For me, "reflection" has a sort of philosophical connotation.........something I would more easily do over a pint or two. I would tend to be more specific here: depending on what exact skill I was working on, I might consider a "planning" or "briefing/debriefing" moment useful.
It would be very unusual to just go and start riding.........there's usually some amount of thinking involved.
Ordering one's actions and evaluating one's performance, to some degree, is probably a natural part of physical action.........and can always stand to be improved.
If we are going to add an emotional or philosophical element and going to add (or withhold) some kind of reward, we are moving into a vastly more complex arena. Outdoor adventures tend to be self-rewarding (or spontaneously so) -- when we manipulate our own psyches we need to be sure we are pushing the right buttons.
It may also be useful to avoid an all-or-nothing formulation: not worrying about whether or not we are involving Reflection, of some sort, or not.............but just assuming that some kind of cognitive action will help our practice, and our skill........
Maybe exercises, like all these, simply help us to understand (and appreciate) more fully what the heck we are really doing...........
Rusty, I think self-reflection can serve a variety of processes--cognitive, emotional, behavioral--and can range from deep to shallow and maybe brief to lengthy. So it works for your philosophical connotation but I think it's fine for this context of trying to improve a motor skill. I also have no objection to your preference for the terms "planning" or "briefing/debriefing."
I also think it's helpful to think of reflection as a skill that can be improved. I notice that the more I do it for my wheelie practice sessions, the more I'm curious, and the more helpful ideas pop into my head.
It's common for us to label a practice session with simple thoughts like "I guess I just had an off-day" or "that was awesome." Yes, that's 'thinking' I don't see it as helpful to consider them reflections.
That's a really interesting paper to take a closer look at. It's a bit of a shame that the pdfs that I could get hold of didn't have any tables (just 'insert table 4 about here' - glad it's not just me that makes those kind of mistakes!) but they try a few different reflection methods. From what I can see practice is more effective than reflection in the very early days but as soon as you gain experience then reflection becomes more effective. But they broke reflection down into 'articulation' (thinking about it) and 'codification' (writing down the next steps'). Codification only seemed to offer benefits with more complex tasks that the subject had some familiarity with and which offered a challenge - both elements that are known for triggering a flow state I should add.
The tasks they use are also mental and not physical - would be interesting to see if the findings tranfser across to physical skills.
Incidentally I used 'ChatPDF' to summarise the paper - first time I've used it and helps to make the paper more readable, but it does miss some of the subtle nuances. Or I did!
Dogtank, I think the codification type of reflection is relevant to any adult who's trying to deliberately improve any MTB skills with dedicated practice. Does that seem right to you?
As for whether there's research "to see if the findings transfer across to physical skills," the paper does include the experiment with singing. Does that count?!
I've asked Trevor Ragan and Dr. Giada Di stefano about it via this reply to Trevor's tweet about their podcast episode:
"Hey Trevor (@learner_lab) long time no chat. Denver, 2019! I was delighted to hear this episode as it adds an element of scientific evidence to the power of reflection. Are you (or @giada_distefano) aware of research that confirms similar findings for motor skills/sports?"
Aug 7, 2023·edited Aug 7, 2023Liked by Griff Wigley
I hadn't noticed the singing study - yeah, I think that would count. But I like that you're going back to the source for confirmation! I also found the 'missing' diagrams at the end of the paper - not sure if it is relevant or not but if you look at the top half of the box plots in fig 3 and fig 5 they're identical for all three reflection options. It's only in the bottom half that there is variation. So this suggests that if your final performance is 'good' (relative term but essetially the mean performance or higher) then there isn't much correlation to the reflection methods used, but if your final performance falls below the mean then there is a correlation between reflection and final performance. Would be interesting to see the pre-reflection spread of scores as well.
All this is getting hyper-theoretical though - I need to get out and try for myself, and I will once my darn elbow sorts itself out!
I've not gotten any response to my Trevor Ragan inquiry via Twitter, so I've emailed him.
As for your "hyper-theoretical" analysis of the research paper's box plots, you may be right. (My research analytical skills are poor at best!)
