The Beginners Guide to Deliberate

Practice
By James Clear | Continuous Improvement, Deliberate Practice, Self-Improvement

Insomecircles,BenHoganiscreditedwithinventingpractice.
Hoganwasoneofthegreatestgolfersofthe20thcentury,anaccomplishment
heachievedthroughtirelessrepetition.Hesimplylovedtopractice.Hogan
said,IcouldntwaittogetupinthemorningsoIcouldhitballs.Idbeatthe
practiceteeatthecrackofdawn,hitballsforafewhours,thentakeabreak
andgetrightbacktoit.
ForHogan,everypracticesessionhadapurpose.Hereportedlyspentyears
breakingdowneachphaseofthegolfswingandtestingnewmethodsforeach
segment.Theresultwasnearperfection.Hedevelopedoneofthemostfinely
tunedgolfswingsinthehistoryofthegame.
Hisprecisionmadehimmorelikeasurgeonthanagolfer.Duringthe1953
Masters,forexample,Hoganhittheflagstickonbacktobackholes.Afewdays
later,hebrokethetournamentscoringrecord.

This iconic image of Ben Hogans 1-iron shot at the 1950 US Open was taken by master photographer Hy
Peskin. It is widely considered to be the most famous image in golf history. (Source: USGA Museum from
The Hy Peskin Collection.)

Hoganmethodicallybrokethegameofgolfdownintochunksandfiguredout
howhecouldmastereachsection.Forexample,hewasoneofthefirstgolfers
toassignspecificyardagestoeachgolfclub.Then,hestudiedeachcourse

carefullyandusedtreesandsandbunkersasreferencepointstoinformhim
aboutthedistanceofeachshot.
Hoganfinishedhiscareerwithninemajorchampionshipsrankingfourthall
time.Duringhisprime,othergolferssimplyattributedhisremarkablesuccess
toHoganssecret.Today,expertshaveanewtermforhisrigorousstyleof
improvement:deliberatepractice.

What is Deliberate Practice?

Deliberatepracticereferstoaspecialtypeofpracticethatispurposefuland
systematic.Whileregularpracticemightincludemindlessrepetitions,
deliberatepracticerequiresfocusedattentionandisconductedwiththe
specificgoalofimprovingperformance.WhenBenHogancarefully
reconstructedeachstepofhisgolfswing,hewasengagingindeliberate
practice.Hewasntjusttakingcuts.Hewasfinelytuninghistechnique.

While regular practice might include mindless

repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused
attention and is conducted with the speci c goal
of improving performance.
Thegreatestchallengeofdeliberatepracticeistoremainfocused.Inthe
beginning,showingupandputtinginyourrepsisthemostimportantthing.
Butafterawhilewebegintocarelesslyoverlooksmallerrorsandmissdaily
opportunitiesforimprovement.

Thisisbecausethenaturaltendencyofthehumanbrainistotransform
repeatedbehaviorsintoautomatichabits.Forexample,whenyoufirstlearned
totieyourshoesyouhadtothinkcarefullyabouteachstepoftheprocess.
Today,aftermanyrepetitions,yourbraincanperformthissequence
automatically.Themorewerepeatataskthemoremindlessitbecomes.
Mindlessactivityistheenemyofdeliberatepractice.Thedangerofpracticing
thesamethingagainandagainisthatprogressbecomesassumed.Toooften,
weassumewearegettingbettersimplybecausewearegainingexperience.In
reality,wearemerelyreinforcingourcurrenthabitsnotimprovingthem.
Claimingthatimprovementrequiresattentionandeffortsoundslogical
enough.Butwhatdoesdeliberatepracticeactuallylooklikeintherealworld?
Letstalkaboutthatnow.

Examples of Deliberate Practice

OneofmyfavoriteexamplesofdeliberatepracticeisdiscussedinTalentis
OverratedbyGeoffColvin.Inthebook,ColvindescribeshowBenjamin
Franklinuseddeliberatepracticetoimprovehiswritingskills.
Whenhewasateenager,BenjaminFranklinwascriticizedbyhisfatherforhis
poorwritingabilities.Unlikemostteenagers,youngBentookhisfathers
adviceseriouslyandvowedtoimprovehiswritingskills.
Hebeganbyfindingapublicationwrittenbysomeofthebestauthorsofhis
day.Then,Franklinwentthrougheacharticlelinebylineandwrotedownthe
meaningofeverysentence.Next,herewroteeacharticleinhisownwordsand
thencomparedhisversiontotheoriginal.Eachtime,Idiscoveredsomeofmy

faults,andcorrectedthem.Eventually,Franklinrealizedhisvocabularyheld
himbackfrombetterwriting,andsohefocusedintenselyonthatarea.
Deliberatepracticealwaysfollowsthesamepattern:breaktheoverallprocess
downintoparts,identifyyourweaknesses,testnewstrategiesforeachsection,
andthenintegrateyourlearningintotheoverallprocess.
Herearesomemoreexamples.
Cooking:JiroOno,thesubjectofthedocumentaryJiroDreamsofSushi,isa
chefandownerofanawardwinningsushirestaurantinTokyo.Jirohas
dedicatedhislifetoperfectingtheartofmakingsushiandheexpectsthesame
ofhisapprentices.Eachapprenticemustmasteronetinypartofthesushi
makingprocessatatimehowtowringatowel,howtouseaknife,howtocut
thefish,andsoon.OneapprenticetrainedunderJirofortenyearsbefore
beingallowedtocooktheeggs.Eachstepoftheprocessistaughtwiththe
utmostcare.
Martialarts:JoshWaitzkin,authorofTheArtofLearning,isamartialartist
whoholdsseveralUSnationalmedalsanda2004worldchampionship.Inthe
finalsofonecompetition,henoticedaweakness:Whenanopponentillegally
headbuttedhiminthenose,Waitzkinflewintoarage.Hisemotioncaused
himtolosecontrolandforgethisstrategy.Afterward,hespecificallysoughtout
trainingpartnerswhowouldfightdirtysohecouldpracticeremainingcalm
andprincipledinthefaceofchaos.Theyweregivingmeavaluable
opportunitytoexpandmythresholdforturbulence,Waitzkinwrote.Dirty
playersweremybestteachers.
Chess:MagnusCarlsenisachessgrandmasterandoneofthehighestrated
playersinhistory.Onedistinguishingfeatureofgreatchessplayersistheir

