You CAN do it with your Eyes Shut!

The Eyes have it

In the course of my coaching cricket, I sometimes step off the well-worn path and go down the rabbit-hole of uncertainty. And certainly, those of you who are familiar with the more esoteric side of my methods, will be aware that I have been known to ask players to undertake actions with either their eyes closed, or by projecting their perceptual position from the customary 1^st position to the 2^nd position.

http://pjwhypno.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/watch-your-own-performance.html

and

http://pjwhypno.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/visualisation-in-action-part-1-throwing.html

So, WHAT happened this week to set me alight once again?

I was working with three lads with their driving shots off the front foot.
Technically, this involves their stepping towards the line of the ball, getting their weight going forward and getting their hands to hit through the line of the ball.
Of course, they are holding a bat – and the bat is an extension of their hands – so if their hands are hitting through the line of the ball, the bat (the extension) will strike the ball at the optimal moment, as directed via their watching of the ball in flight.

Any striking the ball process (and this one is no exception) is whittled down to 3 words:
Hand Eye Co-ordination

These three lads all had differing issues with their developing technique for this particular shot. Issues that I would describe as their having difficulty with correcting the errors and mistakes and being able to install the correct technical elements into their shot execution.
Put in street terms, they consistently “got it wrong!”

I set up a target “gate” for them to hit through – first with over-arm feeds, then under-arm feeds, and then finally I did drop-feeds for them. They failed to hit through the gate with any consistency whatsoever.
In fact, two of the lads found playing with a straight bat (in the vertical plane) really awkward for their hands to manipulate the bat in the correct way, and to get their front foot to step towards the line of the ball. Even with the drop feed, they struggled to get their leading foot to do what I’d asked for and what their brain wanted their foot to do.
(Good job I wasn’t asking them to walk along a path at the edge of a cliff!)

“Close Your Eyes!”

Then I set up a final challenge with the drop feed –

I asked them to play with their eyes closed!

They all looked at me and said “You’re joking, aren’t you? We’ll miss the ball for sure.”

“Trust me,” I replied. “Here’s how we’ll set it up. Nothing will change with where you stand and where I drop the ball. You’ll close your eyes - I will say when I’m dropping the ball – and you will step and play the shot.”

I was curious with my expectations, though not pre-judgemental. I knew from past experience that batsmen can still hit a ball with their eyes closed, even when it is pitched towards them from, say, 12m away – provided they are told when the ball is pitched and how fast it will be going.

I gave them all a couple of practice goes each and reminded them where they needed to step to, in order to be near enough to the ball to be able to hit it. We then ran the test, with a points reward system so there was a competitive element between them all.

The results were amazing enough for them – but they really got me buzzing!

Without the aid of being able to see what they were doing, they ALL made contact with the ball with either bat or hand. Of the 12 balls dropped (4x3) 10 were hit off the bat cleanly and well enough to send 7 through the gate

• The more accomplished player hit every ball through the gate
• The players who’d struggled with their leading foot NOW managed to step towards the ball correctly
• The hands of these same two players had no trouble or awkwardness in playing correctly
• When I asked the accomplished player how he’d done it, he said he knew where the target gate was, and where the ball was. He had visualised their positions. His control of the shot was immaculate.

All the players could not believe their eyes – which I found rather amusing.

Yet, once again, this does prove a number of things – we know, on the inside, far more than we think we do. We can perform, unaided by sight, far better than we ever think we can. How and why can this be? How does this happen?

Stuff

As I see it, there is a conscious foreground of our attention that is not always 100% linked to our actual bank of skills. Stuff, for want of a better word, gets in the way.
In execution of any action we draw upon our COMPETENCE to perform that action. In the 4 quadrants (quarters) of the Learning Cycle, the final quadrant is UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE. This is the ability to perform the action without any conscious thought process taking place.
From learning to drive > to writing our name > to tying up shoelaces – we go through the learning cycle and eventually end up at Unconscious Competence.

For the three lads in the experiment: two were still at Conscious Incompetence (2^nd quadrant) and one was at Conscious Competence (3^rd quadrant). They were very much “stuck” in these quadrants too – because of the Stuff getting in the way of their desire to marry up their banks of skills with the foreground of their attention when attempting to execute the skills.

This is a dilemma facing millions of humans worldwide on numerous occasions on a daily basis. None of us are EVER perfect in performing ALL of the skills we have in our banks of skills. It is our human frailty – in that we cannot seem to by-pass the Stuff.

Yet, for the three lads in the experiment, and myself, we all discovered a moment when their Stuff WAS by-passed! They suddenly became more capable than they THOUGHT they were - they stepped out the ordinary.

