Why Private Lessons in Anything Helps
http://www.articlegrow.com/Why-Private-Lessons-in-Anything-Helps/a8667_1
David
By David
Published on 02/13/2009
If you're an avid athlete or even a videogame player private lessons can help in almost anything you're seriously interested in. Here's why.
Why Private Lessons in Anything Helps
Let me start by telling you what private lessons can do, and what they can't. Private lessons will not make you a superstar overnight, nor will they be of any good if you don't use the concepts that you learn from them while you're playing with your own team. An instructor can only show you the way, but it's up to you to integrate the concepts into your personal play style. Like I tell my students, playing is like building a muscle. It takes a lot of time, practice, and patience. If you don't have the fore-mentioned, you may be better off playing checkers. All that being said, it is not uncommon to see drastic improvements in your game immediately after finishing a private lesson.
If you are a bit put-off by the idea of getting a private gaming lesson from someone, let me put it to you this way. I'm sure if you were an avid tennis player you would have no problems working with an instructor to help improve your backswing. I'm also sure if you did anything other physical sport or activity on a competitive level and had a serious drive to improve at it, you would have no problem seeking the help of top players or "professionals".
When I give a lesson, I usually start out with this simple illustration. Imagine that all gamers have a natural time-line in which they will progress through their game, from beginner to pro. For one person this may be two years, for another it may be ten. Each person is different. The goal of lessons in general is to take that natural time-line and cut it at least in half, if not more. Just because you receive a private lesson doesn't mean you'll be CAL-invite tomorrow; however it does mean you will have the potential to reach higher levels of play quicker. One might ask, how can this be? The answer is simple. If I've been playing for four years, and you've only been playing for one, there's a limited amount of situations you could have experienced playing throughout your one year. There is a good chance that in my four years, I've seen four times as many situations as you have. It is through this concept that the actual learning takes place. A private lesson in anything is all about trying to teach someone what to do before they have to mess up and learn the hard way.
If you are a bit put-off by the idea of getting a private gaming lesson from someone, let me put it to you this way. I'm sure if you were an avid tennis player you would have no problems working with an instructor to help improve your backswing. I'm also sure if you did anything other physical sport or activity on a competitive level and had a serious drive to improve at it, you would have no problem seeking the help of top players or "professionals".
When I give a lesson, I usually start out with this simple illustration. Imagine that all gamers have a natural time-line in which they will progress through their game, from beginner to pro. For one person this may be two years, for another it may be ten. Each person is different. The goal of lessons in general is to take that natural time-line and cut it at least in half, if not more. Just because you receive a private lesson doesn't mean you'll be CAL-invite tomorrow; however it does mean you will have the potential to reach higher levels of play quicker. One might ask, how can this be? The answer is simple. If I've been playing for four years, and you've only been playing for one, there's a limited amount of situations you could have experienced playing throughout your one year. There is a good chance that in my four years, I've seen four times as many situations as you have. It is through this concept that the actual learning takes place. A private lesson in anything is all about trying to teach someone what to do before they have to mess up and learn the hard way.