By contrast, deliberate practice requires that one identify certain sharply defined elements of performance that need to be improve, and then work intently on them.
Choosing these aspects of performance is itself and important skill.
Identifying the learning zone, which is not simple, and then forcing oneself to stay continually in it as it changes, which is even harder – these are the first and most important characteristics of deliberate practice.
It can be repeated a lot. High repetition is the most important difference between deliberate practice of a task and performing the task for real, when it counts. Tiger Woods may face that buried lie in the sand only two or three times in a season, and if those were his only opportunities to work on hitting that shot, he certainly wouldn’t be able to hit it very well.
Repeating a specific activity over and over is what most of us mean by practice, yet for most of us it isn’t especially effective. After all, I was repeating something – hitting golf ball – on the driving range. Two points distinguished deliberate practice from what most of us actually do. One is the choice of a properly demanding activity in the learning zone, as discussed.
The other is the amount of repetition. Top performers repeat their practice activities to stultifying extent. Ted Williams, baseball’s greatest hitter, would practice hitting until his hands bled. Pete Maravich, whose college basketball records still stand after more than thirty years, would go to the gym when it opened in the morning and shoot baskets until it closed at night.
More generally, the most effective deliberate practice activities are those that can be repeated at high volume.
From "Talent Is Overrated" by Geoff Colvin
