I just want to catch a frisbee once in a while

June 9, 2006 7:05 AM

Turn an elephant into a cat, or a monkey, or a ferret. You get the idea. How do I become better, faster, more dextrous?

Throughout my life I've always been an elephant type. Solid, compact build, fairly strong, excellent stamina. But I am completely and utterly lacking in fast-twitch muscles, manual dexterity, reflexes, hand-eye coordination, and anything that involves more than the minimum amount of proprioception.

I'd like this to change. There are lots of things I'd like to be good at (martial arts, dancing, breakdancing, parkour, video games, sprinting, ultimate frisbee) that require an ability to react to things and perform quick, fast movements. It takes me a long time to get these movements into my muscle memory, and once they're there I can't seem to get myself to do them quickly or as part of a natural sequence. Besides repeated practice, is there anything else I can do to get myself to move faster without messing up, breaking flow, or having to focus all my concentration on performing the movement? Thanks!

posted by schroedinger to health & fitness (16 comments total)

Hand eye coordination:

1. Juggling.
   
2. Video games (seriously, there was an article recently suggesting doctors who plays console games perform better than doctors who dont).
   

Fast twitch, I'm gonna throw out a couple of keywords which you can google. There's tons of information on the interweb.

1. Plyometrics
   
2. HIIT
   

Basically both of these things use high intensity, short duration training methods to develop some explosive power. I've definitely had some success with both of them.

Finally, don't give up. Genetics plays a significant role in whether you succeed (whatever that means) in a certain activity, but so does perserverance and patience.

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty... I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led diffcult lives and led them well."

Theodore Roosevelt

posted by aeighty at 7:21 AM on June 9, 2006

if you can afford it, get a trainer that knows about this stuff to work with you for a while. take notes on what she shows you, then do it on your own for about a year.then work with the trainer more. a trainer can help identify what specifically you need to work on.
posted by alkupe at 7:36 AM on June 9, 2006

There are lots of things I'd like to be good at (martial arts, dancing, breakdancing, parkour, video games, sprinting, ultimate frisbee) that require an ability to react to things and perform quick, fast movements.

The only way to get good at these things is to DO them. The only way to develop any ability is to do whatever it is that requires that ability.

So, in short, Just Do It (c) Nike.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:55 AM on June 9, 2006

I also recommend finding a trainer that can work with you to achieve these goals. Plyometric excercise can help, as can taking the time to run foot drills and other sports training. The key here being the difference between sports training and fitness training. It might be worth seeing if you can find an adult soccer league to play in. Our local soccer club runs drills three times a week at lunchtime, and it's a great workout and good agility training. Soccer is way more fun than simply running intervals on a track.

I also like the idea of juggling. I think that it's a skill that everyone should learn. It's great for hand-eye coodination, and I believe that it makes learning other sports easier.

I'll also toss out the idea of finding a yoga studio. It's good for flexibility, and excellent for overall body awareness and balance. If you can find a beginner Ashtanga (Power) Yoga class, it might be fun.

The most important part of all of this is to not be afraid of starting a sport that you aren't already good at. Just go play Ultimate, take the martial arts lessons and don't worry that you feel clumsy. Enjoy the learning, and just have fun!
posted by tumble at 7:59 AM on June 9, 2006

I agree with the squirrel. Dexterity will come when you've mastered the basics of any of those particular activities. You'll learn to nuance you abilities after a time.
posted by marxfriedrice at 8:02 AM on June 9, 2006

In highschool there was this fantastic moment during PE (gym class for the Americans) when we were playing soccer where this guy X dribbled the ball around several players and scored a goal.

Two years previously I had seen him swing his leg at the ball and knock himself down. He had about two years of some kind of martial arts in the interim. It made a huge difference - he went from being "the unco guy" to normal in the space of 40 seconds.

If you're okay with whole body coordination then, as above, I would say juggling, followed by games of catch where you move further and further apart.

Also be aware that staring at a screen all day completely ruins your depth perception. It takes a little while to re-establish. Me and my flatmates found that the best way to prepare for the local pool comp was a long sesssion of aerobee in the park beforehand. After that we had spatial perception up the wazoo.
posted by hifimofo at 8:04 AM on June 9, 2006 [1 favorite]

/sesssion/asdgf/
posted by hifimofo at 8:05 AM on June 9, 2006

Oh yeah, I know that I have to do the activities to get good at them. I was wondering if there was anything I could do in addition to get better at them faster, since my learning problems all seem to revolve around my basic lack of speed, dexterity, muscle control, etc.
posted by schroedinger at 8:06 AM on June 9, 2006

Dance Dance Revolution?
posted by craniac at 8:14 AM on June 9, 2006

In terms of manual dexterity: typing tests, if you`re not speedy in that realm. Similarly, learning musical instruments like piano or guitar -- anything that requires sometimes intricate fingerwork but, to do well, you must do without looking at your hands. Probably knitting would count, too.

Also, work on your balance, and the related muscles: yoga is an excellent suggestion, tumble, as is pilates. On your own, when you`re walking around town, pretend a crack in the sidewalk is a tightrope, balance as you walk along a short wall or curb, the like.

Also: Tetris combines the video game suggestion with the spatial aptitude to predict how things will fit together.

Let us know when you catch a fly with a pair of chopsticks!
posted by penchant at 8:44 AM on June 9, 2006

Penchant, that's great about the walking on the tightrope. I do this all the time! When I run, I usually run at least a block or two while running on the very edge of the sidewalk on the top of the curb. I also run with my eyes closed on some long sections if I know that nobody else is around :D
posted by tumble at 9:00 AM on June 9, 2006 [1 favorite]

Ooh, I've got one. Learn to jump rope. But not just the style you see boxers doing, learn double-dutch (look at the book about halfway down the page).
posted by SuperSquirrel at 9:16 AM on June 9, 2006

Relaxation has a lot to do with it. Look into progressive relaxation exercises/CDs.
posted by lunkfish at 10:44 AM on June 9, 2006

My gym has a great circuit training style class which they bill as a strength training class for their martial arts program. It is aimed specifically at building proprioception. Instead of relying on machines for strength training (machines are built to stabilize the body and focus the work on a single set of muscles) we do all of our exercises slightly off balance. For example: squats on a balance board, hamstring workouts in a plank position, pushups with a medicince ball under one hand. chest press balanced on a pilates ball, etc. This way we are both required to stabilize our core using the abs and related muscles and to perform the exercise with lots of adjacent, smaller, less used muscles. The thinking behind this is that, with enough repetition, we are retraining our bodies to engage this larger set of muscles every time we move.

I'll also second Pilates as a great way to strengthen muscles that aren't normally employed in traditional workouts.
posted by rosebengal at 12:18 PM on June 9, 2006

proprioception

A question with a word I've never heard of makes me wonder if you're not overthinking this. Rather than physical solutions, perhaps some meditation might help (just basic breath focussing, I'm not trying to sell a line of spirituality). Your body has successful millenia of survival 'twitch' burned into it by evolution. Tapping into it could be as easy as just letting it do its thing. Martial arts, dancing etc all have a bit of a 'zone' where you can feel you're doing it right (apart from ultimate frisbee about which I know nothing), and the surest way to exit that zone is to think too hard abut being there.
posted by Sparx at 4:37 PM on June 9, 2006

Thumbs down to the whale call cds and meditation advice. That sort of stuff may help, but it's icing.

The only way to improved performance is practice.

This isnt to say attribute drills dont exist. Boxers, for example, do more than spar - they skip, use speed ball, weight train, adapt plyometrics etc.
posted by the cuban at 6:54 AM on June 10, 2006