A Tale of Two Brains - Continued

I play bass guitar and can do most of what I need
to now without thinking. It has become automatic.
What was once hard has now become easy. If not
I'd have trouble expressing the music that's in my
heart. Having to think about it too much would
defeat the process.

The same with typing, riding a bicycle, driving a
car, walking as a toddler. We've all done enough
repetitions of those acts to master the skills.

Your number one goal in learning anything is to
convert conscious thought and actions to automatic,
subconscious thoughts and actions. Shooting the
basketball is no exception.

But is there another way to convert knowledge
from the conscious to the subconscious mind
besides repetition?

Yes, there is. A very good way.

There is one activity we all do that acts as a bridge
between the two brains I talked about last time.
Believe it or not, that bridge is breathing.

Breathing is automatic most of the time. And that's
a good thing, right? We can sleep or even get
knocked out and we keep breathing.

But breathing can also be conscious. You can hold
your breath or slow your breathing at will. It's
under the control of your conscious mind. And
when you consciously control your breathing while
practicing a skill you tend to integrate the two
thinking systems much better and faster.

You probably think you know how to breathe, but
that's not necessarily the case. Many of us breathe
too shallowly. That won't get the job done when
you're trying to learn or improve a skill though.

But hey, I'm just a newbie at all this stuff myself.
Fortunately I do know an expert though. Karen
Van Ness. Karen is a Certified Fitness Trainer
who played high school and college basketball. She
also holds Black Belts in Tae Kwon Do and Karate.

Let Karen show you how you can supercharge your
breathing and you'll be equipped to lock in automatic
shooting faster than by just using repetitions today
at:

http://www.deandelker.com/best_breathing.html

Shoot For The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. The Zen Master of the Internet Matt Furey also
features breathing prominently in his "Combat
Conditioning" course. See how he uses it do build
strength, flexibility, and endurance by flying over
to":

http://www.deandelker.com/matt_furey.html

Copyright 2006 Delker Enterprises, Inc.

How Superstars Practice

My friend Clayton Haslop is a world-class violinist.
In the realm of music soundtracks he's a superstar.
He's the man Hollywood calls when they need a big
score done right. He usually serves as concertmaster
which is like the team captain for the orchestra. His
credits include Titanic, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13,
the Matrix, the Incredibles, and much more.

I play bass guitar, and Clayton gave me a practice
tip today which I'm passing on to you. It's very
relevant to any kind of practicing.

The key is to achieve something excellent in what
you're working on before going on to the next
phase of your practice. And by excellence I mean
achieving something you haven't done before,
something that puts a point of distinction on your
practice session. Something challenging, like a
personal best or a new consecutive basket streak.

Be creative.

What you want to avoid is drifting, not really
working with a specific purpose. If fatigue causes
the drift, insisting on finishing with the touchstone
of excellencewill ground and center you. It's also
good for building mental toughness.

Hitting new performance levels like this on
purpose will strengthen your expectations and
belief in yourself which will then allow you to rise
to higher levels of success.

Shoot for The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Besides being a golden boy on the violin Clayton
makes great decisions too. Perhaps the best was
marrying my favorite composer and author, Tania
Gabriele French. Tania understands what a powerful
tool music is in creating the atmosphere of growth and
prosperity.

If you need more prosperity in your life don't just let
your mind drift and sing "manana". See what is possible
using the power of music today at:

http://www.deandelker.com/secret_power.html