abilitytorecognizechunks,whicharespecificarrangementsofpiecesonthe
board.Someexpertsestimatethatgrandmasterscanidentifyaround300,000
differentchunks.Interestingly,Carlsenlearnedthegamebyplayingcomputer
chess,whichallowedhimtoplaymultiplegamesatonce.Notonlydidthis
strategyallowhimtolearnchunksmuchfasterthansomeoneplayingin
persongames,butalsogavehimachancetomakemoremistakesandcorrect
hisweaknessesatanacceleratedpace.
Music:Manygreatmusiciansrecommendrepeatingthemostchallenging
sectionsofasonguntilyoumasterthem.VirtuosoviolinistNathanMilstein
says,Practiceasmuchasyoufeelyoucanaccomplishwithconcentration.
OncewhenIbecameconcernedbecauseothersaroundmepracticedallday
long,Iasked[myprofessor]howmanyhoursIshouldpractice,andhesaid,It
reallydoesntmatterhowlong.Ifyoupracticewithyourfingers,noamountis
enough.Ifyoupracticewithyourhead,twohoursisplenty.
Basketball:ConsiderthefollowingexamplefromAubreyDaniels,PlayerA
shoots200practiceshots,PlayerBshoots50.ThePlayerBretrieveshisown
shots,dribblesleisurelyandtakesseveralbreakstotalktofriends.PlayerAhas
acolleaguewhoretrievestheballaftereachattempt.Thecolleaguekeepsa
recordofshotsmade.Iftheshotismissedthecolleaguerecordswhetherthe
misswasshort,long,leftorrightandtheshooterreviewstheresultsafterevery
10minutesofpractice.Tocharacterizetheirhourofpracticeasequalwould
hardlybeaccurate.Assumingthisistypicaloftheirpracticeroutineandthey
areequallyskilledatthestart,whichwouldyoupredictwouldbethebetter
shooterafteronly100hoursofpractice?

The Unsung Hero of Deliberate Practice

Perhapsthegreatestdifferencebetweendeliberatepracticeandsimple
repetitionisthis:feedback.Anyonewhohasmasteredtheartofdeliberate
practicewhethertheyareanathletelikeBenHoganorawriterlikeBen
Franklinhasdevelopedmethodsforreceivingcontinualfeedbackontheir
performance.
Therearemanywaystoreceivefeedback.Letsdiscusstwo.
Thefirsteffectivefeedbacksystemismeasurement.Thethingswemeasureare
thethingsweimprove.Thisholdstrueforthenumberofpagesweread,the
numberofpushupswedo,thenumberofsalescallswemake,andanyother
taskthatisimportanttous.Itisonlythroughmeasurementthatwehaveany
proofofwhetherwearegettingbetterorworse.

Thesecondeffectivefeedbacksystemiscoaching.Oneconsistentfinding
acrossdisciplinesisthatcoachesareoftenessentialforsustainingdeliberate
practice.Inmanycases,itisnearlyimpossibletobothperformataskand
measureyourprogressatthesametime.Goodcoachescantrackyourprogress,
findsmallwaystoimprove,andholdyouaccountabletodeliveringyourbest
efforteachday.
Foradditionalideasonhowtoimplementdeliberatepractice,Irecommendthe
followinginterviewwithpsychologyprofessorAndersEricsson,whoiswidely
consideredtobetheworldstopexpertondeliberatepractice.
51:51
How to Become Great at Just About Anything / Freakonomics Radio

The Promise of Deliberate Practice

Humanshavearemarkablecapacitytoimprovetheirperformanceinnearly
anyareaoflifeiftheytraininthecorrectway.Thisiseasiersaidthandone.
Deliberatepracticeisnotacomfortableactivity.Itrequiressustainedeffortand
concentration.Thepeoplewhomastertheartofdeliberatepracticeare
committedtobeinglifelonglearnersalwaysexploringandexperimentingand
refining.
Deliberatepracticeisnotamagicpill,butifyoucanmanagetomaintainyour
focusandcommitment,thenthepromiseofdeliberatepracticeisquite
alluring:togetthemostoutofwhatyouvegot.

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FOOTNOTES

1. Interview with George Peper. GOLF Magazine. September 1987.

2. Hogans precision with the golf club allowed him to play the game in a different way than most.
Once, another golf pro came to him for advice and said, Im having trouble with my long putts.
Hogan simply replied, Why dont you try hitting your irons closer to the pin?

3. Ben Hogan was relentless in his quest for improvement. According to one New York Times article,
Hogan once received a shipment of golf balls before a tournament and examined each one
carefully with a magnifying glass. Some of these balls have a little too much paint in the dimples,
he said.

4. The Making of an Expert by K. Anders Ericsson, Michael J. Prietula, and Edward T. Cokely. Harvard
Business Review. July-August 2007 Issue.