Unlearning: What it is and Why it is Necessary
Unlearning: What it is and Why it is Necessary
By Emily Cohn
With advances in science, technology, as well as our understanding of the mental impact on physical performance it is only natural that a “better” way to conduct yourself will appear in some part of your athletic career. For an athlete this may feel unnatural to abandon a routine and create new performance habits. Maybe a coach has said something like “forget everything you know” or a teammate has just taught you a better way to do something. For the sake of this article “unlearning” will be understood as the process of changing a habit, whether it is communication based or physical, to adapt to a new way of doing something based on information that has changed with the times and technology. Unlearning has both a physical and social component. Unlearning can apply to your relationships as well as your work on improving your own performances. For so long we have heard the phrase practice makes perfect, but now it is important that everyone realizes that if what you are practicing is not perfect, it is both ok and necessary to come up with a new game plan and change your course.
From a relationship perspective, unlearning is about constant check-ins with those on your team, your coaches, and yourself. Figure out if what you are doing is working for everyone in your circle. If a coach shouts as a motivator, there should be check-ins with the team and coaching staff to make sure it motivates everyone. If it does, then the coach should continue using that style. On the other hand, if a coach is a shouter and realizes that some of the athletes on the team are having an adverse reaction, it is totally reasonable and also necessary for that coach to feel ok unlearning this louder toned approach. Depending on how long the coach has taken this approach, it may be hard and uncomfortable to make these changes.
From a physical perspective unlearning may take a much more introspective approach. First, you need to make the mental adjustment and assessment. Figure out if what you are doing is hurting you physically or just not productive for your overall performance. If this is the case, you must learn a new action to get to your desired goal. If you have an exhausting preperformance routine, and you are overexerting yourself in your warm up, you will need to figure out how to back off to enhance game-time performance. What if you have developed a calming pre-shot routine of 10 right hand dribbles and 10 left hand dribbles prior to shooting a free throw and it is determined that you are considered to be delaying the game? You are going to have to adapt. Unlearning this behavior may be hard after creating such a distinct routine but it is totally within your capability as an athlete. It is important to understand that you are in control of your routine. Lingering on a rule change or a bad call will ultimately cause more frustration and poor performance. Instead, take the positive steps to create a new routine and unlearn an old habit.
While learning new skills is seen as exciting and necessary toward improving in your sport, there seems to be this feeling that unlearning is hard and complicated. This is likely because the habits you are attempting to unlearn may feel central to your identity. Another reason could be that you feel if you are unlearning something, you are admitting to doing something wrong prior. Part of growing and learning, is changing. While change is sometimes scary it is necessary for growth and adapting to the world around us. Throughout many years of sports, athletes have adapted to their new worlds. Unlearning happens all the time in sport. We now know that unlearning needs to be a more intentional and effortful process to ensure that you, as the individual athlete are happy and comfortable, but also that all of your teammates and anyone you interact with are happy and comfortable in their performance environment as well.