Practice (learning method)

As a learning method, practice refers to the systematic exercise of a particular behavior or repeated engagement in a certain activity with the intent of perfecting it. Research has shown that a person’s natural talent for a skill—playing music, excelling at sports, performing surgery—only goes so far in their efforts toward mastery. Scholars argue that practice, and more specifically deliberate practice, is important along with genetics in improving and perfecting a person’s abilities.

Background

When a child misses a free throw during a basketball game, hits the wrong key during a piano recital, or takes a tumble when trying to learn to ride a bike, coaches, teachers, and parents often respond with the same old adage: “Practice makes perfect.” The meaning of this alliterative three-word phrase is that the more attempts a person makes or the longer a person tries to do something, the more they will improve. The reason why the phrase is so popular is probably because it is true. No one ever mastered playing the guitar without spending hours upon hours plucking the strings.

The longer a person practices an activity—from knitting to tennis to memorizing a speech—the more natural the activity becomes. After a while, the person can go through the motions automatically without thinking about what they are doing. In some cases, a person can simultaneously engage in the activity while doing something else (for example, knitting while watching TV or playing tennis while socializing with friends). At this point, however, the person has reached a plateau of sorts. They may find it satisfying to practice the skills that they have already mastered, but doing so will not make them any better. No matter how much time the person spends engaged in the activity, the person will not become a true master or expert until they begin to challenge themselves. If the person wants to improve, they have to stretch beyond their current abilities and strive to do better. Scientific research has demonstrated that the quality of a person’s practice plays as important a role in their mastery of a skill as the quantity of practice. From this idea, the concept of deliberate practice has emerged. Later research found that deliberate practice explains part of the difference in performance, but not all of it.

Overview

Psychologist K. Anders Ericsson and his colleagues first described the concept of deliberate practice in 1993. Their research showed that expert performance in an activity did not result only from individuals’ innate abilities but from years of structured practice. The idea that expertise requires about 10,000 hours of practice became popular later but was not presented as a fixed rule in their original research. Ericsson and his colleagues, however, emphasize that the experts they studied did not just engage in 10,000 hours of practice—they engaged in about 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. A 2019 follow-up study reported weaker support for the original violin findings and suggested that deliberate practice does not explain all differences in expert performance.

Deliberate practice involves repetition of well-defined, specific goals. The emphasis is not on improving overall performance in an activity but on perfecting a particular aspect of it. For example, a long jumper might focus on activities designed to improve flight time during a jump. A basketball player might engage in exercises designed to improve her layups. A musician might practice playing a piece of music from beginning to end several times in a row without missing a note. By setting specific goals, a person can determine whether a practice session has resulted in success or failure.

Deliberate practice involves specific, immediate feedback. A person who practices an activity without feedback may not realize what they are doing incorrectly or what they can do to fix the error. During deliberate practice, a coach, teacher, tutor, or another individual can provide a person with simple, direct feedback after each attempt. Such feedback can help a person understand what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. Eventually, a person may be able to recognize mistakes on their own and know exactly how to correct them.

Deliberate practice requires an individual to focus on what they cannot do rather than on what they can do. For this reason, the activities usually involve quite a bit of effort. They are usually just beyond the individual’s current skill level, which means the individual must push themselves to master the activities and may not succeed at first.

Because deliberate practice involves activities that are beyond a person’s current skill level, it can be trying. An individual may get a certain amount of satisfaction from practicing a skill they already know how to do. However, this type of practice does not lead to improvement. Practicing something new presents challenges, and a certain amount of failure is to be expected. For this reason, deliberate practice may not be enjoyable.

Deliberate practice usually emphasizes individual practice rather than practice with a team or group. An important goal of deliberate practice is focus. When a person practices with a group or team, they can lose focus, making that practice less efficient. Practicing alone allows the individual to concentrate all their energy on improving a particular skill, without distraction.

Critics of deliberate practice argue that while this learning method may contribute to some differences between more and less skilled individuals, it cannot account for all the differences. They believe that factors such as intelligence level, confidence, and certain physical characteristics can play a role in the development of a person’s expertise. Ericsson and his colleagues, however, maintain that aside from a few physical characteristics—a person’s height in certain sports, for example—innate talents and abilities will carry a person only so far and that deliberate practice is a key factor in separating the average from the exceptional.

Since the early 2020s, digital training tools have expanded how deliberate-practice principles are applied. Researchers have explored artificial-intelligence-based coaching systems, virtual simulations, and immersive virtual-reality environments that allow learners to repeat tasks, receive immediate feedback, and practice skills in realistic but low-risk settings. These technologies do not replace the core idea of deliberate practice, but they have changed how structured practice is delivered in fields such as medicine and teaching.

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