The "Get-It Process"
to Improve Your Technique

Nick was a sophomore just starting the spring season at an Ivy League school. He was hoping to make the second varsity boat. His coach said that although he was the right size, strong and hard working, he had "no talent." He lack coordination; didn’t seem to be able to make corrections in his technique. At his coach’s recommendation, Nick came to see me. I began our talk as I usually do, "What do you like about rowing?"

The answer came easily, "Beating other people. The satisfaction of beating other people; team loyalty; being outdoors and enjoying the scenery and fresh air." He was quiet for a moment, "I like to push myself; and see each step in improvement."

The answer to this question tells me whether a person is connected to a strong kinesthetic awareness. I am listening for any reference to the actual enjoyment of the physical activity of rowing or pleasure of feeling the boat move. In Nick’s reply, there was none. This is consistent with the coach’s observation of a lack of "talent" or "coordination." A person needs kinesthetic awareness to develop a skill. With this question, I am also looking for something that I might use to motivate a person. However, that something, has to fit my value system or I won’t use it. For example, I would not hold out the prospect of "beating other people" to motivate Nick to work on his technique. I might suggest something about providing a standard for others to strive for which could tie into team loyalty.

"What don’t you like about rowing?" I ask, looking for what definitely won’t motivate him.

"The frustration with not rowing well; seeing others who aren’t as strong and don’t try as hard do better; time commitment; losing."

Nick had been coached in his answer to my next question, "What would you like to work on?" Nick quickly identified a goal. He wanted to improve his technique.

As always I next asked, "What would be the worst thing that could happen if you achieved your goal?" I like to remind people of the story of King Midas or some similar parable. Be careful of what you ask for, because you might get it! King Midas ask that everything he touched turn to gold. He died of starvation and a broken heart after turning his food, and his daughter to gold.

Nick thought that he might lose strength and endurance while working on technique. And then, out of ideas, he listed randomly just anything bad he could think of, "Lose my girlfriend; flunk out of school; become arrogant and lose friends."

The idea is that your unconscious mind, by obstructing you on your way to your goal, in this case improved technique, is protecting you from the "worst thing that could happen..." To stretch the King Midas analogy, we could say that King Midas’ inability to turn things to gold protected him from starving to death. Nick’s inability to row well is protecting him from — you pick one, it doesn’t matter which it is — losing his girlfriend, flunking out of school, becoming arrogant and losing friends. I just want Nick to recognize that he cannot compartmentalize his rowing. If his technique improves, it may have unwanted repercussions. Then again it may not, but then we are left to wonder why he is stuck. Another way to put it is, "To what problem is poor technique a solution?" Or in Nick’s case, "to what problem is a lack of kinesthetic awareness a solution?"

Nick came to his second session with the news that his technique was better. He had, in the previous week, been observing an elite rower on an erg. He noticed, "He keeps his head up. I used to hold head down to the left."

I ask Nick how he made the change, "I talk to myself. I tell myself to hold my head up."

This is good, but it could prove burdensome. As he makes improvements, he is going to have a long list of things to repeat to himself. I use this strategy. I say to myself on every stroke when I am concentrating on starting the drive after the blade is in the water: "Early, quick roll up, quick lift, feel the water (if possible), drive with the legs, hang." Unfortunately, I can’t say it works.

I do know a visualization exercise that you can use to improve your technique. When I was in school we called it, for lack of a better term, the "Get-it Process." It is based on making conscious and systematic a natural unconscious process, and then allowing it to become unconscious again. The use of a metaphor for the correct technique facilitates allowing the movement to be regulated by the unconscious mind. Whereas, Freud said make the unconscious conscious — where went id, now ego shall go, or something like that; he believed that the id contained instincts in conflict with civilized behavior. In my view, which is based on a study of the work of Milton Erickson, it is best to keep the unconscious unconscious and trust it as a source of creativity and potential.

We found a time when Nick’s coach was available, and the erg room was quiet. After he had warmed-up, I began, "In your imagination, take a look at that elite rower on the erg again (we will call him "John"). Study his movement. Superimpose an image of yourself, as you appear right now, on the image of John as he is rowing. Begin to feel what it would feel like to row like John. Now float into the image of yourself, so that you see what you would see if you were on the erg, and again feel what the movement feels like. Now, on the erg, actually row like that; concentrating on feeling what it feels like."

Nick did a 500 meter piece at half pressure at 26 spm. His coach commented that Nick was opening too early, and suggested the familiar metaphor of hanging at the catch. I continued to the next step in the get-it process, "Nick go back to your image and make that correction. Pay attention to the muscles you need to use, and what those muscles need to do for you to "hang" like John. When you have an image of yourself hanging, compare it to John’s catch; make sure they look alike."

On the erg again for another 500 meters, he improved. His coach agreed. I asked Nick to create a metaphorical movie; a representation of "hanging."

Immediately he said, "I see a can on an assembly line and the at a certain point just before it locks into a slot, the lid is pried open."

I add, "Of course, there are an infinite number of cans on this assembly line and they are each opened just before they get in the slot. So it is a continuous process. Can you compare that assembly line with how John looks as he rows, and make sure that they match?"

Nick agreed that he could make the assembly line continuous and then he said that he could make it match how John looked. Next I told him, "Watch a movie of this assembly line; just concentrate on this movie as you row the next piece."

His coach again approved of what he saw, and Nick said it felt different, but he could see his erg score was telling him that he was getting a better application of power.

Nick’s technique still needs much work. He can repeat the get-it process for each detail that he wants to change. He can build these changes on his opening can metaphor, or try different metaphors which he can eventually "chunk" together. Ideally, he will always have one visual cue for an integrated stroke that is constantly improving.

Visualization for the Correction of Errors
or
The "Get-it Processs"

1. Make a mental image of the current movement. Where is the image? Is the image black and white or color?

2. Make a mental image of the correct movement.

3. Compare the two images; find one correction.

4. How would it feel to make the correction?

5. Feel that feeling, and go through the movement again.