Sådan kommer det til at gå bedre ...

Megan 2. vinder 3. juli 2013

Jeg får forskellige nyhedsmails om hundetræning mv. Jeg havde samlet tre, som jeg havde lyst til at kigge lidt nærmere på. Det blev så i dag.

Jackpot

Karen Pryor Clicker Trainings nyhedsmail har lejlighedsvis indlæg af Ken Ramirez, senest ”The Jackpot Mystique: Tool or Trainer Superstition?” om begrebet Jackpot. En meget systematisk og letforståelig tilgang til Jackpot, som de fleste, der træner, har hørt om eller bruger i et eller andet omfang.

Ken foreslår en definition: ”A jackpot is an unexpected, high-value reinforcer used sparingly and contingently to reinforce a significant breakthrough in training.” og har gjort sig en masse tanker om begrebet. Læs artiklen, og blive klogere.

Efter læsningen kom jeg til at tænke på Bob Bailey, som kommenterede Jackpot, sagde der intet videnskabeligt grundlag var at udtale sig ud fra (hvilket Ken også skriver), og at begrebet måske mest havde mental værdi for træneren ;-)

Progressive Training & Sandwich Training

Jeg abonnerer selvfølgelig på Lanny Basshams MENTALCOACH - Mental Management News, hvor Troy Bassham i April 2017 skriver om “How to Protect and Build Self-Image While Training Skill”.

Han skriver om to træningsstrategier, begge kendte og enkle, men det skader aldrig at blive mindet om, hvad der virker :-) Jeg har sakset nogle afsnit:

“Progressive Training is simple. You first start off with something easy and work your way to more challenging things. An easy example of this is putting in golf. Start off with short putts and work your way back to longer putts. Let's say you make 20 three-foot putts, how easy is it going to be for you to make some at four feet? Your Self-Image will think, we just made 20 from three feet, what's another foot? If you keep progressing further back, you will improve the probability of making more longer putts. This helps protect the Self-Image because the player is making putts from the beginning. It also helps build Self-Image because the chances of making more putts this way increase.

Another way to work on skill at the same time protecting and enhancing your Self-Image is through Sandwich Training. Begin your training with something you are good at, working on more difficult tasks in the middle, and finishing with something with a high probability of success. When I was competing, I would start off with working on my prone position and finish with Air Rifle. I would start with prone because it is the easiest position to shoot. I would then shoot standing and kneeling and end with Air Rifle. The reason for finishing with Air Rifle is because it was my best event, improving the probability of finishing strong, and giving me a good feeling at the end of my training.

These two training methods help performers work on skill and gain confidence in their ability at the same time. Progressive Training and Sandwich Training should put you in a better position to improve faster throughout your year.”

Reloading the Run

Heather Sumlin udsender Mental Management Dog Handler News, med en spændende artikel ”Reloading the Run” i april nummeret. Den handler om hvordan vi mentalt kan håndtere fejl under en prøve.

Opskriften er enkel, men ikke nem: Fokus på det positive, fokus på hvordan man gøre det rigtigt og gentage det mentalt, så man husker det positivt. Det er sådan, jeg prøver at arbejde (plus alt muligt andet) :-)

Her er den fulde artikel:

”Recently I have had several questions about how to better evaluate a run without focusing on the negatives of the run. There are three phases to a run:

• The Anticipation Phase - what we think about before the run
• The Action Phase - during the run
• The Reinforcement Phase - what we think about after the run

We call the Anticipation Phase the Preload - what we are doing physically and mentally before the action begins is part of the Preload. We call the Reinforcement Phase the Reload - this is what we think about AFTER the run. How we talk to ourselves regarding our performance determines if our Self-Image grows or shrinks. The better the quality of the imprints the more our Self-Image can grow. Focusing on negatives or errors causes our Self-Image to shrink. Repeating those imprints over and over again with frustration or anger destroys our Self-Image.

Have you ever noticed that after a poor performance there is a tendency to find the negatives and feast on them? Beating yourself up internally is not productive and is actually damaging to your Self-Image. So what should you do instead? Assuming the run is not great here is what you do - Praise first, correct second and rehearse third then let it go.

Praise - find something of value from the run to praise yourself. You already probably praise your dog with a reward or treat of some kind so why not at that same time reward yourself with some positive thoughts regarding the run? It probably wasn't 100% bad or go 100% wrong. So find a couple of things that are praise worthy, think about them and write those down in your journal first.

Correct - if the run was not great then there is some room for correction, possible training opportunities that were presented, this is not a bad thing. You either win or you learn so finding areas of opportunity to grow is part of the beauty of competing. The more you learn, the more you know and the more you know the more you grow! Instead of focusing on the problem (typically accompanied with frustration) it is better to find the solution to the problem and write down the solution if you know what it is. If you do not know how to fix the error, write down "I am looking for a solution to....and then the error". By writing it down after the words "I am looking for a solution to" you have a better chance of truly finding the solution. Finding places to grow or areas to train is beneficial to moving forward. The goal is to do this without letting negative emotions get out of control.

Rehearse with Correction - take a moment to rehearse the run over in your mind with the corrections. This way the last imprint of the run is positive and it is easier to move onto the next run.

Let it GO - lastly let go of that run and move forward. This is probably the hardest part of the Reload especially for those of us who love to talk to our friends about our problems. Let it go so you can move forward. Choose not the think about, talk about or write about a run that wasn't good. Think of it this way, a negative thought regarding a past run is like a weight, the more weights you are holding onto the harder it will be to move forward. Fact is with those weights you will be held down and unable to progress at all. But when you let those thoughts go you are free to move forward.“