Why We Forget: How Our Mechanics Slip Away

I hired a personal trainer about 9 years ago only because it was good for my schedule. I was going to his group classes, but couldn't make them anymore, so I switched to training with a partner. I was unaware of how valuable of a decision this was going to be. Today, I use an incredible amount of what my trainer, Mondale (and my workout buddy, Jocelyn), teaches me with you, my students. To be a better instructor, I need to have a teacher myself.

One day, Mondale explained the combination of three exercises I was going to do, then told me to go ahead and start. I did the first one, then completely forgot the other two exercises and looked at him with a "help" face. Was I not listening?

Did I not get enough sleep?

That's when I learned to cut my own pitchers some slack. Sometimes explaining things once isn't good enough. When it came to stations, fundamentals, and drills I'd have to repeat myself.

But why?

It turns out it’s part of how the human brain works.

Apparently, according to leading scientists and sports psychologists, both paying attention and recalling instructions are two ways you learn best.

There’s an interesting book that I’ve read that talks about the importance of recall when it comes to learning new things. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, by Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, and Mark McDaniel., expresses one main tactic in making yourself remember something. A person must actively work to stop forgetting by recalling what he or she just learned. You must create the first interruption in the process towards “I’ve never heard that before”. The authors explain, "What’s essential is to interrupt the process of forgetting.” Even Mondale will tell you, forgetting starts happening right away.

Small group lessons lend itself extremely well to this method. In class I will do a few things to help with information retrieval.  Veteran students will be asked to show or explain a drill to a newer pitcher. This builds confidence among peers, improves communication skills, and reinforces the importance of what we are learning. Other recall methods include quizzing a player on the 5 fundamentals or what the point of a drill is. If a pitcher does not understand how or why to do a drill, how will she practice it on her own? We also use information retrieval to accomplish goals. Some weeks we'll re-state the goals we set at the beginning of the year. Pitchers will remember the “why” of all this hard work and stay motivated. Lastly, being able to keep score their own scores during the hit/miss game is a recall exercise. It reinforces competitive drive and puts the score at the top of their focus, making it important. When girls repeatedly become successful in these situations, their brain teaches them that hard work results in success.

Lynn Marriott, Pia Nilsson, and Ron Sirak wrote, Every Shot Must Have a Purpose. This book happens to be my favorite mental game book of all time, and is written by the golf star, Annika Sorenstam's, mental game coaches.

They explain that putting your purpose in the forefront of your mind will help you remember what you just did. They call in it paying ATTENTION to your INTENTION. Have you ever hit a bucket of golf balls at the range without thinking about it? Suddenly all the balls were gone! What did you accomplish? Hitting 40 balls or getting better? Hint: it's not getting better.  Apparently, you your neural pathways don't get built that way. Only careful thought and attention connects the synapses. They suggest asking yourself, what is my intention with this shot? Softball translation: what will I achieve with this pitch? It might be hitting the target or keeping your hand behind the ball. Whatever it is, remember the importance of what you are doing. Remember what Annika's coaches say, "A lesson well learned becomes your teacher for life." or, "If you are going to practice, make it useful, not time used up."

These days when I work out with Mondale and Jocelyn I set an INTENTION for every work out. Yesterday I set a goal to finish each set. I didn't accomplish it every time but I guarantee I pushed myself harder than I would have otherwise. Plus, it was more fun.  "What gets measured gets managed." There might not be a more true statement by Peter Drucker, the Getting Things Done author. Measuring a stat and referring back to it repeatedly is like a mini-recall of your goals. When you feel like giving up in the bottom of the seventh, remember that your goal is to strike one person out per inning, you might just succeed after all. And getting some sleep won't hurt, either.