I found the following article interesting because of the relationship it draws between training and performance. Two points made in the article are relevant when we think of language training. One is the positive effect of observation on performance. The other is how measuring performance allows us to manage it and, consequently, improve it. I think this really emphasizes how just having a coach or trainer keeps us on our toes.

Science Has Finally Figured Out How Elite Athletes Best Each Other. Pay Attention.

by Mark McClusky

In my new book Faster, Higher, Stronger, I examine the things that elite athletes, their coaches, and the scientists who work with them do to become great, and explore the ways that those techniques can be applied to more normal athletic pursuits. One of the most intriguing things that I discovered is that there are ways that the high-performance sports world approaches problems—a worldview—that has broad relevance far beyond the glare of the Olympic games or professional leagues.

Those philosophies and common threads that run through the pursuit of athletic greatness aren’t just ways to win championships. They’re also ways to optimize other parts of our lives. From specific ways to workout more intelligently to a philosophy that can drive decision-making in your business, these are some of the key lessons that all of us can learn from the very best athletes and coaches in the world.

Lots of Little Things Become Big Changes

The women’s 100 meter final at the 2007 World Championships might have been the closest race ever held. The photo finish to resolve the winner of the race took quite some time—Veronica Campbell and Lauryn Williams were both times in 11.01 seconds, but after looking and looking at the photo, officials decided that Campbell barely nudged out Williams at the line, a nearly imperceptible difference even in the tool that was designed to make those differences apparent. They were insanely close, but to some extent, it’s even more remarkable how close everyone else was as well.

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