I notice that I have to work harder at my written reflections when I seem to have a 'good' practice session. It's so tempting to be lazy and just bask in the progress. I have to remind myself not only that progress can quickly disappear but that my curiosity can be fed/reinforced if I take time to analyze what I think went well.
I'm eager to know what you learn so heal that elbow!
Interesting to hear that the reflections are less instinctive when you have a good session. I've also found that good habits are sometimes harder to keep when you start to see results - could be another post topic? I guess the brain is not connecting the dopamine from the succesful session with the training that was used to get there. Another reason to 'enjoy the grind' and try to revel in the process.
I had another look at the plots too - I think the results could have been clearer if they showed the improvement in the scores and just not the final score. Without an idea of a start position it's harder to guage what the influence of reflection was. But hindsight is always 20/20 and I'm sure they are building on the studies.
Elbow is on the mend, I think. Time off the bike is helping but also driving me nuts so after the weekend I'll start to build up my time on bike. I think it was caused in part by over-gripping and over-pumping so I'll need to work on my death grip! And I'm putting 16 degree sweep bars on one of the bikes which may also help.
"I've also found that good habits are sometimes harder to keep when you start to see results"
I'm guessing that's because it can take a while for a good habit to either be enjoyable and/or become part of our identity.
You wrote:
"I guess the brain is not connecting the dopamine from the succesful session with the training that was used to get there"
I've not considered that this could be a habit but I don't see why not. It may take more deliberate cognitive effort (via the pre-frontal cortex!) to make the connection, something like:
"Okay, that felt like a good practice session. I seemed to make some progress. I don't know for sure if the progress will show up again for my next practice, but I'm happy that I'm sticking to my habit of regular reflection after each session because I know that that's a key element for long-term progress."
Griff,
this is fascinating! I've added this to my personal practice routine and will be implementing it in my coaching process immediately, too.
thanks,
Michael
I'm glad to hear that, Michael. Let us know how it goes!
For me, "reflection" has a sort of philosophical connotation.........something I would more easily do over a pint or two. I would tend to be more specific here: depending on what exact skill I was working on, I might consider a "planning" or "briefing/debriefing" moment useful.
It would be very unusual to just go and start riding.........there's usually some amount of thinking involved.
Ordering one's actions and evaluating one's performance, to some degree, is probably a natural part of physical action.........and can always stand to be improved.
If we are going to add an emotional or philosophical element and going to add (or withhold) some kind of reward, we are moving into a vastly more complex arena. Outdoor adventures tend to be self-rewarding (or spontaneously so) -- when we manipulate our own psyches we need to be sure we are pushing the right buttons.
It may also be useful to avoid an all-or-nothing formulation: not worrying about whether or not we are involving Reflection, of some sort, or not.............but just assuming that some kind of cognitive action will help our practice, and our skill........
Maybe exercises, like all these, simply help us to understand (and appreciate) more fully what the heck we are really doing...........
Rusty, I think self-reflection can serve a variety of processes--cognitive, emotional, behavioral--and can range from deep to shallow and maybe brief to lengthy. So it works for your philosophical connotation but I think it's fine for this context of trying to improve a motor skill. I also have no objection to your preference for the terms "planning" or "briefing/debriefing."
I also think it's helpful to think of reflection as a skill that can be improved. I notice that the more I do it for my wheelie practice sessions, the more I'm curious, and the more helpful ideas pop into my head.
It's common for us to label a practice session with simple thoughts like "I guess I just had an off-day" or "that was awesome." Yes, that's 'thinking' I don't see it as helpful to consider them reflections.
That's a great follow up with lots to think about - thanks Griff.
I'm glad you'll be thinking more about it, Dogtank. I'm eager to hear back.
