The Brazilian Football example is interesting and is discussed fully in a book called THE TALENT CODE by Daniel Coyle – which is a must read if you’re really interested in deliberate practice (he sees it slightly differently, and tends to use the term Deep Practice).

Basically in Brazil they have a version of football called Fusebol (I think i spelled that correctly) that involves a smaller pitch and a smaller, heavier ball. Because of the ‘confines’ of this version of the game experts have estimated that they are more likely to touch the ball something like 60% more per minute than in the larger version of the game.

Also the confines of the pitch space AND the smaller heavier ball makes control of the ball much more fundamental. All you’re right that brazilian kids do play a lot of football – but it’s a combination of playing a lot of football, and playing it in this specific confined environment that leads to the acquisiton of skills.

All the Brazilian greats from Pele right up to Ronaldinio and beyond all played this form of the game. But you should read the Talent Code. It goes into it in much greater depth.

Paul
http://www.deliberatepracticeblog.com

Thanks for pointing us all to that paper, Lyle, it’s fascinating and incredibly thought-provoking.

I really need to spend some time with myself thinking about why Gladwell pushes my “rant” button so consistently.

Jack: Agreed. There is certainly a time and a place for specifc training. But learning the basic skills works too. There is actually a chapter in the book I referenced about an exception to the expertise acquisition paradigm which is Brazillian soccer players. Without formal coaching, the kids just grow up playing by the thousands. That plus a history and tradition in the sport leads to outstanding players without any formal coaching or teaching. They just work it out through playing TONS in a highly competitive environment. And, of course, over time they will actually get exposed to all kinds of different situations, sort of ‘accidentally’ being exposed to different play situations. Exellence ensues.

Scott: Yup.

This is a very interesting topic. It strikes a chord with me, because I was recently discussing with a local strength coach the trend in the hockey world towards attempting to create the most “authentic” energy systems training as possible with randomization, visual cues, and all sorts of other tweaks. We also discussed a lot of the technique work and “gurus” out there who claim to have the golden ticket.

He was of the mind that these “advancements” were much more productive than how I had been raised to develop a high level of proficiency in skating skill and speed that transferred well to my hockey playing. My development consisted of hours of public skating sessions where I would not focus on any specific work:to rest ratios and simply darted in and out of other skaters and whatever else felt right. SO while I did have some game and practices per week, I spent significantly more time at public skates throughout the year and over the years. Over time I developed great speed and endurance with this “highly unscientific” approach, but it does speak to the importance of quality practice. Perhaps a guru would have further enhanced my skills with his “expert knowledge,” but this throwback approach yielded results for me without over-thinking.