Hi,

A thought occurred to me when hearing David Epstein talk on a podcast about his new book on constraints (link to the specific episode here if you're interested):

David Epstein On Why Constra... May 4 · The Rich Roll Podcast 125:28   ​

He mentioned that research says the brain avoids thinking when it doesn't have to. Given total freedom, we take the path of least resistance. We do what we've always done. The only reliable way to produce something new is to either block the familiar solution or make it less appealing. Not by telling someone what to do differently, but by designing the environment so the old approach doesn't work (as well) anymore.

It reminded me of a player on a team I coached, who was very good at taking on and dribbling past opponents, but always towards the right hand sideline, never going in any other direction.

After trying several other things that didn't really alter anything, when a rule saying that a goal scored when the ball hadn't been outside the sidelines of the penalty box was worth three of any other goal, the player stopped going right every single time. Instead, the player, without any specific or explicit coaching points, found different paths and ways to go past opponents, sometimes on the left, sometimes towards the middle, and sometimes, still on the right, which was absolutely fine as the player was really good at it.

The podcast interview with Epstein goes deeper than this insight. He also mentions how these patterns show up nearly everywhere, from how artists break their own limitations to how NASA engineers solved problems with half the budget they wanted. So if you're halfway interested, and have two hours to spare, I'd highly recommend listening!

Part 3 (and the last) of my short video series goes live this Wednesday. It's far more practical than the previous two, with things you can use the same day you watch it.

The practice environment has ten parameters you can adjust depending on what your child needs that week: difficulty level, time on the ball and orientation demands among other things. There's also a set of questions worth asking your child's coach. Not confrontational, but ones that tell you what you need to know about the environment they're developing in. And a weekly structure you can put straight over the week that already exists.

It's going to be even longer than the previous ones (I apologise in advance!), but I will put chapters in from the time it goes live, so you will be able to skip around to what you want to watch. I hope (and honestly, really think) you'll find it practically useful.

Best,

Hans Martin

P.S. Hit reply if there's something specific about your child's situation you'd like me to address. I read everything.

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