myself! I wish i was less stubborn and more capable of taking breaks.
I think it's also important to not only take breaks trying to achieve your mental peak but as a part of taking care of your health. Stretching, eye excersizes and such.

So true. Preparation is a very important part of competition, even in a video game.

 

[zzz_pt]

That state that you define by "in the zone" is the matter of study of many psychologists and scientists.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls it: "Flow Theory". And he describes several examples of different people that have experienced that state of perfect immersion in what your are doing. Like if your consciousness were out of you body.

If your interested do a little research on the internet Its very interesting

 

[LeftyWright69]

The zone is a totally cool place to hange out in. I never know when I will get there but when i'm there I know it. It's like a switch goes on and I try to do my best work. My best work is the stuff I do better then the last time I was in it. I try not to hang out to long so I don't hit my wall. It's all possitive energy and I shut it down when I decide to and not because I'm not getting any better. I always have to be in control of my destiny and not a victim of my desires. Bobby Fischer wasn't so wise .....