You’ve probably heard of the 10,000 hour rule, which was popularized by Malcolm Gladwell’s blockbuster book “Outliers.” According to Gladwell: it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills and materials, like playing the violin or becoming a skillful yoga practitioner.
Gladwell describes one central study in particular, about which he writes: “their research suggests that once a musician has enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That’s it.”
But that’s not it, according to the researchers. It’s a bit more complicated when you dig into it. According to Anders Ericsson, professor of psychology at Florida State University and co-author of the study Gladwell is talking about, there’s another important variable that Gladwell doesn’t focus on and that is how good a student’s teacher is.
Practice is important, and it’s surprising how much it takes to master something complicated. But Ericsson’s research suggests that someone could practice for thousands of hours and still not be a master performer. They could be outplayed by someone who practiced less but had a teacher who showed them just what to focus on at a key moment in their practice regimen.
In a 1993 paper, Ericsson and two colleagues described their research into the role of “deliberate practice” in the success of violin students. As Gladwell noted, they found that it took a remarkable amount of time on such practice—some 10 years’ worth or 10,000 hours to gain mastery. But what Gladwell left out is the role of the “deliberate” practice, meaning work under the guidance of a teacher.
What worked best for that, says Ericsson, is for students to receive personal instruction with a teacher who is able to assess them individually and determine “what would be the next step for [them] to actually develop and improve.” Otherwise, students might stall out, despite hours of practice.
This brings me back to the question I posed a week ago in my newsletter about being corrected, adjusted and assisted in a yoga class.
A skillful correction, adjustment or an assist can help a student learn something in an instant that would otherwise take them a long time to figure out on their own, if they ever did. Improper biomechanics in yoga can lead to injury, especially if practiced repeatedly.
Just as it is important for a student to practice diligently over a long period of time. (This is one of the concepts Patanjali puts forth in the Yoga Sutras. See my philosophy course for more about this.) It is important that you have a skillful teacher who sees you and can help you understand your patterns and conditioning to help you advance in your practice.
Karin being adjusted in Akunchanasana
Karin has been practicing yoga since the early 80’s and teaching it since 2000. She has studied with, been assisted, adjusted and corrected by some of the most senior Iyengar teachers in the US. As of this writing Karin has 19,192 hours of teaching experience, and she still continues to practice and seek out the best teachers to correct, adjust and assist her on her journey.