We did this by taking away (DEPRIVING THEM) of their Visual faculty. This brought about a change in the nature of their brain activity around the required execution of their skills.

I KNOW that by helping people understand the nature of their Stuff, they can THINK LESS and DO MORE, and for DO also read ACHIEVE.

Remember also that the functioning of the Visual faculty is a Thought-Process …

So, for our 3 lads, suddenly with a lot less thought processing going on, they were able to ACHIEVE more – and astound themselves!

My conclusion therefore is this …

STUFF = THOUGHT

Visualisation in Action - Part 1: Throwing at Targets

VISUALISATION IN ACTION -

This collection of 3 short reports examines how to achieve enhanced performance and greater accuracy by improving VISUAL data processing utilizing these particular mental processes:

Visualization
R.A.S (Reticular Activating System, used for filtering data)
Laser-like focus and concentration using Dead Aim principles

As you read the reports, you will notice how these particular mental processes are inextricably linked through each skill examination in turn, as we study :

Part 1 - Throwing and hitting targets

I took a group of 8 of our Academy Cricketers aged 11-13 and explained to them the power of visualization in relation to fielding.

The key point I wanted to make to them was that by visualizing the stumps at each end of the wicket they could build a mental map to assist with the accuracy of their throwing in. I explained that in the course of the pick up and throw, the eyes had little time to search for the "target" with a good degree of accuracy – given the requirement to watch the ball into the hands first. This would necessitate the need for the brain to “best guess” the target area, and best here would be relative to the amount of hard visual data gathered. By visualizing the target(s) first, making them bigger, brighter, bolder, closer, then this would enhance their capabilities. PLUS – if they were to bring principles of Dead Aiming into the process then these capabilities would be enhanced by geometric proportions.

The Dead Aiming principles I am referring to are: 

• Observing an area of the target in fine detail
• Concentrating on a single spot in that area
• Maintaining total observation and concentration on that spot in the course of performing the physical process or action
• Significantly reducing the levels of sensual data input from all bar the visual.

They visualized three target wickets, the middle of which was a single stump. They each had three goes and, starting with their backs to the targets, were required to pick up a bounce off the wall and turn and throw across the sports hall at the targets - aiming at whichever one they wanted.

First time round there was one hit from 24 throws.

They were then told to continue with their visualizations and there was to be a second round of throws at the targets. This time they would be required to throw with their eyes closed. 

Result - There were 9 hits out of 24 throws - 5 of which were on the single stump target.

The interesting points were:
With the eyes closed, the target would only be seen in visual memory and the physical processes of the throw adjusted to that directional information. 

Plus, the 'clean' (undistracted) nature of this hot-wired data will also have contributed in some way to the resulting accuracy of the throws.

It goes without saying, however, that good throwing technique is THE most important thing here - but it’s a good example of what the mental processes can bring to a physical activity.

If you have the chance I suggest you do this little experiment for yourself.
It’s a good practice for your visualization skills anyway, plus I'm sure you'll arrive at the same conclusions we did.

I had to conclude the experiment after just 2 rounds of throws due to time constraints on the session - but the message was loud and clear to us all who were there.
After that 15 min exercise everyone was in no doubt as to the Power of Visualization!

Footwear and the Bridlepath

Booting-Up

I had two walks last Saturday: a ‘tough’ morning walk, along the South West Coast Path with some steep climbs on wet terrain – and a simpler, though longer, afternoon walk involving the beach at Woolacombe. The weather in the morning was misty with increasingly hard rain; the afternoon was gloriously sunny by comparison – and that can happen in January, on our coastline!

In the autumn of 2016 I purchased some walking shoes, which have stood me in good stead on my walks, hikes and climbs since. Until, that was when, in November 2017, I climbed up West Mill Tor and then across to Yes Tor on Dartmoor. It was then that I realised I needed walking boots for traversing the rocky and boggy terrain I encountered that day.
In December 2017 I road-tested my new boots going across Saunton Down, back in North Devon, and found them ideal for the wet, muddy and slippery footpaths along the way. Appropriate footwear can elicit a felt sense of confidence.

Brave or Foolhardy?

On the Saturday morning walk I was part way up a long, steep climb when I met a couple coming down. This was a climb that I’d fallen and slipped down some distance in the autumn of 2016, and it was a wake-up call for me.
“Respect and attend to everything about the journey – for there are potential mishaps around every corner. You may not always get lucky.” I got lucky that day.

