Routine, Anticipation, and Balance

We find ourselves observing people doing things they’ve practiced enough that they can be done without thinking. Then it becomes more and more evident that, through repetition, the brain has learned to push its awareness and anticipation farther ahead of what it’s doing at the moment.

When a person becomes skillful at any task, that person can anticipate much farther in front of what they are doing due to the number of repetitions it took to become skillful.

In great measure, this is why routines are so important. You want your brain to always know what’s coming next, so when you have repeated the same movement enough times in the same sequence, as you begin the sequence, your brain says “I know where we’re going.” The sequence continues without having to think about what’s going on.

This allows for the balance mechanism to continually monitor and maintain a center of balance – provided you’re not shifting your balance point during the shot.