I am not some kind of Sensei or an expert who has spent time amongst the professional athletes.
The amount of I have put myself personally to the sport has let me get a bit of insights, also a lot of studying blogs, books and listening to experiences via books and Youtube.
From the outset in any walk/domain of life, people who aren't masters or you can who are novice in any field make assumptions about the professionals who are master of their craft that they would have possessed outright confidence in themselves from the start but this is never the way it has been for anyone.
We know nobody's full story from their birth to mastery which leads us to knowing only a little snippet of their lives and which leads us to make assumptions on 10% of their lives and we think we know everything. It is somewhat viewing the situation from a 2D lens and not 3D lens.
Beneath the hood of their confidence lies thousands of repetitions of failure, thousand of repetition of half corrected way of doing things, thousands of blow ups, thousands of misses, thousands of half ass efforts after misses. All of these things lead to their mastery. They are not just a byproduct of thousands of repetition of success but they are accumulation of everything from misses to blowups to half ass efforts which lead to the way they play now.
Coach Bob Bowman taught Michael Phelps to handle uncertainty not by eliminating it, but by systematically preparing for it. He intentionally subjected Phelps to unpredictable training conditions and used rigorous visualization techniques so that no matter what went wrong on race day, Phelps could execute his plan automatically.
Michael Phelps famously swam a race with flooded goggles during the 200-meter butterfly final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Shortly after diving, his goggles leaked and filled with water, rendering him essentially blind for the majority of the race.
Despite being unable to see the lane lines or the wall, Phelps won the gold medal and set a new world record of 1:52:03.
He couldn't see, Phelps relied on his intensive training. He knew exactly how many strokes it took him to complete each lap (typically 21 strokes per 50 meters), allowing him to touch the wall safely at the exact right moment.
Was this a coincidence? Not at all. Because Bob Bowman frequently forced Phelps to train with his eyes closed or without goggles to prepare him for the unexpected. Phelps had "swum" this exact disaster scenario in his mind hundreds of times, meaning he didn't panic and simply let his muscle memory take over.
I love your reference to the 2D lens and not a 3D. It’s so true. I think it can make it easier for us not to implement small changes or hard work if we think that those who are ‘the greats’ were just born like that. If we have to face the fact that we have to put in the work, the reps, the habit changes to accomplish things, that can become quite scary or daunting.
I am not some kind of Sensei or an expert who has spent time amongst the professional athletes.
The amount of I have put myself personally to the sport has let me get a bit of insights, also a lot of studying blogs, books and listening to experiences via books and Youtube.
From the outset in any walk/domain of life, people who aren't masters or you can who are novice in any field make assumptions about the professionals who are master of their craft that they would have possessed outright confidence in themselves from the start but this is never the way it has been for anyone.
We know nobody's full story from their birth to mastery which leads us to knowing only a little snippet of their lives and which leads us to make assumptions on 10% of their lives and we think we know everything. It is somewhat viewing the situation from a 2D lens and not 3D lens.
Beneath the hood of their confidence lies thousands of repetitions of failure, thousand of repetition of half corrected way of doing things, thousands of blow ups, thousands of misses, thousands of half ass efforts after misses. All of these things lead to their mastery. They are not just a byproduct of thousands of repetition of success but they are accumulation of everything from misses to blowups to half ass efforts which lead to the way they play now.
Coach Bob Bowman taught Michael Phelps to handle uncertainty not by eliminating it, but by systematically preparing for it. He intentionally subjected Phelps to unpredictable training conditions and used rigorous visualization techniques so that no matter what went wrong on race day, Phelps could execute his plan automatically.
Michael Phelps famously swam a race with flooded goggles during the 200-meter butterfly final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Shortly after diving, his goggles leaked and filled with water, rendering him essentially blind for the majority of the race.
Despite being unable to see the lane lines or the wall, Phelps won the gold medal and set a new world record of 1:52:03.
He couldn't see, Phelps relied on his intensive training. He knew exactly how many strokes it took him to complete each lap (typically 21 strokes per 50 meters), allowing him to touch the wall safely at the exact right moment.
Was this a coincidence? Not at all. Because Bob Bowman frequently forced Phelps to train with his eyes closed or without goggles to prepare him for the unexpected. Phelps had "swum" this exact disaster scenario in his mind hundreds of times, meaning he didn't panic and simply let his muscle memory take over.
I love your reference to the 2D lens and not a 3D. It’s so true. I think it can make it easier for us not to implement small changes or hard work if we think that those who are ‘the greats’ were just born like that. If we have to face the fact that we have to put in the work, the reps, the habit changes to accomplish things, that can become quite scary or daunting.