To return to the walking couple - the lady also had two small dogs with her, on leads, whilst her husband was about 5m behind, on the steps coming down. I could tell from her voice and demeanour she was not fully at ease, so I asked, “Are you OK?”
“No, I’ve just had a fall and I’m a bit shaken up, as I’ve only got a plastic kneecap,” she replied. I didn’t tell her I’ve had one knee with no patella since 1976, since it has never stopped me from doing exercise or playing sport. As I was telling her the variation routes to the next village along the coast, my eyes came to rest on the wellington boots she was wearing – and I remembered my previous fall on the same walk.
“Go easy on the rest of the descent,” I said, wishing her well. I did think that she should at least consider passing the dogs over to her husband – as the toughest bits on the descent were yet to come. Hopefully, they all got safely to where they were going, though I did think she was both brave and foolhardy at the same time.

Coast Path and Bridleway

The signposts I encounter on my coastal walks invariably show both the Coast Path AND any linked Bridleway.

On my afternoon walk I encountered a sign rather similar to the one pictured – and it was whilst negotiating the muddy and horse-worn pathway that I mused on the juxtaposition of the two descriptions – coming up with the actual and also metaphorical signposts of:

Coast Way and Bridal Path.

It only took a momentary bit of further musing – for me to arrive at linking Bridle Path – and Bridal Path with Appropriate Footwear.

Our Journeys in Life

We all undertake many journeys in our lives – both physically and metaphorically. Some of the journeys are regular and mundane; some are Life changing; some are on coast paths and some are on bridleways, perhaps even on horseback; sometimes we are coasting, free-wheeling, and sometimes we’re are striding out with a purpose; sometimes we are on a “Bridal Path”, stepping into pastures completely new; sometimes we are on the path more travelled.

Whichever the journeys, and whatever the purpose, we need to ask ourselves whether we have appropriate footwear. Will our footwear carry us, with confidence, along the way – or will we find ourselves on a hill steeper than we might have imagined, wearing wellington boots? Wellies are great for walking squelchy and muddy meadows or testing out the depth of flooded roads before venturing to drive through them – as I discovered on yesterday's travels – however, they do not have good enough tread or support to see us safely down a steep and slippery descent.

Our best footwear for any metaphorical journey is, arguably, the last thing we consider before setting out – unless it is part of our checklist!

Consider the Bridal Path itself, or a new job, or emigration, moving house, going to University, transitioning from primary to secondary school. These are all crucial journeys, laced with and enriched by a considerable amount of emotion. Are we prepared enough for these types of journey? Or does the emotional involvement distract us from the real physical and mental metaphors of checking out that which is often the furthest away from our brains, or our minds – OUR FEET!

I know that, in terms of my emotion-filled journeys, I took on a number of them without any preparation or consideration of appropriate “footwear”. The “shoes” I wore on those journeys made them difficult to negotiate at best – and doomed to failure at the other end of the scale.

Self - Realisation

Yet, you might say, blundering footloose into those journeys and learning THE HARD WAY is all about Life’s Lessons. The ME that I AM right now would have been different if I had not learned the hard way. The mistakes and the learnings are all part of MY STORY.

What if I don’t realise? What if I don’t learn? What then?

Well then our STORY, our life, goes blundering off in another direction, doesn’t it?

And there’s a point I’d like to make about the word Réalisation – in French.
It actually means PRODUCTION. So, if we are to become the PRODUCERS, the shapers, of our lives – then we are engaged in our own Réalisation. The Réalisation of our selves.

Self Réalisation

Once I started on the journey of Self Réalisation, I knew was undertaking a much more sure-footed journey. This is now a journey of focussed intent and purpose; well beyond the mistakes and error-strewn journeys I took when much younger. True, I thought I had intent and purpose back then.
Now, I get a felt sense that the intent and purpose is aligned with who I truly am. I’m almost tempted to use the word authentic here, even though it is much-bandied-about buzz-word of our times.

So here, yet again, are the words of R D Laing’s timeless quote about the divided self:
“If I don’t know I don’t know – I think I know
If I don’t know I know – I think I don’t know”

And when we get to the pathway of Self-Realisation, there is this:
When I know I know – then I don’t Think

Bon Voyage!

Get your walking boots on!

The New Year has begun! The winter walking season is here and now!

It may be wet and windy today, but last Wednesday (10th January) I was out and about in Woolacombe and Mortehoe, from Marine Drive to Morte Point ... and back. The weather was beautiful and I was testing out the Zhiyun Smooth-Q gimbal. Practice is always necessary, and we all have to start somewhere! The video above, filmed on smartphone, gives a clue as to where I am on the learning curve. Next outing I hope to set it up for GoPro filming.

On next Saturday, 20th January, I'm doing the Mortehoe and Woolacombe walking set - weather permitting. Here is the link to the Eventbrite page WALKING THE SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

It would be great to see you there!