Improving Performance and Competitive Mastery: DSC Surf Training
October 14, 2008
Often in university settings the emphasis on learning leans in the direction of discussing issues, reading books, memorizing key concepts, test preparation and designing class presentations (think speech complete with PowerPoint slide show). These learning venues fall short in the area of direct application, in other words performing actionable steps to fully discover and master the studied concepts.
The posted video is one from a series on surf training that is a vivid example of real situation analysis through the use of video footage of the individual client surfing, task breakdowns, goal setting, and focused exercises that progressively increase in difficulty. In order for a person to completely engage in the learning process it is important to use all the senses: specifically hear, see, say, do. In the video the speaker describes neuromuscular motor patterns and fast twitch muscle fibers…the specific areas that are being developed for improved balance and reaction time in fast waves.
While Dean Sports Consulting works specifically with competitive surfers, the principles they are incorporating can be easily applied to other areas where an individual seeks to improve performance. Several important principles to take note of are:
- real world application
- observation (by a coach or objective partner)
- developing focused exercises or tasks that mimic “real life”
- movement and/or thought process breakdown
- proper technique development (through practice)
- goal setting
- progress analysis
Consider your day to day goals…what are you wanting to improve? Presenting in front of people? Playing an instrument? Budgeting? Start your week with some planning. Chart out weekly, monthly and quarterly goals and note your progress as you attack each task. Find a partner and develop a game plan that specifically addresses the tasks that you need to master to accomplish your larger goal. At the end of the week take an hour to assess how you did and adjust for the new week.
Good luck until next time.
The Winged Spur
Profile on Leadership: Thomas Friedman
October 9, 2008
Author, Journalist, Investigative Reporter
Hot, Flat and Crowded, From Beirut to Jerusalem, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring The World After September 11, The World Is Flat
Core Theme of Hot, Flat and Crowded:
(excerpt from book)
The core argument is very simple: America has a problem and the world has a problem. America’s problem is that it has lost its way in recent years partly because of 9/11 and partly because of the bad habits that we have let build up over the last three decades, bad habits that have weakened our society’s ability and willingness to take on big challenges. The world also has a problem: It is getting hot, flat, and crowded. That is, global warming, the stunning rise of middle classes all over the world, and rapid population growth have converged in a way that could make our planet dangerously unstable. In particular, the convergence of hot, flat, and crowded is tightening energy supplies, intensifying the extinction of plants and animals, deepening energy poverty, strengthening petrodictatorship, and accelerating climate change. How we address these interwoven global trends will determine a lot about the quality of life on earth in the twenty-first century.
I am convinced that the best way for America to solve its big problem the best way for America to get its “groove” back is for us to take the lead in solving the world’s big problem. In a world that is getting hot, flat, and crowded, the task of creating the tools, systems, energy sources, and ethics that will allow the planet to grow in cleaner, more sustainable ways is going to be the biggest challenge of our lifetime. But this challenge is actually an opportunity for America. If we take it on, it will revive America at home, reconnect America abroad, and retool America for tomorrow. America is always at its most powerful and most influential when it is combining innovation and inspiration, wealth-building and dignity-building, the quest for big profits and the tackling of big problems. When we do just one, we are less than the sum of our parts.
Interesting Fact: Thomas Friedman has been “pied” twice by members of the “Greenwash Guerillas” for allegedly promoting environmental measures that appear transformative and sustainable but are viewed by some as masking real corporate waste issues and promoting ideas that possibly further damage the environment (specifically his views on coal and nuclear energy). Check out a video of Friedman’s pie experience at Brown University which occurred April of 2008.
Credentials:
Three time Pulitzer Prize winner, has served as a visiting professor at Harvard University
