NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/rec/juggling/2945

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-23 | 2.1 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!torn!news.ccs.queensu.ca!qucdn!naylord
Organization: Queen's University at Kingston
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 10:18:16 EST
From: <[e-mail]>
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: rec.juggling
Subject: Re: learning left and right
Distribution: rec
References:  <[e-mail]>
Lines: 35

Terry Jones writes:
>the practice of learning with the right and then trying to learn with
>the left is satisfying if nothing else. until recently i would always
>feel a bit guilty about doing this, but now i feel there is often
>justification for it.

>some tricks have a very distinctive feel or rhythm or pattern. or they
>take a lot of experimenting before you try the right combination of
>actions, frame of mind, posture etc and they begin to click. it takes
>time to do this - especially if you are working on something difficult
>alone. i think there is a reasonable argument to be made in favour of
>learning some tricks with one hand and then working on the other. once
  { some very good examples deleted }

 Terry, you have discovered a well accepted principle of
 motor learning. It's called Transfer of Learning. Simply put
 it means that a motor skill is transferred from limb to limb
 even though only one limb has been actively involved in practise.
 Academics have found that there is even some transfer from to
 different limbs eg. you can write with your foot better because
 you already have the skill with one hand. There are tons of
 experiments in this area, and Transfer of Learning is a well
 established and accepted principle of motor learning. I
 discussed it briefly in a JW article a while back, but your
 examples are much better than mine.

>of course nothing can ever be proved about which method is better,
>(faster, results in better technique) or for what tricks or for who.

On the contrary, there is lots of evidence. I can point you
to some scientific reports on Transfer of Learning if
you are interested or sceptical.

  David Naylor
  [e-mail]