Whatever the sport or physical activity coaches always want their young charges to go faster, further or higher. But how?
Let’s take swimming for example. Say we’ve got two swimming coaches teaching freestyle. One tells their future champions they should focus on ‘pulling their hands back’. The other says they should focus on “pushing the water back”.
So does it matter? After all, they’re both saying pretty much the same thing.
Like to sink more putts? Sure. But how?
Well, let’s get some advice from the touring professionals. After all, their living depends on it so they should know.
Jordan Spieth (winner US PGA, US Open, British Open) tells us to keep staring at the hole when we putt. Padraig Harrington (winner US Open 2007, 2008, US PGA) tells us to track the ball on its way to the hole. Dave Stockton (winner US PGA 1970, 1976) tells us to keep our focus on a spot in front of the ball.
Can you really learn two skills at once? It might sound impossible but the answer is yes. And to show you, we’ll look at someone learning to play table tennis. We’ll then move on to how you too can learn two skills at once in all sorts of endeavours, not just sport.