The Power of Observational Learning
I recently got to train with multiple national athletes and it was very eye opening and super inspiring, but I learned just as much if not more from watching them then I did from listening to the coaches.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an athlete, a student or anyone else. Watching others do a task can help us all improve — a testament to the innate mechanism of learning that guided us as babies to take our first steps. This observational learning, deeply rooted in our earliest experiences, continues to be a powerful way to acquire new abilities and refine existing ones throughout our lives.
As you can see in the above image, observational learning is watching others and then replicating them. This can be extremely helpful for any task, especially sports or hands on ones.
Observational learning isn’t as easy as it sounds, in order for it to work there are 4 main things that the observer needs to keep in mind.
- Attention, the observer cannot learn if they are distracted or not fully paying attention
- Motivation, the observer must be motivated to do whatever they are observing otherwise they will not retain or reproduce that information
- Retention, the observation has to be placed in memory otherwise it won’t be able to be reproduced.
- Reproduction happens automatically if the observer retained the information
Observational learning is all about analyzing all of the little details or techniques that sometimes get overlooked when you first learn something, after all these slight differences in technique can make the difference between first and second place.
You don’t have to be with high level athletes or experts to learn from them either. Just pull up a video of whoever inspires you the most in said area and then analyze what they do, you can even do it in slo-mo to get a better idea.
You can’t succeed by just watching others, you also have to apply what you learn and then go back and compare. For example lets say you are learning a dance routine, you record yourself doing it, then pull up an expert doing that same dance routine, you compare the two videos and notice that your shoulders were a lot stiffer than the experts. So now you go back and redo the dance and notice in the recording that it flowed a lot better, then you find another mistake and the process continues.
Learning to watch others is such a valuable skill because naturally humans are visual creatures, and 90% of information transferred to the brain is visual. So by watching others not only will you better retain what you learned, you’ll be able to improve faster by recalling what the expert did and then applying that
Observational learning doesn’t need to be lonely.
In group settings one person could go and then others can discuss what they did good and what could be worked on, not only does this really help the person who got critiqued but it also helps understand what really is good and what isn’t the best. Practicing in these group settings can also expose you to new ideas or techniques that you haven’t tried or thought of before.
Incorporating Observational Learning Into Regular Practice
In order to get the full benefits of observational learning its important to do it often and consistently. Here is how you can implement it into your regular schedule
- Scheduled observation sessions, dedicate specific times to observe experts or peers. Whether love or through a video, focus on particular skills or techniques that you want to improve on
- Active observation, instead of passively observing and being silent you can speak up and ask questions or ask why something happened or didn’t. This combined with taking notes can be a superpower for improving
- Peer Review, regularly review performances or other skills with your coaches/peers to discuss what you see in others and how it could maybe be applied to your own technique. This collaborative option is especially useful for learning new ways of doing something
- Use Technology!!! Technology is so powerful and can be leveraged in so many ways to review not just yourself but watch others, you can slo-mo things, annotate or even look at things side by side through just your phone and so often is technology ignored in sports or other skills, when in reality it is one of the most powerful tools for improvement.
Closing Thoughts
Observational learning can be a great way not just to improve you athletic performance but also a way to improve at any skill. Whether its mastering a new instrument, learning a new language or pioneering innovative solutions in technology and science, the principles of observational learning will always hold true.
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