The notebook

Now... we aren't talking about the 2004 romance movie staring Ryan gosling and Rachael McAdams. We are talking about the small square thing everyone should have in their gym bag for practice.

I recently started using the notebook to memorize the techniques and make sure they stayed fresh in my mind. Every time I wrote a new technique or tip in there, I'd read a couple others just to get it flowing through my brain again. I find that the notebook comes in handy for a few other things though. Not JUST to help you memorize your techniques.

Today in class we learned, or at least it was my first time learning, a variation of the loop choke with a cross collar grip. I wrote this down in my journal, and of course that sunk it deeper into my mind. ( Remember guys, the more ways you do something, the better you learn it) Meaning - writing it down, saying it, doing it, watching someone do it, listen to someone explain it. The more ways you do something, or the more senses that you touch (Touch, feel, see, hear) the easier and better for you in the long run. If I JUST do it and then expect to remember that forever its going to be a lot harder on me than someone who did it, then wrote it down, then explained it to someone, then watched them do it, then had them explain it to them. See what I mean eh?

ANYWAYS - as I was saying. I wrote this down in my journal, step by step. As I read through it and revised it, I actually acquired a better understanding of the technique itself and how it actually works. This deeper understanding led to me being able to help my teammate do the technique correctly as well. Not only could I help my teammate do it correctly, from there I could build a couple things off of the technique I had just learned. Or, add a little of my own personal flare to it if you will. So, from the few minutes I wrote the technique down and read it over I was able to deepen my own understanding of it, deepen my teammates understanding of it, build off of it, and better establish that technique into my mind on a more permanent basis. Imagine what could be done if I read through this technique several more times and practice it regularly. You become your own little master and thats when you know you have truly learned the technique.

The power of the notebook goes beyond just memorization. There is a long list of other things that the notebook is beneficial for. Go out and get one, and get back to me on how this helps your game, or didn't help at all... whichever one...

Bobby