Years ago, I ran across a quote from the great sports scientist Mel Siff that I think is a very simple but effective analogy explaining complex ballistic activities like throwing/swinging.
He said: "Complex ballistic sporting activities are like a symphony of muscle actions."
He said: "Complex ballistic sporting activities are like a symphony of muscle actions."
The implications of this are at least 2-fold.
It implies that complex sporting behavior of movements and muscle action create a kind of synergy that is greater than the sum of the parts.
It implies that complex sporting behavior of movements and muscle action create a kind of synergy that is greater than the sum of the parts.
BUT. It also implies that if even one of the components are "off" in some way [think of a tuba going off ill-timed for ex.] the overall sound of the will suffer [potentially quite a bit].
So, that being the case, I think this analogy simply --but very astutely --captures the holistic quality of the performance. While understanding that EACH component has be working at a high level in order to create optimal performance.
A similar ex. of this analogy can be found in an ex. coming from the research of psychologist Anders Ericcson [known in some circles as the father, so to speak, of the concept of "deliberative practice."
In one of his books I have, he talks about the comments from a high level golfer that he interviewed. Paraphrasing, when Eric ask him to explain his thoughts on practicing he said:
"Well, I try to understand the whole swing really well, but I also try to understand how each of the parts fit within the whole."
I think that this is a VERY smart way of trying to think about practicing/developing. Both from a player and teacher perspective.
And it is a kind of perspective that I have tried to utilize ,i.e., I try to see the whole, but I also try to see how the various components can best "fit", so to speak, to develop better enhance the entire movement.
In other words, you try to see the whole in the context of the parts of the whole, AND you try to understand the parts in the context of trying to understand the whole.
Thus, the analytical framework involves a dynamic interaction of understanding holistically and understanding individual components [particular joints or muscles, or particular segments like one leg, or one arm ,etc].
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