That's a really interesting paper to take a closer look at. It's a bit of a shame that the pdfs that I could get hold of didn't have any tables (just 'insert table 4 about here' - glad it's not just me that makes those kind of mistakes!) but they try a few different reflection methods. From what I can see practice is more effective than reflection in the very early days but as soon as you gain experience then reflection becomes more effective. But they broke reflection down into 'articulation' (thinking about it) and 'codification' (writing down the next steps'). Codification only seemed to offer benefits with more complex tasks that the subject had some familiarity with and which offered a challenge - both elements that are known for triggering a flow state I should add.
The tasks they use are also mental and not physical - would be interesting to see if the findings tranfser across to physical skills.
Incidentally I used 'ChatPDF' to summarise the paper - first time I've used it and helps to make the paper more readable, but it does miss some of the subtle nuances. Or I did!
Dogtank, I think the codification type of reflection is relevant to any adult who's trying to deliberately improve any MTB skills with dedicated practice. Does that seem right to you?
As for whether there's research "to see if the findings transfer across to physical skills," the paper does include the experiment with singing. Does that count?!
I've asked Trevor Ragan and Dr. Giada Di stefano about it via this reply to Trevor's tweet about their podcast episode:
https://twitter.com/mtb_practicelab/status/1688548276633534465
I wrote:
"Hey Trevor (@learner_lab) long time no chat. Denver, 2019! I was delighted to hear this episode as it adds an element of scientific evidence to the power of reflection. Are you (or @giada_distefano) aware of research that confirms similar findings for motor skills/sports?"
I hadn't noticed the singing study - yeah, I think that would count. But I like that you're going back to the source for confirmation! I also found the 'missing' diagrams at the end of the paper - not sure if it is relevant or not but if you look at the top half of the box plots in fig 3 and fig 5 they're identical for all three reflection options. It's only in the bottom half that there is variation. So this suggests that if your final performance is 'good' (relative term but essetially the mean performance or higher) then there isn't much correlation to the reflection methods used, but if your final performance falls below the mean then there is a correlation between reflection and final performance. Would be interesting to see the pre-reflection spread of scores as well.
All this is getting hyper-theoretical though - I need to get out and try for myself, and I will once my darn elbow sorts itself out!
Ack, sorry for the delayed reply, Dogtank.
I've not gotten any response to my Trevor Ragan inquiry via Twitter, so I've emailed him.
As for your "hyper-theoretical" analysis of the research paper's box plots, you may be right. (My research analytical skills are poor at best!)
I notice that I have to work harder at my written reflections when I seem to have a 'good' practice session. It's so tempting to be lazy and just bask in the progress. I have to remind myself not only that progress can quickly disappear but that my curiosity can be fed/reinforced if I take time to analyze what I think went well.
I'm eager to know what you learn so heal that elbow!
Interesting to hear that the reflections are less instinctive when you have a good session. I've also found that good habits are sometimes harder to keep when you start to see results - could be another post topic? I guess the brain is not connecting the dopamine from the succesful session with the training that was used to get there. Another reason to 'enjoy the grind' and try to revel in the process.
I had another look at the plots too - I think the results could have been clearer if they showed the improvement in the scores and just not the final score. Without an idea of a start position it's harder to guage what the influence of reflection was. But hindsight is always 20/20 and I'm sure they are building on the studies.
Elbow is on the mend, I think. Time off the bike is helping but also driving me nuts so after the weekend I'll start to build up my time on bike. I think it was caused in part by over-gripping and over-pumping so I'll need to work on my death grip! And I'm putting 16 degree sweep bars on one of the bikes which may also help.
You wrote:
"I've also found that good habits are sometimes harder to keep when you start to see results"
I'm guessing that's because it can take a while for a good habit to either be enjoyable and/or become part of our identity.
You wrote:
"I guess the brain is not connecting the dopamine from the succesful session with the training that was used to get there"
I've not considered that this could be a habit but I don't see why not. It may take more deliberate cognitive effort (via the pre-frontal cortex!) to make the connection, something like:
"Okay, that felt like a good practice session. I seemed to make some progress. I don't know for sure if the progress will show up again for my next practice, but I'm happy that I'm sticking to my habit of regular reflection after each session because I know that that's a key element for long-term progress."
Does that seem like it would help?